Sir Alex Ferguson’s former right-hand man David Gill revealed two of his favourite Manchester United players after his legendary influence at Old Trafford came to an end.
Gill was a pivotal figure during Ferguson’s illustrious reign at United, having worked in the role of chief executive at Old Trafford until his departure in 2013.
The ex-United chief executive was thought of highly by both figures at the club and ex-players, with Rio Ferdinand recently showing how much respect he has for Gill.
Gill’s role at United would be succeeded by Ed Woodward, who later stepped down from his position at Old Trafford in 2022 and was replaced by Richard Arnold.
Following the end of his time at United, Gill served as vice-president of FIFA and is currently the vice-president and treasurer at UEFA.
Gill had a close relationship with Ferguson and engineered key decisions behind the scenes at United, but he also revealed the two players who were his “favourites.”
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Gill named his two favourites at United
During the January transfer window in 2006, Ferguson signed Patrice Evra from Monaco in a reported £5.5m deal and Nemanja Vidic from Spartak Moscow for £7m.
According to the BBC in 2006, Gill had even flown “to the principality” to ensure that a deal for the then-Inter Milan-linked Evra was completed for United
Vidic and Evra would write their names into the United history books, with the ex-Spartak Moscow player and ex-Monaco man becoming key players for Ferguson.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News in 2015, Gill admitted that the likes of Evra and Vidic were among his “favourites” at United.
“I’m not going to name one, but in terms of favourites I like, it’s people like Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic,” he said at the time.
“Patrice, in particular, really embodied what Manchester United was about.
“I always feel that the ones who did embrace coming into Manchester and England, and learning the language, were the ones who did better.
“It used to annoy me intensely when a player we signed was still doing an interview in his mother tongue two or three years later to the British media.
“It was always a real buzz when you got a player in, though. There was something about it, especially when a player transformed the team or scored a winning goal.”
Gill on his relationship with Ferguson
Ferguson and Gill were both spotted together this month at the funeral of United legend Sir Bobby Charlton, who sadly passed away in October at the age of 86.
Gill left United in the same summer as the Red Devils’ last Premier League title win, with Ferguson calling it time on his prolific career at the end of the 2012-13 season.
United’s former chief executive called Ferguson the club’s “most important employee,” but Gill also admitted that he had “some run-ins” with the Scotsman.
“At the end of the day, he is [was] the most important employee in the club,” Gill said in 2015.
“At the same time, Alex was very good because he understood that he couldn’t achieve what he wanted to achieve unless the other parts of the club were working well.
“The commercial side, the stadium side, investing in the training ground. He was astute in that sense but he also had the success that enabled him to take the long-term view.
“We got on, and over time, you’d have to ask him this, but I think he respected my opinion on certain football aspects.
“We had some run-ins, though. If we hadn’t, I don’t think we would have been effective.
“At the end of the day, we both wanted Manchester United to be as successful as it could be.”
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