“Let me tell you something: a few months ago, about seven or eight months ago, we were about to buy shares in Manchester United.
“We kept it secret because I thought we were going to do it, but now it’s impossible, so let’s talk about it.”
It was, quite simply, one of the most surreal moments of my journalistic career.
It was April 2005 and I had been summoned unexpectedly to the handsome Italian city of Perugia by Saadi Gaddafi, one of the Libyan leader’s sons, who was based there at the time.
As I recall, I was not entirely sure what to expect.
But, having interviewed him once before in Rome in 2002, when he had suddenly produced a red Liverpool Football Club shirt autographed for him by Michael Owen, the club’s then star striker, I thought there was a good chance that it would be intriguing.
I flew to Rome, was whisked to Umbria in a black 4X4 and escorted, the following morning, to Gaddafi’s residence a short drive from the city centre.
It turned out that the then 31-year-old footballer wanted to express his frustration with the Libyan Government.
This was in relation to a number of issues, in particular Europe’s most valuable football shirt sponsorship deal, announced the previous month between the famous Juventus club of Turin and Tamoil, the Libyan state oil company.
Gaddafi (pictured) told me he feared that the Government in Tripoli might kill the potential €240 million (£209 million/$335 million) agreement.
“I spoke with the Prime Minister several times and he said: ‘No, no, no, we have to stop the contract’,” Gaddafi said.
This made a decent story for the Financial Times, my then employer, but it turned out that my interlocutor was only just hitting his stride.
After 20 minutes or so on Tamoil, he paused and dropped his United bombshell.
This was entirely unexpected.
“Were you?” I squeaked, reaching across to check that the tape recorder was still running, and started probing for further details.
Like how much Libya, then enjoying slowly improving relations with the west after years as a pariah state, might have been willing to pay.
“For me, Manchester United is a golden, golden, golden club/company,” he told me.
“So whatever the offer, I think it is worth it.
“I came to my father and said, ‘This is like buying the Church of England. Very hard. Maybe impossible because of the fans and the history, but I think maybe we will work hard and get the majority if everyone co-operates’.
“My father gave the green light to me.”
However, “the [Libyan] Government said to me, ‘No, no, no. The share price is very high’.
“I said, ‘Listen to me, we are not going to buy Manchester United just to do a share deal.
“Manchester United is forever.
“This is something major, beautiful.
“It’s a century deal.'”
“Deal of the century?” I suggested.
“Yes.”
Frankly, it is hard to imagine that a deal would have been allowed to take place, even if Gaddafi had found willing sellers.
But the idea was perhaps a little less far-fetched then than it would be today, with the Gaddafi regime fighting to retain its grip on power and relations between Libya and the west once again deteriorating.
After all, Libya did already own (as it still does today) 7.5 per cent of Juventus, through the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company (Lafico).
And Gaddafi did claim to have been approached “many times” about buying the club outright.
“Juventus is opening its arms very wide just for us,” he told me.
Six years on, this anecdote may amount to little more than a diverting journalist’s tale.
But, with so many English Premier League clubs – including Manchester United – now under foreign ownership, I do think it offers food for thought about the pressures that might be thrown up as a consequence of shifting political allegiances in the world at large.
I mean, what if Libya today owned Manchester United?
David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 World Cup. Owen’s Twitter feed can be accessed at www.twitter.com/dodo938