Gary Neville agrees with Sir Alex Ferguson over his 'biggest mistake' at Man United
Gary Neville has weighed in on what he feels was the biggest transfer mistake of Sir Alex Ferguson's career at Manchester United.
Neville witnessed the comings and goings of entire squads during his 19 years at Old Trafford, prompting Jamie Carragher to question which deals he felt were mistakes at the time.
Neville didn't hesitate to name Jaap Stam's exit as the standout error, a sentiment that's been echoed by Ferguson himself in retrospect. But the former right-back spoke about the Dutchman's departure with genuine regret as he looked back on the quality Stam possessed.
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"Jaap [Stam] was the biggest one where I felt at the time, it was questionable," said Neville on The Overlap. "And the boss has said it was his biggest mistake, hasn't he, in his book?
"That was the one where I look at that transfer and think, 'He's the best centre-back in the world. No one's beating him. No one's beating Jaap Stam!' He was just a powerhouse. Me and Denis [Law] could go forward, or me and Phil [Neville], whoever it was, and you'd leave Jaap at the back with anyone.
"He was a bit like [Virgil] van Dijk at his peak two or three years ago, where he'd just take the ball off ya! You can't get past him. A player looks to run at Jaap Stam, and they're just refusing it. They're passing it! That was the one I felt wasn't quite right."
Neville named other iconic players like David Beckham, Roy Keane, and Paul Ince as team-mates he never wished to part with at Old Trafford. However, the exit of 1999 Treble-winner Stam left a particularly sour