MANCHESTER UNITED legend Rio Ferdinand has revealed that two of his transfer recommendations were duly ignored by Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Premier League Hall of Fame defender pleaded for the Red Devils to sign Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe.
2013 Manchester United FCRio Ferdinand’s pleas to sign two emerging England stars were ignored by boss Alex Ferguson[/caption]
GettyRio Ferdinand tried to get Sir Alex Ferguson to sign Aaron Lennon for United[/caption]
And also recommended Jermain DefoeRex Features
Ferdinand had the chance to see Lennon in action before many others, given the winger was part of Leeds United’s academy at the time when Rio was starring in the first team at Elland Road.
The pair also spent plenty of time alongside each other within the England set-up, both making the 2006 and 2010 World Cup squads, though Ferdinand missed the latter through injury.
But despite his efforts to persuade United to nab Lennon, boss Ferguson simply ignored his requests.
He told his YouTube channel Vibe with Five: “Like Fergie, I’ve said to him, ‘from what I’ve seen in training, if he can replicate it in games, we need to get this guy’.”
“But Fergie just never moved on it. We had so many players.”
Soon after, it was revealed that the ex-England ace also recommended a move for Defoe.
The 44-year-old added: “The one player I always used to say to Ferguson if you want to buy someone from our England team it should be Defoe.
“Because he wouldn’t have started for United all the time, but he would’ve been another type of Chicharito.
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“Defoe could come on and all he cares about is scoring, and if we’re winning 5-0 he’ll want to make it 6-0.
“We would’ve got him in so many positions to score it would’ve been a joke.”
But the Scotsman never did follow Ferdinand’s tip with either Lennon or Defoe.
Lennon eventually left Leeds in 2005 and joined Tottenham for a fee of £1m.
The winger spent the bulk of his career at White Hart Lane, scoring 30 goals and providing 79 assists in 364 appearances for Spurs.
He then joined Everton for three-and-half seasons, before joining Burnley on a two-and-a-half-year contract.
Meanwhile, striker Defoe played for a host of Premier League sides, including West Ham, Spurs, Portsmouth, Sunderland and Bournemouth.
United had paid £30 million to sign Ferdinand in 2002, which broke the British transfer record at the time.
The most successful British manager knew his way around the transfer market and rarely miscalculated.
Defoe went onto score goals against UnitedNews Group Newspapers Ltd
Ferguson and Ferdinand won 11 major honours togetherGetty – Contributor