Gary Neville admitted that he was shocked that Sir Alex Ferguson allowed a particular player to leave Manchester United during his time at the club.
Neville, 49, enjoyed a trophy-laden career during his time at United, which coincided with Ferguson’s tenure at the club.
And when you consider that the Scot led United to 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League cups and two Champions League titles, it is hard to question most of his decisions during his time at Old Trafford.
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But Ferguson, 83, did not get every call right with one transfer ‘shocking’ Neville.
The former United captain described the transfer as a “big shock”.
“There were a lot of shocks at United for transfers," Neville said when speaking during an episode of The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet, last year.
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"[Paul] Ince was a massive, unbelievable player for United. It was quite a big shock where you thought, ‘That’s not…’
“He sold Mark Hughes, [Andrei] Kanchelskis, and then you think about Jaap [Stam], Roy [Keane], or [David] Beckham leaving. They were massive players.”
Ince, 57, played for the Red Devils between 1989 and 1995 before he was sold to Inter Milan for a reported £7.5m.
However, he committed the ultimate sin when he returned to England to sign for United’s arch-rivals Liverpool in 1997 before spells at Middlesbrough, Wolves, Swindon and Macclesfield Town.
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Despite the shock of many United fans, Ferguson defended his choice to let Ince leave in his 2013 book ‘Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography’.
"I had to act on my conviction that the fundamental change in Paul’s attitude, his insistence on trying to assume a role in the team for which he was not equipped, had diminished his usefulness to us to the point where a transfer made absolute sense," said Ferguson.
Ince has since given his take on his shock departure from United and signing for Liverpool.
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"I could have never gone from United to Liverpool, it doesn't happen," Ince told Stretford Paddock's YouTube channel in 2022.
"I went from United to Inter Milan, I didn’t want to leave United. I had been there for six years, I was just about to sign a four-year contract.
"It was United who accepted the bid from Inter Milan because they had the new training ground, they had Nicky Butt coming through and they thought it was a good deal.
“United broke my heart cause they allowed me to go to Inter Milan, they sold me and they broke my heart!”
Topics: Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Gary Neville, Transfers, Premier League
Luke Alfred Davies