Sir Alex Ferguson broke his own Manchester United transfer rule just once

Gary Neville once revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson broke a key transfer rule whilst chasing a deal for a highly-rated Premier League forward.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest managers in the history of the sport, Sir Alex had some strict rules that he stuck to in order to ensure that his side remained on top.

However, former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has spoke of the time that his manager broke his own set of rules when pursuing a deal for highly sought after Fulham striker, Louis Saha.

As reported by the Mirror, Neville revealed to Sky Sports that the players were made aware of Ferguson's interest in the Frenchman before any deal had been struck, something which Neville had never seen his manager do before.

"Sir Alex never asked us which players we should sign or never asked us information about players he was going to sign," Neville said.

"But after we played Fulham one time in the FA Cup, he actually asked us as defenders, would we sign Louis Saha? We all said 'yes' straight away."

Neville added: "I remember the season where he was playing up front with Wazza [Wayne Rooney] in 2006 and it was unbelievable; they were fantastic together. Louis was a brilliant, brilliant player.

“He gave me absolute nightmares when I used to play against him when he played for Fulham - him and Luis Boa Morte."

Manchester United would go on to secure the services of the Frenchman in the 2004 January transfer window, as Saha put pen to paper on a five-and-a-half year contract at Old Trafford.

Unfortunately for Ferguson, Saha failed to hit the heights expected of him at Old Trafford.

Despite scoring 42 goals in 124 appearances for the Red Devils, an unfortunate injury record would prevent the French striker from reaching his full potential under Sir Alex's tutelage.

Image credit: Alamy

Saha switched Manchester for Merseyside in 2008 as he joined Everton on an initial two year, pay-as-you-play deal.

The forward enjoyed a four-year spell at Goodison Park before finishing his career with spells at Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland and Lazio.