Former Manchester United chief executive David Gill has given a wide ranging interview on his time at the club.
Speaking to Five, David Gill discussed Ineos’ investment in the club, and also named his best ever signings during his decade as CEO.
One of these was Wayne Rooney, who went on to become the club’s record ever goalscorer.
It was not always simple for Manchester United, however, with Rooney left unhappy following the exits of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez in 2009.
Like Manchester United fans, he wanted assurances, but there were some uncomfortable situations when Rooney was linked with a move to City in 2010.
Rooney explained how he upset Sir Alex Ferguson
Speaking to the Mirror in 2020, Wayne Rooney explained how he clashed with Sir Alex Ferguson with his own perceived demands before signing a new deal.
“I just felt at that time the club had offered me a new five-year deal, we’d sold Carlos Tevez, sold Cristiano Ronaldo, so I wanted reassurances of who we’re bringing in if you want me to commit myself for the next five years. He’s probably the best manager of all time, so to have a young lad come in and ask him questions of how the club moving forward, I completely understand that as well.
“He probably felt a bit disrespected from that point of view, but I was doing it from a personal point of view.
“If you want me to commit myself for five years, I need to know what the plan is, what players we’re bringing in and obviously to get them answers, so it led to what happened after that.”
David Gill reflects on Rooney clash
David Gill said that he talked through the Rooney issues with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Gill explained: “He had some issues with Wayne, and we would have big discussions, at one point you remember. He would speak to me about that, I would point out certain issues, I remember doing a decision tree to sort of help.”
Rio Ferdinand, conducting the interview for Five asked: “Was you going to let him go?”
Gill had an immediate response: “No chance!”
Whether Gill actually would have been able to overrule Ferguson is another matter entirely. He preferred instead to mediate, to not let the situation get to the point where Rooney had to be sold.
He elaborated how he solved the Rooney situation: “How you navigate it, you have to sit down with the agent and make sure he understands what he’s got at Manchester United. In terms of the wider role, wider possibilities, and work it out and come to a compromise.
“He’s now the all time leading goalscorer at Manchester United.”
“Everyone was on the same sheet, we all wanted to improve the team and get winning again and we did.”
Gill did praise Sir Alex Ferguson’s ability to make the really big calls when they did have to be made.
He said: “He was a decision maker, he wasn’t afraid to make difficult decisions. I don’t think he ever made a bad decision, in his own mind. He clearly did, but he [saw that he] never made one, because he was always looking positively about it.
He added of Ferguson, “his knowledge about football is encyclopaedic to this day.”
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