#INSERT type:image caption:Bellamy ended his playing career at Cardiff City. END#
Craig Bellamy has told the Daily Mail that Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to sign him for Manchester United.
Former Newcastle, Manchester City and Liverpool star Bellamy, who ended his playing days with Cardiff last season, said United had targeted him during his Newcastle days.
The former Wales international, who began his 18-year career at Norwich, said Ferguson had spoken to his agent about the possibility of a switch to Old Trafford.
He explained: "Fergie met with my agent in 2002 and said: 'Can you get him out of Newcastle?'"
But Bellamy said he had not joined United because he feared the effects of an operation would have made it impossible for him to make the right sort of impact.
"The honest truth is my knee," he explained. "I had just had an operation. I knew that if I went to Man United, I would have to hit the ground running -- and with my knee that would have been impossible.
"I did think that maybe I should just go and deal with it then. Just get there... but I would have got caught out at United, and that would have been terrible."
Bellamy, now 35, said a Premier League manager had contacted him this season to see whether he would be interested in playing again.
But he added: "I said it wasn't for me. So then he said I could play for 10 minutes here and there. But I believe that once you retire you have to stick to that.
"I can't tell you which club it was. That wouldn't be fair. But they were serious. There was not a bit of me that was tempted. That part of my life is over."
And he revealed that he had been praised by Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho after his final game, a 2-1 home defeat to the Londoners.
"He just gave me a hug and said: 'You are a champion,'" he said.