Former Manchester united player has revealed why he rejected a move to Liverpool in favour of signing for Manchester United. The former France international joined the Red Devils for £4m from Inter Milan on this day in September 1999.
He would go on to spend nine seasons at Old Trafford, making 361 appearances as he won four Premier League titles, the Champions League and both domestic cups. Consequently, he has no regrets about his decision to snub the Reds.
Yet it was Liverpool who first approached the now 47-year-old. But after hearing their offer, Silvestre admits he was not ‘jumping around on the roof’.
“Back in 1999 when I first joined United, the press was full of stories that I was about to sign for Liverpool,” he recalled. “But trust me, I wasn’t that close!
“It’s true that Liverpool came first with a formal offer from Gerard Houllier, but it wasn’t an attractive offer at the time.
“I was at Inter, playing with Ronaldo, Roberto Baggio, World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff, Diego Simeone, young Andrea Pirlo, so it was quite a special club to be at, even if we had four managers in one season. So, when Liverpool came, I wasn’t jumping around on the roof.”
Man United would make their own contact with Silvestre soon after. And having been part of the Inter Milan side that were knocked out of the Champions League by the Red Devils in 1998/99 as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side went on to win the treble, the defender admits it was an easy decision to make to move to Old Trafford.
“A few days later, when I received a call from Sir Alex there was no hesitation,” he admitted. “Sir Alex was a different matter for me.
“I’d also had the experience of coming to Old Trafford with Inter the previous season for the Champions League quarter-final, and that night I remember thinking to myself: ‘Wow, this is something else’. The atmosphere was electric.
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“I played in the return at the San Siro and after that I followed United through to that crazy final against Bayern Munich. It helps when you lose against the team that wins the competition; it makes it easier to swallow, somehow.
“So, when Sir Alex gave me the chance to join that amazing team, I had no hesitation at all.
“Things then moved really quickly. I arrived Thursday afternoon, had dinner with the manager, next morning I had the medical, signed my contract, went to training and then travelled on Friday afternoon with the team for an 11.30am kick-off on the Saturday.
“And, by a crazy twist of fate, the fixture list meant that my first game was against Liverpool at Anfield!”
United would run out 3-2 winners that day as Jamie Carragher infamously scored two own goals. Yet despite the victory, Silvestre admits Ferguson was furious with his side in the dressing room after the final whistle.
Meanwhile, the Frenchman is also relieved that there was no social media at the time, well-aware of the abuse he would have received from Liverpool supporters for rejecting them in favour of a switch to their bitter rivals.
“At the time, I wasn’t aware of how big this rivalry was, in terms of the feeling between the supporters,” he told the club’s website. “That game I played left-back, so I’m sure there were some names being thrown at me whenever I took a throw-in!
“But I was so focused that I didn’t pay attention to what was being said to me! Looking back, I’m glad that at that time there was no social media because I would have received a lot of abuse for choosing to join United.
“It was an almost perfect afternoon in the end because we won 3-2, but the gaffer was angry – trust me, really angry – that we conceded two goals. He was not happy with those goals at all, so it quickly spelled out to me that expectations were always going to be high at United.”
