Gary Neville is still shocked Sir Alex Ferguson sold 'unbelievable' Man Utd player during his time at the club

Gary Neville has named the shock Manchester United departure which Sir Alex Ferguson allowed to happen.

Neville spent his entire career at United, playing 602 times and winning eight Premier League titles.

He saw plenty of players come and go during his 19-year career at Old Trafford.

Ferguson had no problem being ruthless in his decision making in letting massive stars leave for pastures new.

And there was one in particular which took Neville by surprise. In 1995, Ferguson signed off on the departure of midfielder Paul Ince, who had been a mainstay in the first-team for six years.

Ince and Ferguson had a difficult relationship and the former England midfielder signed for Inter Milan in a £7.5 million switch.

Neville described the transfer as a "big shock" after hailing Ince as a "massive unbelievable player" for the Red Devils.

“There were a lot of shocks at United for transfers," Neville said on the latest episode of The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet.

Image: Getty

"Ince was a massive, unbelievable player for United. It was quite a big shock where you thought, ‘That’s not…’

“He sold Mark Hughes, Kanchelskis, and then you think about Jaap [Stam], Roy [Keane], or [David] Beckham leaving. They were massive players.”

Ince returned to English football in 1997 with Liverpool and though he was a big player for United, his exit allowed the likes of Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes to emerge.

Image: Getty

In the podcast, Neville also named the one club he would have signed for if he was forced to leave Manchester United.

He never had any offers to move on from his boyhood club but after being asked the question by Jamie Carragher, shared his admiration for Arsenal.

"I'm going to say Arsenal," Neville stated.

"Arsenal were the club that I generally had massive respect for.

"When I went to Highbury and you used to walk in that old entrance with the marble hall, I used to think it's a club of proper tradition.

"I used to love the blazers that you used to wear and there is a resemblance in alignment for what United were at that time with the blazers and tradition."