Topics: Gary Neville, Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United, Transfers
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has admitted that he is still surprised that Sir Alex Ferguson decided to sell an 'unbelievable' player when he was at the club.
Neville spent his entire career at United, having come through the club's youth system as part of the fabled 'Class of '92'.
The right-back represented Ferguson's side at professional level between 1992 and 2011, making 600 appearances for United in all competitions.
He saw a huge array of players join and leave the club during those 19 years, including the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Keane, Eric Cantona, Andy Cole and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
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But there was one departure sanctioned by Ferguson which Neville can't believe to this day.
After winning Premier League titles with United in 1993 and 1994, midfielder Paul Ince was sold to Inter Milan in the summer of 1995.
Serie A was in the midst of a major growth period at the time, with Channel 4 having begun showing live coverage of Italy's top division in 1992.
Several England internationals from the Premier League - and before then, the First Division - made the move into Europe. It was something which was a rarity at the time.
Paul Gascoigne, David Platt and Des Walker all plied their trade in Italy in the early 1990s, and they were joined by Ince.
Although Ince had been a mainstay in United's first team in six years, he had developed a difficult relationship with Ferguson towards the end of his time at the club. And the Scot decided he had to be ruthless.
Speaking on The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet, Neville said: "There were a lot of shocks for transfers.
"Ince was a massive, unbelievable player for United. It was quite a big shock, where you thought: 'That's not...'
"He sold Mark Hughes, [Andrei] Kanchelskis. And then you think about Jaap [Stam], Roy, or [David Beckham] leaving. They were massive players."
Ince would spend two years in Italy before returning to English football with United's fierce rivals Liverpool.
His England career ended in 2000 and he finished his domestic career with spells at Middlesbrough, Wolves and Swindon before moving into management with Macclesfield Town.
