Matt Jansen: The former Blackburn Rovers prodigy that turned down Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson TWICE
THE ex-Blackburn Rovers hero who could have been an England star if not for a motorcycle accident
MATT JANSEN, remember him? Once heralded as a new hope for English football, the former striker rejected the chance to play for Manchester United TWICE.
Now 38 and manager of non-league side Chorley, Jansen was once was one of the most in demand players in the Premier League.
Beginning his career with hometown club Carlisle United, he was part of the squad that won the 1997 Football League Trophy, and was beginning to attract interest from his boyhood club Newcastle United, Manchester United and Crystal Palace.
Kenny Dalglish, then manager of the Magpies never came in with an offer, leaving the Red Devils and the Eagles to fight for the talented player.
The lure of playing with world class players wasn't enough for Jansen who turned United down in favour of joining Crystal Palace in 1998, leaving the football world as stunned as Sir Alex Ferguson.
He said of the transfer: "I wanted to carry on playing in the first team so I chose Palace because that was a Manchester United side with the likes of Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and four great strikers.
"I didn't think I would get a game so I chose to go to Palace because I believed I would get regular first team football."
It wasn't the greatest of moves for Jansen, who even though impressed with ten goals in 26 league games, suffered relegation before he was handed his chance to play back at the top level...and United were in for him once more.
But once again, Ferguson was left frustrated in his pursuit to bring him to the Theatre of Dreams in 1999, as Jansen instead joined Blackburn Rovers, though this time first team opportunities was not the factor behind the move.
He explains: "I don't regret that move but they came in again when Palace were in some financial trouble.
"Brian Kidd was manager at Blackburn by then and Jack Walker was able to pay the £4.1 million fee up front, so Palace asked if I would go there to help the club."
But does he have believe he made the correct choice signing for Palace and Blackburn? He would have won a handful of trophies playing for United, but Jansen remains on the fence whether it was the right decision.
He said: "I did back then, but I was at a charity golf day hosted by Sir Alex recently and he made a point of coming up to talk to me.
"I said I knew I would have more chance of playing first team football at Palace and that was why I went there.
"He then said why the hell would I sign you and put you in the reserves?
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Just like with Palace, Jansen endured misery as they were compelled to relegation, but this worked in his favour. In the 2000/2001 season he was a goal machine, as he helped Blackburn to an instant return and finished second in the league's scoring charts with 23 goals behind Louis Saha, who Ferguson would eventually sign.
He took his great form into the Premier League securing a mid-table finish, where he scored in the Final of the Worthington Cup (now known as League Cup) beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1.
Jansen earned a call-up to the England squad for a warm-game against Paraguay ahead of the 2002 World Cup, only for fate to intervene and strike him down with a stomach bug, courtesy of his nephew.
To add to his misery, Martin Keown was selected ahead of him for the final squad, who failed to play a single minute.
Jansen would never be called up again for the England squad. That summer in 2002, a motorcycle accident in Italy left him in a coma for six days. After surviving death, he was a shadow of the player that once was.
Struggling to make an impact at Blackburn, constantly in and out the side, a 2006 move to Bolton Wanderers failed to reignite his career, and he would be left with a sense of what might have been.