Sir Alex Ferguson U-turned on strict Man Utd rule which caused ‘nuts’ feud
Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary former manager of Manchester United, caused a stir in the dressing room when he broke a long-standing rule to sign Louis Saha from Fulham.
This move led to a major fallout with Man Utd icon Ruud van Nistelrooy. Gary Neville, a former United defender, revealed that Ferguson unusually sought his advice before signing Saha. He told Sky Sports: "Sir Alex never asked us which players we should sign or never asked us information about players he was going to sign. But after we played Fulham one time in the FA Cup (in 2001), he actually asked us as defenders, would we sign Louis Saha? We all said 'yes' straight away."
Neville also reminisced about Saha's performance, saying: "I remember the season where he was playing up front with Wazza (Wayne Rooney) in 2006 and it was unbelievable; they were fantastic together. Louis was a brilliant, brilliant player. He gave me absolute nightmares when I used to play against him when he played for Fulham – him and Luis Boa Morte."
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While many were thrilled with Saha's arrival at Old Trafford, Dutch forward Van Nistelrooy wasn't. His playing time dwindled after Saha joined the team.
The tension peaked during the 2005/06 season when Van Nistelrooy was benched for the League Cup final against Wigan Athletic in favour of Saha. According to Rio Ferdinand, Van Nistelrooy expected to play but wasn't called upon.
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In a 2020 chat on The Beautiful Game podcast, Ferdinand recalled: "I think one of the big catalysts for Ruud leaving was the League Cup final. He didn't start the game, but he said that the manager promised he was going to come on. But he didn't come on."
"Ruud went nuts. He was going crazy on the bench, screaming, swearing at the manager. I think the manager was like 'you know what… ooh, now's the time [to sell him]."
This led to a strained relationship between Ferguson and Van Nistelrooy, prompting the striker to seek an exit from Old Trafford. Real Madrid snapped up the then 30 year old the following season. It wasn't until 2010 that things smoothed over between the pair, with Van Nistelrooy apologising during his stint with German side Hamburg. Recalling a phone call, the Dutchman revealed: "I rang him and he answered and said: 'OK, fine, go ahead.'"
"I said I wanted to apologise for what had happened and he replied, 'Fine, I appreciate that, when we meet again it will be OK.' That was great to know."
There were no hard feelings between Saha and Van Nistelrooy. Speaking about his bond with the Dutchman, Saha shared: "He was always really nice with me; he maybe had a problem with the choice made by the manager, but never with me. He was obsessed about goals, and I respect that."
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