ARGENTINA World Cup winner Osvaldo Ardiles turned down the chance to take charge of Aberdeen in 1999.
Despite denials from the club at the time, former Tottenham Hotspur midfileder Ardiles was considered and spoken to about the position after the departure of Alex Miller at the end of 1998.
The then director of football at Pittodrie, Keith Burkinshaw, was the Spurs manager who brought Ardiles and countryman Ricky Villa over from South America and the pair lit up English football following their arrival in July 1980.
After spells in charge of Swindon, Newcastle, West Brom and Spurs – followed by unsuccessful spells in Europe, Japan and South America – Ardiles was out of work when the Dons job became available.
The powers at Pittodrie missed out on Ardiles and instead opted to get on the Ebbe Skovdahl rollercoaster. But Ardiles revealed that his arrival in the Granite City was close to becoming a reality.
He said: “The Aberdeen job was something I was interested in at the time. It is a very big job and I would have loved to have worked in Scotland. I spoke to the club and came close to taking it, but I had already committed myself to Croatia Zagreb.
“I am not working in football at the moment and if the opportunity to come back came around I would grab it. I love the football in Britain.â€
