"He’d say, ‘Look, I’ve sorted you out to make sure you get a club’” - Gary Neville on how Sir Alex Ferguson let Manchester United players go

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville revealed last year how legendary Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson informed his youth academy players that they have been let go.

Neville spent his entire 19-year professional career at Manchester United, making 598 appearances for the club in all competitions. With Ferguson joining the club six years before the former right-back's debut, the Scotsman was the only manager he played for at the club level.

While Manchester United are known for their integration of talented youth academy graduates, like Neville, into the first team, they have let go of a plethora of aspiring young players. Speaking on The Overlap podcast in 2024, the 49-year-old revealed how Ferguson went about releasing players before their jump to the first team.

He said (via SportBible):

“I sat in quite a lot when the boss (Sir Alex Ferguson) was letting young players go. When you were captain, they would sometimes say, 'Look, he hasn't got an agent. Would you go and sit in with him?' And he'd release players – telling a young player at 19 that they're not getting a professional contract, and it's not for them."

"It was interesting to see how he did it. He was quite firm with them because he would tell them why (they were being let go). It would be like, 'You've got Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes, and these players in front of you, and you're not going to get in. I'm being honest with you, but I think you've got a great career in the game.'

"But he'd always lined up three or four trials or conversations that they could have straight away, and he'd say, 'Look, I've sorted you out to make sure you get a club straight away because you deserve that.' And he would literally try and pick them up (emotionally) in the same meeting," Neville concluded.

"You'll keep that" - When Gary Neville recalled how Sir Alex Ferguson convinced him to remain Manchester United captain

Former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville once recalled ex-manager Sir Alex Ferguson's reply when he asked to be relieved of captaincy duties at the club.

Speaking to Sky Sports in 2020, Neville said (via OneFootball):

"I got injured about a year after taking the captaincy and that became really difficult for me because I felt as though I wasn't contributing like a captain would do for the last four years of my career. I went over to Sir Alex one day, walking over to the training pitch, and said: 'Boss, I don't feel worthy of keeping the captaincy anymore, this team's shifted onto a level that I can't compete at'."

"And he said: 'You'll keep that effing armband son'... The reason he gave me, he said: 'You and Giggs will rotate it. If I give it to Ronaldo, Rooney will kick off. If I give it to Rooney, Ronaldo will kick off... We (Neville and Giggs) were the policemen in the dressing room if you like, we were the older statesmen and we were setting the example. Sir Alex wanted to make sure that the team came first, even though I felt unworthy of the captaincy at that stage to be honest with you," Neville concluded.

Between 2005 and 2011, as Manchester United captain, Neville led the side to a UEFA Champions League title, two Premier League titles, three EFL Cup titles and a FIFA Club World Cup among other honours.