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Gary Neville Says He Was Relieved When Manchester United Legend Left

Gary Neville Says He Was Relieved When Manchester United Legend Left

His comments will come as a major surprise...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Gary Neville has revealed that part of him was "relieved" to see David Beckham leave Manchester United for Real Madrid in 2003.

The two were part of the famed Class of 92' at United and along with the likes of Paul Scholes, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Ryan Giggs, went on to achieve great things at Old Trafford.

Beckham has undeniably had the most success in terms of his brand and being a global marketing machine due to his image and talents on the pitch.

And Sky Sports pundit Neville, who won 20 trophies, including eight Premier Leagues and two Champions Leagues, in his decorated stint at United, says that despite enjoying playing with 'Becks', he wasn't overly disheartened in seeing the back of him because he knew how much he wanted to play abroad.

Speaking in a lengthy interview with Stretty News TV, he said:

"He always harboured this hope of playing abroad, I think, and playing in European football.

"Looking at what he's done in his career now - playing at Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, Manchester United, LA Galaxy, it's a great career.

"You can't look at it and think that he was wrong. He's richer for those experiences

"His time had probably come at United where he was right to leave.There was a bit of me that was relieved that that tension, that little bit of an underlying thing that was there had gone."

Image: PA

Neville's in-depth chat also saw him talking about the current crop of United players - and he admits he'd like to see another "flair player" brought in to add that extra little bit of quality.

"We can get a lot better. I'd like to see one more flair player in the team," he added.

"I'd like to see a winger who can beat a man and get everyone on the edge of their seat. Having been in Spain for four months, I love Griezmann.

"I would love to see Griezmann at United. He's quick, he's inventive he can beat players he can score goals.

"You would love to see Cristiano [Ronaldo] and Neymar and [Gareth] Bale and people like that because you know they would light up Old Trafford."

Image: PA

And the 42-year old even mentioned Barcelona's Luis Suarez, formerly of Liverpool, as someone who strikes him as a United player.

"Suarez, even though he played for Liverpool, is a United player. It's arrogance to say that but he's fantastic. He scores goals and he's aggressive."

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports

Topics:ย Football, David Beckham, Gary Neville