Phil Neville says he knew he was better than two Manchester United players when he was sold

Add as preferred source on Google

It is 20 years since former Manchester United star Phil Neville made the biggest decision of his career.

Phil Neville was one of Manchester United’s famed ‘Class of 92’, and brother of Red Devils stalwart Gary Neville.

While Gary Neville was a one-club man, nailing down the right-back spot for more than a decade, his brother decided to leave Manchester United in 2005.

Phil Neville joined Everton, where he linked up with David Moyes, who he later worked under as an assistant coach in the ill-fated 2013/14 season.

• READ MORE: Manchester United’s Best Academy Players of All Time

Phil Neville’s Manchester United exit

Phil Neville made his first team Manchester United debut in 1995 in the FA Cup against Wrexham in 1995.

He went on to make a very creditable 384 total appearances for Manchester United, before leaving in 2005.

An issue for Neville was he suffered due to his versatility, able to play at both full-back positions and in central midfield. He was seen as a ‘jack of all trades’, and perhaps harshly, ‘a master of none’.

One of his finest midfield performances came in 2002/03 alongside Juan Sebastien Veron in central midfield against Arsenal, leading a spirited 2-0 win at Old Trafford.

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson was reluctant to go ‘all in’ and make Neville anything other than a back-up midfielder, and the following summer he added more midfielders into the mix.

By time it came to 2005, he was ready to leave. Speaking on The Overlap US to his brother Gary Neville, the pair briefly addressed circumstances leading to his depature.

Gary Neville explained: “Phil just got more tired of being left out season by season, you always played 30-35 matches but you felt you wanted to play every week.

“You knew that disappointment of not playing was getting to the point of saying ‘I’m going to need to leave here, I’m going to need to make that jump to get out of United to be a regular every week.

“Phil I suppose didn’t accept the fact he was going to be playing 30 to 35 matches and he wanted to play 45 to 50 or just be a regular.

“I think it was more like the actual pride wasn’t it, being a regular starter in a team.”

Speaking on his own behalf, Phil Neville clarified: “I still felt I was better than the players who that were playing at that time, the Kleberson’s the Djemba Djemba’s.”

Despite Sir Alex Ferguson’s hope that at least one of Kleberson or Eric Djemba-Djemba would become a superstar, neither managed it.

Eric Djemba-Djemba was actually sold in January 2005 a few months before Neville left United, while World Cup winner Kleberson was sold just two days after the academy graduate was sold to Everton.

But while both of them moved on, Neville felt by this point he was never going to be viewed as a regular starter. His chances did not suddenly switch in the months after Djemba-Djemba’s exit.

In the 2004/05 season he started only 12 Premier League matches. And this was at a time where it was clear United needed an overhaul.

And having seen fellow academy graduate Nicky Butt leave to sign with Newcastle in 2004, Neville saw there was life after United.

Phil Neville got what he needed at Everton

Phil Neville signed with Everton in 2005 for just £3 million and stayed there until he retired in 2013.

He managed to play 303 games for the Toffees, just 81 matches short of his tally for Manchester United.

This was the career extension he needed, where he was able to become an important part of their team, rather than a spare part at Old Trafford.

Famously, Phil Neville scored an own goal during an epic clash between United and Everton in 2007, tying the score at 2-2 before Wayne Rooney and Chris Eagles made it 4-2.

This victory effectively sealed the title for United, moving five points clear of Chelsea. Neville would eventually restore his own pride with a FA Cup semi-final win over the Red Devils for Everton in 2009.