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Liverpool and Manchester United are the 2 biggest clubs in English football. United have won the Premier League 20 times and Liverpool have managed to do it 18 times. However, Liverpool have had more success in Europe, and have won the Champions League 5 times, whereas United have won it 3 times.
Other English clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have had their fair share of success, but none of them can come close to Liverpool or Manchester United in terms of tradition and overall achievements. Quite naturally, both of those clubs have had some absolute legends playing for them throughout the decades.
However, there has also been a bitter rivalry between them and it is almost unheard of for a Liverpool player to play for United and vice-versa. Still, there have been some players who have managed to play for both the clubs.
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We are going to discuss 3 such players in this article:
#1. Peter Beardsley:
Peter Beardsley was a fine attacking midfielder who could also play as a forward. He played for clubs like Newcastle United, Liverpool and Manchester United during his career. He was also a regular for the English national team for almost a decade and played in a few World Cups too.
He joined Manchester United as a 21 year old in 1982, but could not stay there for long. He played only one match for United in the League Cup and left for Newcastle United in 1983.
He developed into a world-class player while playing for Newcastle and spent 4 seasons with them. He joined Liverpool in 1987 and went on to play for them till 1991. He also scored 61 goals in 175 matches, and won two league titles with them.
He then went on to play for some other English clubs like Everton, Newcastle United and Manchester City before finally retiring in 1999. He was one of the most skilful English players of his generation and a very good passer and dribbler. He could also play as a second striker at times and had a decent scoring rate.
He was also the first player to play for both Liverpool and Manchester United.
#2. Paul Ince:
Paul Ince was another England international who played for both the English giants. He was signed by Manchester United in 1989 and grew as a player under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson. Ince could play both as a defensive midfielder and a box-to-box one. He was also very strong physically and had an exceptional work rate.
He was a part of the United team that won successive Premier League titles in 1992-93 and 1993-94. However, with Roy Keane’s arrival in 1993, Ince started losing his spot in their starting eleven.
A great midfield quartet featuring Keane, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham was formed at United and Ince left for Inter Milan in 1995. He scored 29 goals in 281 matches for United.
He joined Liverpool from Inter in 1997 and played for a couple of seasons there. However, he could not win any silverware with Liverpool and managed to score 17 goals in 81 matches for them. Liverpool had a good team then with players like Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Jamie Redknapp in their side, but those players could not convert their talent into trophy-winning success.
#3. Michael Owen:
Owen rose to fame during the 1998 World Cup due to stellar performances in an England shirt, but he started his senior career for Liverpool as a 16 year old in 1996. Owen played for Liverpool for 8 seasons and was one of the best strikers in the world in his prime.
He also won the Ballon d’Or in 2001 and was part of Liverpool’s treble winning team in the 2000-01 season as the Reds won the FA Cup, UEFA Cup and the League Cup.
Owen was a brilliant dribbler and was very fast with the ball at his feet. He was reasonably good in the air, and scored 158 goals in 297 matches for Liverpool.
He joined Manchester United in 2009 and spent 3 seasons with them. He often warmed the bench for United as they had strikers like Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Robin Van Persie in their line-up. Still, Owen managed to score 17 goals from 52 matches for them and also win the Premier League title in 2010-11.
