Defour reveals he almost joined Man United under Fergie

Steven Defour has revealed an untimely injury prevented him joining Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.

Burnley broke their transfer record to sign Defour from Anderlecht in an £8million deal this summer, with the 28-year-old having been linked with a move to the Premier League for a number of years.

United were interested in the Belgium international in 2009, only for the midfielder to break his foot, at which point Ferguson wrote to the player to wish him a speedy a recovery and promised to monitor his progress.

“Before my injury it [a United move] was one of the possibilities, because I knew they were following me but then came that severe injury and that was quite a hard one from me,” Defour told Sky Sports.

It was an open fracture of my foot and I was really down because, for the first time, I could have played in the Champions League and then three days before I broke my foot so I was really down.

“It was difficult to find my form before my injury to have the level of a club like Manchester United.”

Defour has impressed since joining Burnley and opened his account for the club with a superb goal in the 1-1 draw with Hull on Saturday.

However, he insists he is still getting to grips with English football.

“I need to adapt a little bit to the standards of the club and of the Premier League, but I’m getting stronger every week,” he added.

“The game never stops, there is no pausing.

“The first game we won against Liverpool and it’s a league where everyone can win and everyone can lose. We just have to get the necessary points to stay in the league.”