10 Players Sir Alex Ferguson Was Completely Wrong About

4. Gerard Pique (And Ryan Shawcross)

Gerard Pique is a famous example of players Manchester United should never have sold. But you can also argue United should have sold him sooner. Pique joined the Red Devil's youth academy after moving from Barcelona's La Maisa. He made 12 appearances for United during a four-season spell in the senior set-up before returning to Barca in 2008. There, he has become a global superstar, and one of the best centre-backs in the business. Ferguson was wrong to let him go - as Pique himself is only too keen to remind the Scot whenever he sees him - while Sir Alex also got a few other things wrong during this period. Unbeknownst to Ferguson, Pique was growing homesick in England and longed for a return to his native Catalonia. Not realising this, Sir Alex let young prospect Ryan Shawcross join Stoke City so that Pique could continue his development at Old Trafford. The former United boss explained:

"It always grieves me when I have to release a young player of great potential and Shawcross certainly fell into that category. He had the misfortune - though he perhaps doesn't see it that way considering the success he has had with Stoke - of coming through along with a number of other young defenders. This was the era of Gerard Pique and we kept him at Ryan's expense, only I didn't know that Gerard was growing homesick and, soon after, he was telling us he wanted to go back to Spain."

After sanctioning Shawcross's departure to the Potters, Ferguson then lost Pique to Barcelona. And the Scot admitted had he known Pique was getting itchy feet, he would have kept Shawcross. He continued: "He has prospered with Barcelona, as we know, and, if I had known he wanted away then, we would have kept Ryan Shawcross."