Robben reveals why he snubbed Manchester United in favour of Chelsea move
The 34-year-old was with Dutch club PSV Eindhoven during that time and the winger held talks with former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson over a possibility of making a switch to Old Trafford.
Unfortunately for Robben, the 20-time English champions never made an offer, which saw him continue with PSV for one more year, before joining Chelsea in 2004.
"I had a very good conversation with him (Ferguson) over dinner in Manchester and we spoke about football and life,” Robben told FourFourTwo Magazine.
"I also went and had a good look around the training ground and everything was good, but after I went back to PSV nothing happened.
"There was no real contact and the deal didn't happen. PSV wre also negotiating with Chelsea at that time, so maybe they offered PSV more money? I don't really know.
"I spoke to Chelsea and I liked their plans. We had one meeting and everything was done pretty quickly.
"Had Manchester United offered me a deal straight after I met them, I would have signed there, but it didn't happen and I have got no regrets.”