Johan reveals Red Devils snub

Johan Elmander rejected moves to Manchester United and Roma earlier in his career.

The two European giants wanted to sign the Swede when he left Orgryte IS for Feyenoord way back in 2000.

However, the Sweden international shunned the moves as he wanted first-team football and would not have been content sat on the bench at Old Trafford.

"I was not scared by the idea of leaving so young. It was the right time for me to discover something new," Elmander told France Football.

"A lot of clubs wanted to sign me like Manchester United and Roma, but if I'd have gone to England I would have stayed on the bench and I wanted to play."

Meanwhile, Elmander has picked up another hamstring strain to add to the player's injury frustration.

The striker was plagued by the injury in October and the problem has flared up once more.

Elmander will now miss Sweden's friendly against Egypt in Cairo on Wednesday.

"It's not fun to keep picking up the same injury time after time," Elmander told Sportbladet.

Elmander believes a hectic fixture programme may be to blame for the injury.

"There have been many matches recently and a few days ago I started to feel the hamstring more and more."