Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has laughed off talk he tried to recruit Argentina midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron to his Eastlands squad.
The Italian tactician revealed how an innocent phone call to his former team-mate and former Manchester United man, was at the root of the story.
But Mancini is adamant that Veron, now 34 and back in Argentina as skipper of his first club Estudiantes, was never in his list of January targets.
Mancini told the club's website: "Veron is my friend. I played with him at Sampdoria, and at Lazio, and when I was the manager at Inter he played for me.
"I called him just to say hello and as we talked I joked with Seba, 'If you want, you can come to play for City', but I was only joking and he knew that.
"He plays for Estudiantes and is very happy there. It was never a possibility for us."