Hou done it? Fergie tempted away Mikael
MIKAEL Silvestre has revealed he almost joined Liverpool instead of United.
The Frenchman moved to Old Trafford from Inter Milan in the summer of 1999 for a £4m fee, and although he went on to become a regular for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, it was actually the then Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier who made contact with him first about signing.
“That summer, Marcello Lippi arrived at Inter and recruited another wing-back, Grigoris Georgatos, who was a bit older than me,” he told FourFourTwo.
“My game time was going to diminish and I wanted to play. Gerard Houllier had been my coach at youth level in France, so we knew each other well, and he called to ask if I wanted to join Liverpool.
“He said he wanted me to play left-back for them, and that while the competition would be there, I was in a good position to start most games.
“However, Alex Ferguson phoned me a few days later to register his interest. The choice was easy to make, because United had just won the
Treble. Sir Alex was like ‘You’re going to play left-back and centre-back - I need you for both positions.’”
“I remember I arrived in Manchester on a Thursday and by Saturday I had already played my first game - at Anfield, of all places, against Liverpool!
“That was madness. I didn’t even know my team-mates or speak the language well. On matchday I had a brief chat with Houllier, who jokingly asked me ‘why didn’t you sign for us?’ But he said he understood my choice.”
The full-back remained at Old Trafford until the summer of 2008, before he was deemed surplus to requirements following the rise of Patrice Evra and moved to Arsenal.
Silvestre also admitted Ferguson’s relationship with David Beckham was strained after the famous ‘boot’ incident. The former England captain left United to join Real Madrid in 2003 in a £24.5m deal having won six Premier League titles and the Champions League with the Reds.
After United were knocked out of the
FA Cup by Arsenal, Beckham was on the receiving end of the famous ‘hairdryer’ treatment, which resulted in Ferguson kicking a boot which hit him in the face.
The pair had to be split apart and their relationship was never the same, said Silvestre, who witnessed the incident in the changing room.
He said: “Everyone was shocked, but things like this happen in dressing rooms. It was a random kick by the boss - it was just unfortunate that the boot went straight into Beckham’s face! He was very angry, we had to intervene to prevent a confrontation.
“It impacted their relationship, and was probably among the reasons why David left that summer.”
● The full interview is in the new FourFourTwo magazine which is available to buy in shops and online from Tuesday, May 26. For an exclusive Reach subscription offer, which includes three issues of FourFourTwo for £3 and free download, go to myfavouritemagazines. co.uk/reach/