10 Players Sir Alex Ferguson Was Completely Wrong About

3. Jaap Stam

Manchester United signed Jaap Stam in 1998 and the centre-back went on to become a staple of United's defence, making 80 league appearances for the Red Devils over a three-year period and memorably helping them win the Champions League in 1999. However, his stay at Old Trafford was short-lived following a public falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson. Ferguson was reportedly furious with allegations Stam made in his autobiography 'Head to Head' in which the defender appeared to implicate United in a tapping-up storm by alleging Ferguson's approach to buy him was done without the permission of his former club, PSV. Sir Alex sold the powerful centre-half to Lazio soon after. However, the Scotsman has since admitted this was a mistake. At the time of the sale, Stam was 29 and Ferguson thought he had got his best years out of him. He said: "At the time he had just come back from an achilles injury and we thought he had just lost a little bit. We got the offer from Lazio, £16.5m for a centre-back who was 29. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. But in playing terms it was a mistake. He is still playing for Ajax at a really good level." After moving to Lazio, Stam went on to play for Italian giants AC Milan and Dutch side Ajax, winning a Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana and the KNVB Cup during his three respective spells at either side, proving that he still had plenty of gas left in the tank at the time Ferguson decided to wash his hands of him.