Manchester United starlet Rafael da Silva has revealed a scout claiming to be from Arsenal tried to hijack the Brazilian’s move to Old Trafford.
Rafael, who is keen to point out there is no proof that the scout actually worked for Arsenal, insists he and his brother were tapped up whilst still at Fluminense.
The talented duo had trained with United once, but then appeared this mystery scout – claiming he was from Arsenal – offering to engineer a deal that would see all the money from the deal go to the players...not Fluminense.
“We were not happy with the way we were approached,” Rafael was quoted as saying in The Sun.
“The scout said he was from Arsenal and invited us to come and train. At that time we had already been to see Manchester United and trained once with our club’s permission.
“But this man wanted to take us to England and say nothing to Fluminense. We disagreed with that principle. Fluminense was where we started and they looked after us.
“It was upsetting. We could have signed there and then and taken all the money and Fluminense would have got nothing.”