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A footballer’s destiny is usually in the hand of his manager in modern football. Some way or the other, their loyalties are also dependent on their relationships. At Old Trafford, we had players who quit the club because of friction with the management. They were influential players who earnestly contributed to the club but unfortunately they had to leave and they left when they were in their heydays.So, we take a look into Manchester United’s history book where players ended their relations with the club due to some unfortunate circumstances:
#5 Paul Ince
Paul Ince joined Manchester United’s family in 1989 from West Ham United. His transfer to United was controversial due to him failing the medical test, but still signing for the club.
He soon became famous for his range of passing and tough tackling. He was not a frequent scorer but definitely was a key playmaker. He spent a majority of his prime years at Old Trafford and formed a formidable partnership with Bryan Robson and later with Roy Keane in the center of the park.
His spat with Sir Alex Ferguson has not really came into the public domain, but the manager labelled him as a "bottler" and a "big-time Charlie", which itself corroborates the tempestuous relationship with Ferguson. The Scotsman sold him to Inter Milan later.
With the impact he had, the team’s supporters were not at all happy with his departure.
#4 Jaap Stam
Jaap Stam was a sort of centre-back, who could brew fear among his opponents. He was akin to a beast standing in the way of opponents’ army. One can hardly find a defender alike him. He possessed a rare combination of speed, strength, and balance.
He got the tag of the most inordinate Dutch defender when Manchester United signed him for £10.6 million from PSV. He had a smooth ride at Old Trafford until one reckless incident which sent him off from the team. In his autobiography, he notoriously criticized his team mates and also alleged Sir Alex Ferguson for illegally securing his services from PSV. This incident brought a feeling of vexation between Sir Alex and Jaap Stam. Thereafter, he decided to offload him to Lazio.
Indeed, it was a scurry decision and one of the errors committed by Sir Alex because finding such a defender is a herculean job.
#3 David Beckham
David Beckham, a part of “Class of 92”, ended his relations with Manchester United on bitter terms.
He was a Man Utd academy’s product. He signed his professional deal with Man Utd in the year of 1992. He gradually ingrained the traits of a great player at Old Trafford. He had been a significant player for Manchester United in their consecutive title wins. And nobody can forget his half-line goal against Wimbledon in 1996, which even made into the top 100 greatest football moments.
After seeing his contribution, he was handed the iconic No 7 shirt when Eric Cantona made it free. He is adored by the Man Utd fans till now. One unfortunate episode metamorphosed everything between him and the manager. FA cup defeat against Arsenal left Sir Alex furious, and out of exasperation, he kicked a boot in the dressing room which unwittingly struck David Beckham’s forehead. Since then, the terms between them had been deteriorated. Eventually, Sir Alex decided to ship him off to Real Madrid.
Sir Alex Ferguson defended himself by claiming that he took such a step because of David’s flamboyant off-field lifestyle, which was undermining the credibility of him and the club.
#2 Roy Keane
Roy Keane, an Irish retired-footballer, has been a paragon midfielder for the upcoming players. He was an aggressive and competitive defensive midfielder. He had one intrinsic flaw of being short-tempered.
He showed immense promise during his early days at Nottingham Forest. He then became a part of Manchester United in the 1992-93 season after signing for a British record transfer fee.
After Eric Cantona announced his retirement and left the place for captainship then he was the most favourite to be honoured with the captain’s arm band. He continued to be the skipper till his departure in 2005.
He exceled to such a level that he got his name inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004. But later years did not go as per his plan. He got into a slew of controversies. For instance, he rebuked a section of United’s supporters in the Champions league home game against Dyanmo Kyiv at Old Trafford.
He questioned their support for the club, “Away from home our fans are fantastic, I'd call them the hardcore fans. But at home they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don't realise what's going on out on the pitch. I don't think some of the people who come to Old Trafford can spell 'football', never mind understand it”.
Another instance was when he overtly censured his team mates after a humiliating 4-1 defeat against Middlesbrough on MUTV. He took the opportunity to criticise the performances of John O'Shea, Alan Smith, Kieran Richardson and Darren Fletcher. The situation went from bad to worse when he remarked on Rio Ferdinand, “Just because you are paid £120,000-a-week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham, you think you are a superstar.” This further fumed Sir Alex Ferguson. And it was highly condemned by the Man Utd family. When things started to go out of hand, the manger decided to deal him to terminate his contract.
#1 Ruud Van Nistelrooy
Ruud Van Nistelrooy made his name at PSV and ended up attracting Manchester United at the peak of his career. His prolific goalscoring ability earned him the stature of one of the best strikers in Europe.
He signed his 5 year contract with Manchester United in the summer of 2000. He embarked his life in Manchester on an impressive run. He finished the first season by netting 23 goals and at the same time breaking the records of Thiery Henry, Mark Stein, Alan Shearer by scoring in 8 consecutive league games. In the same year, he won PFA Players’ Player of the year.
His second Premier League season was just plain spectacular as he finished with 25 goals in 32 games to claim the Golden Boot award ahead of Thiery Henry.
In the last year of United’s spell, he dragged himself into a controversy which led him away from Old Trafford. He censured Cristiano Ronaldo for being a self-centred player, who does not pass the ball to others. This spark led him to his remark, “Go cry to your daddy” for C. Ronaldo. This was enough to create a rift between Sir Alex Ferguson and Nistelrooy. Soon the Scottish manager made sure the Dutchman was despatched to Madrid.
