Julia Roberts confesses that she felt ‘POSSESSED’ watching Man United as she describes her journey to becoming a ‘true fan’ of the Red Devils

• The Erin Brockovich star has made no secret of her love for Manchester club 
• News comes to the dismay of lifelong Roberts fan – Man City boss Pep Guardiola 
• Raphael Varane row is undermining United boss Erik ten Hag – It’s All Kicking Off

Julia Roberts has underscored her love of Manchester United in a new interview, just months after posing with Erik ten Hag and Marcus Rashford during the club’s pre-season United States tour. 

The Pretty Woman actress is an avowed fan of the club and has visited the Manchester side’s ground Old Trafford a number of times, most recently in November 2016, as well as watching the Red Devils play away from home. 

In July, Roberts took in a pre-season friendly featuring Ten Hag’s side against Arsenal at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, which saw Man United snatch victory from their Premier League rivals in 2-0 win. 

And on Friday evening, the Hollywood star doubled down on her love for the red side of Manchester, saying that she and her family had been ‘possessed’ by their fandom. 

‘I’ve been to Old Trafford, I’m a true fan,’ Roberts told Graham Norton on his eponymous BBC talkshow when asked about how she game to support the side. 

Julia Roberts shared her enduring love of Manchester United on the Graham Norton Show

In November 2016 the Pretty Woman actress took in a match at Old Trafford with her family

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‘I have three children and when they were really little and started playing soccer they started watching it on TV. 

‘I didn’t ever realise how exciting it was to watch it on television. We just got so into it and somehow Manchester United just became our team, the Moder family team. 

‘We became sort of possessed.’ 

Roberts’ words will only serve to further pierce the heart of one of her biggest fans – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. 

The decorated head coach publicly lamented the fact that Roberts’ last visit to Old Trafford came during Jose Mourinho’s stewardship when ‘we were better than United’ – and had not stopped in at the Etihad. 

‘She went to visit Man United,’ Guardiola said in March. ‘She didn’t come to see us. 

‘That’s why even if I win the Champions League it will not compare for the fact that Julia Roberts came to Manchester and didn’t come to see us.

‘Even if I win the Champions League it will not compare to this disappointment I had.’ 

Pep Guardiola has been publicly disappointed about his ‘idol’ following his side’s great rivals

The 2023 treble-winner has previously referred to the Notting Hill protagonist – along with Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan – as his ‘idol’ and branded himself a ‘failure’ for being unable to tempt Roberts into crossing the city’s divide. 

Man United pounced on this admission in the aftermath of Guardiola’s comments, sharing a post on X (formerly Twitter) throwing back to Roberts’ 2016 visit. 

In diplomatic style, Roberts congratulated Guardiola on winning the Champions League with Man City in June on Instagram with a post singling out the manager for praise. 

‘Congratulations @pepteam for leading your team to be UCL champions’, Roberts captioned a picture of Guardiola with the storied trophy, notably neither tagging nor naming her team’s loathed rivals.  

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