Ferguson picked South Korea's Park over Owen
(Goal.com)
Updated: 2005-10-10 09:34

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that the reason why he didn’t sign Michael Owen from Real Madrid was because he wanted Park Ji-sung instead.

Speculation was rife during the summer than the England striker would head to Manchester after his frustrating season with the Spanish giants but United’s boss said that the South Korean was his real target.

"Michael’s a very good player,” declared Ferguson “but we’ve set our team up in a certain way. We bought Park Ji-Sung - if we had wanted Michael Owen instead of Park, that could’ve been an option, but we really fancied him.

"I think he represents the future - he’s going to be a terrific player and we’re really pleased we’ve got him.”

The 24 year-old midfielder, who was nominated for the Asian Player of the Year award last Friday, joined the Premier League giants from PSV Eindhoven.