Legendary former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealed the three most criminally underrated players he had during his 26-year reign at Old Trafford.
Ferguson was well known for capturing top talent in transfer windows and bringing through rising stars from the United youth academy during his illustrious career.
The 82-year-old managed legendary players like Wayne Rooney, Roy Keane and Rio Ferdinand, although Ferguson claimed he only managed four world-class players.
However, Ferguson missed out on signing other highly rated players during his time at Old Trafford and has opened up about his regret over not landing one of them.
The iconic Scotsman retired in 2013 after leading United to their last Premier League title, with Ferguson widely considered one of the best managers of all time.
Ferguson, who named four players he wished he managed, lifted 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies, five FA Cups and four League Cups at United.
Among Ferguson’s legendary teams of the past, including the treble-winning side in 1999, were players who would often be overlooked due to the standout names around them.
The legendary Scot balanced his squad and relied on players to often be rotated, with Ferguson able to unlock the true potential in several underrated footballers.
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Ferguson’s three most underrated players
Speaking to United legend Gary Neville in 2021, Ferguson took part in a fan Q&A and was asked who was the most underrated player he managed in his career.
Ferguson, who once used Neville to help him try and sign one legendary ex-player, insisted that three names instantly popped into his mind and he couldn’t “split them.”
The ex-Aberdeen boss went on to pick out Brian McClair, Ronny Johnsen and Ji-sung Park as his three choices, with the latter receiving a big compliment from Ferguson.
“There’s three players. I can’t split them. Brian McClair, Ji-sung Park and Ronny Johnsen,” he told LADbible TV at the time.
Ferguson’s huge compliment on United hero
Ferguson was a big fan of Park and brought the former South Korea midfielder to Old Trafford in 2005 as part of a reported £4m deal with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven.
Park was often rotated in and out of the starting XI by Ferguson and the former United boss called on him for the big occasions, including in the Champions League.
Ferguson famously used Park to man-mark and nullify AC Milan and Juventus legend Andrea Pirlo during United’s last-16 Champions League tie in 2010.
However, Park was an unused substitute in United’s 3-1 defeat to Barcelona in the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley, which Ferguson later regretted.
Ferguson dropped a huge compliment on Park by claiming that United could have beaten Barcelona in 2011 if his former player was man-marking Lionel Messi.
“That’s where I lost the final against Barcelona at Wembley,” he told Neville.
“I should’ve changed at half-time and put Ji-Sung Park on Messi. That was a mistake. I realised that after 10 minutes.
“I was gonna do it at half-time, but then I said we’d just equalised before half-time [and] they may see the game differently. We may grow into the game better.
“We were quite good in the last 10 minutes of that game; we’d come into it and we could’ve been in front actually.
“But if I’d have played Ji-Sung Park against Messi, I think we’d have beaten them, I really do.
“Messi [had] two highlights, a fantastic goal that he scored and then made the other one.
“He was a great player, but if there was a player to do it [to stop him], it was Ji-Sung Park.”