Ferguson personally scouted Ribery back in February 2006 during the France international’s time at Marseille.
But after 45 minutes of Marseille’s UEFA Cup clash with Bolton, Ferguson had already decided he was not good enough to play for Manchester United.
“Alex was watching Franck Ribery, the Marseille winger, but decided by half-time he was not good enough for United,” Campbell wrote in his latest book From Blair to Brown.
Ribery, then 22, remained at Marseille for another season and was hot property after being named Ligue 1’s Young Player of the Year.
And after an impressive two years at Marseille, Ribery left to complete a £20million switch to German heavyweights Bayern Munich.
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The 34-year-old winger has gone on to win 20 honours at Bayern, including the 2012/13 Champions League and seven Bundesliga titles.
Having passed up the chance to sign Ribery in 2007, United instead brought in left-winger Nani from Sporting Lisbon for around £23m.
The Portugal international proved to be a smart piece of business for Ferguson, spending eight years at Old Trafford and winning four Premier League titles and the 2007/08 Champions League in the process.