restaurant contemplating his next move. It was
raining, he wasn’t playing; he had to get away.
The conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson wasn’t
easy but his manager understood the young
Spaniard’s reasons. Barcelona wanted him back
and it was too good an opportunity to turn down.
Pep Guardiola would later tell Ferguson it was the
best signing he ever made.
"I moved to Manchester United when I was a 17-
year-old kid, Nemanja Vidic was five years older
than me and Rio Ferdinand nearly nine years and
at the time they were the best central defenders in
the world. They never had a bad game!
"I learned so much during my time at United.
Sharing a dressing room with Paul Scholes,
Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ruud van
Nistelrooy and Ryan Giggs at such a young age
was an amazing experience. I didn’t play as much
as I would have liked but it was a masters degree
in development both as a player and a person.
"I know some have said since that I failed in the
Premier League but, although I was in the shadow
of two great players, I did contribute. In the 2008
Champions League campaign I played three times
and scored two goals.
"I’ll always be grateful to Sir Alex, who was like a
second father to me, for letting me move back to
Barcelona. He wanted me to stay and fight for a
place, but he understood what Barca meant to me.’
No comments:
Post a Comment