Kluivert didn't join Man Utd after private detective told Fergie of one 'detail'

Nicky Butt has revealed why Patrick Kluivert didn't sign for Manchester United due to a check on his lifestyle and he questions whether the same scrutiny exists now at the club.

Kluivert was one of the top strikers in Europe at the end of the 1990s and the start of the 2000s, enjoying success at Ajax and Barcelona, but Butt tells how Alex Ferguson was not happy with his off-field activity.

The Dutchman was known to have a colourful lifestyle and Butt told how this included him having a nightclub in Barcelona.

Butt said that when he had moved on from United and played with Kluivert at Newcastle, the striker told how a possible move to Old Trafford never materialised with a private investigator following him around.

"When I was at Newcastle with Patrick Kluivert and I spoke to him, a great lad, and he was saying Man Utd came in for me, but they actually had a private investigate following him around, looking at how he lives his life.

"Patrick used to have a nightclub in Barcelona so he'd go from training ground to coffee shop to somewhere else and to his nightclub and he weren't necessarily always drinking but the manager wouldn't entertain the idea.

"Even how good he was the manager wouldn't entertain the idea."

And Butt questioned whether now there exists the same level of scouting on players before they sign based on a long list of failed transfers over the last few years. Last summer there was plenty of criticism for Rasmus Hojland in attack and he was a young player who appeared to struggle with the responsibility of leading the line while he also had very little service.

And now this year, the club could find itself in a similar situation with Benjamin Sesko another young player, whose confidence definitely appeared to be ebbing away against Tottenham Hotspur before he got injured.

"I'd love to know what the protocol is of putting a project together to go and buy a player I wouldn't have a clue of what it would be," said Butt.