FORMER Manchester United star Alex Buttner has revealed he was in a CHIPPY when Sir Alex Ferguson signed him.
But the 34-year-old now has a very different life in football after securing a move to the Dutch second division.
Alex Buttner says he was eating CHIPS when Man United signed himPA:Empics Sport
Getty – ContributorFergie signed Buttner in a shock £5million deal, with the left-back going on to win the title[/caption]
Buttner was snapped up by United in 2012 for just £5million after impressing at first pro club Vitesse Arnhem.
The left-back had scored ten goals in 119 games for his club.
And Sir Alex could not resist bringing him to Old Trafford for a bargain fee.
Butter ended up only playing 28 times in two seasons at United.
But after helping the Red Devils win their last Premier League title in 2013, he still has fond memories of his time at Old Trafford.
And Buttner has now lifted the lid on the moment Fergie signed him in a shock deal for United, admitting he was eating CHIPS when the new filtered through.
He told the Mirror: “I was eating a big portion of chips with some mates and my brother when I got this call from my agent.
“It was quite weird because a few weeks before, I had been looking at clubs of a completely different level in England. Southampton, Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers.
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GettyButtner now plays in Holland’s second tier with De Graafschap[/caption]
“I was going to sign with one of those clubs, I thought. Now suddenly I was wanted by Manchester United?
“I thought it was a massive prank because when I had been visiting one of the other clubs, at one of the stadiums there was a Manchester United book and I said to my agent ‘take a picture of me with the book and we’ll pretend I am in England to sign with Man United’.
“I thought it would be a cracker because my friends knew I had gone to England.
“Then a week later my agent called me when I was in the chip shop and just said ‘Alex, it’s Manchester United’.
“I just thought, f**k off, but he was really serious. Everyone around me looked at me and wondered what was going on.
“All my mates looked at me and I said ‘we are going to Manchester!’ Then everyone went crazy. The chip shop was upside down. It was such a great moment.
“Celebrating the biggest transfer of your life in the chip shop around the corner. My brother jumped on the table, my mates went wild.”
After his time at United, Buttner moved to Russia with Dynamo Moscow before earning a loan move to Belgian side Anderlecht.
He then re-signed with Vitesse in 2016 before moving to the MLS with New England four years later.
In 2021, Buttner returned home with Eredivisie side Waalwijk.
And he is now in his second season with Dutch second-tier outfit De Graafschap, making two appearances so far this term.
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