Former Manchester United star Paul Ince claims that he did not commit a “cardinal sin” by signing for Liverpool later in his career after a fallout with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson brought Ince to Old Trafford in 1989 after United paid a £1m transfer fee to West Ham, with the Red Devils midfielder enjoying incredible success at the club.
Ince was a formidable midfield presence for Ferguson and lifted two Premier League titles, two FA Cups, a League Cup and a European Cup Winners’ Cup with United.
However, the former England international’s time at Old Trafford came to an end in 1995 after a heated rivalry with Ferguson reached its climax.
Ferguson sold Ince to Inter Milan for £7.5m, with the former United midfielder spending two seasons at the San Siro before returning to England with Liverpool.
The legendary former United manager pulled no punches towards Ince, even going as far as to call him “big-time Charlie” and mocking his ‘Guv’nor’ nickname.
Ex-United star Ince defends Liverpool transfer
Ince signed for Liverpool in 1997 after his brief spell with Inter, but the former England midfielder’s transfer decision sparked fury among United fans at the time.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Reading and Blackpool manager claimed that United had “first refusal” over him following his departure from the Serie A side.
“No, I always kind of felt… I’ve said this time and time again, and it’s no disrespect to both teams, I would never have gone from Manchester United straight to Liverpool,” Ince said.
“I would never have gone from Liverpool straight to Manchester United. That’s a cardinal sin, okay? When I left to go to Inter Milan, I didn’t want to leave Manchester United.
“When I came back from Inter Milan, Man United had first refusal on me. So, I could easily have gone back to Man United.
“They turned that decision not to take me back, okay? They had the option to take me back.
“Whether I would have gone back, I don’t know. But all I know is that I had two years at Inter, I didn’t want to go back from Inter, I had another three years left on my contract. Obviously, the family situation was difficult, so we came back.”
Ince’s regret over not playing with Ronaldo
Brazil legend Ronaldo left Barcelona in 1997 and completed his sensational transfer to Inter Milan, which came at the time of Ince’s departure from the club.
Ronaldo’s spell at the Serie A side remains one of football’s biggest ‘what if’ questions due to the injuries that plagued him during his time in Italy.
Ince regretted the chance not to play with the two-time World Cup winner, but he was also happy to make his return to the north west of England at the time.
“We did sign Ronaldo for the next season and I wanted to play with him, but obviously I didn’t get the luxury of doing that,” he added.
“Peter Robinson came over from Liverpool, we sat down and we had lunch and we agreed that was the way I was gonna go. I love the north west.
“I spent six, seven years there at Man United. I knew Jamie Redknapp, I knew Robbie Fowler, I knew David James, so it was just easy to settle in.”
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