With Sir Alex Ferguson’s famous legacy at Old Trafford coming to an end, David Gill, the former right-hand man of Ferguson, revealed two of his favorite Manchester United players.

Gill, who held the position of chief executive at Old Trafford until his departure in 2013, played a crucial role during Ferguson’s remarkable tenure at United.

Former players and club officials held great regard for the former United chief executive, and Rio Ferdinand recently demonstrated his admiration for Gill.

Ed Woodward, who subsequently left his post at Old Trafford in 2022 and was replaced by Richard Arnold, would take over Gill’s duties at United.

Following the end of his time at United, Gill served as vice-president of FIFA and is currently the vice-president and treasurer at UEFA.

Gill had a close relationship with Ferguson and engineered key decisions behind the scenes at United, but he also revealed the two players who were his “favourites.”

During the January transfer window in 2006, Ferguson signed Patrice Evra from Monaco in a reported £5.5m deal and Nemanja Vidic from Spartak Moscow for £7m.

According to the BBC in 2006, Gill had even flown “to the principality” to ensure that a deal for the then-Inter Milan-linked Evra was completed for United

Vidic and Evra would write their names into the United history books, with the ex-Spartak Moscow player and ex-Monaco man becoming key players for Ferguson.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News in 2015, Gill admitted that the likes of Evra and Vidic were among his “favourites” at United.

“I’m not going to name one, but in terms of favourites I like, it’s people like Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic,” he said at the time.

“Patrice, in particular, really embodied what Manchester United was about.

“I always feel that the ones who did embrace coming into Manchester and England, and learning the language, were the ones who did better.

“It used to annoy me intensely when a player we signed was still doing an interview in his mother tongue two or three years later to the British media.

“It was always a real buzz when you got a player in, though. There was something about it, especially when a player transformed the team or scored a winning goal.”

Gill on his relationship with Ferguson

Ferguson and Gill were both spotted together this month at the funeral of United legend Sir Bobby Charlton, who sadly passed away in October at the age of 86.

Gill left United in the same summer as the Red Devils’ last Premier League title win, with Ferguson calling it time on his prolific career at the end of the 2012-13 season.

United’s former chief executive called Ferguson the club’s “most important employee,” but Gill also admitted that he had “some run-ins” with the Scotsman.

Alex was excellent at the same time because he realized that the success of the club depended on the other members performing well as well as he did.

“Investing in the training ground, the stadium side, and the commercial side.” In that regard, he was shrewd, but he also enjoyed the kind of prosperity that allowed him to see the big picture.

We got along, and you’d have to ask him later, but I believe he respected my viewpoint on several football-related issues.

But we did have a few run-ins. I don’t think we would have been successful if we hadn’t.

“We both wanted Manchester United to be as successful as it could be in the end.”