Sir Alex Ferguson later admitted he regretted selling Ryan Shawcross to Stoke City following his acrimonious departure from Man United in 2008
He had been part of an Academy side which included the likes of future stars Giuseppe Rossi, Gerard Pique and Jonny Evans and hopes were high the youngsters could eventually provide a strong core for the senior side for years to come. It was a youth side that also featured Darron Gibson, Fraizer Campbell and Danny Simpson, who wracked up dozens of Premier League appearances between them - though most of them were not for United.
"I was offered a new four-year contract to stay at United," Shawcross told StokeonTrentLive in 2020. "But I didn’t see a pathway through to the first team. I just wanted to play first-team football and wanted to sign for Stoke, so I was then banished to train on my own at United before eventually signing for Stoke.
England had held the lead at Shawcross' introduction, but former United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored three times, including a wonder overhead kick from 30 yards out to win the game. Shawcross later joked the Swede had 'ended' his international career, but Sir Alex spoke about his joy at seeing his former charge earn an England call-up.
The following year, Shawcross was the topic of Fergie's programme notes once again, as he opened up on the decision to sell the centre-back: "It always grieves me when I have to release a young player of great potential, and Shawcross certainly fell into that category. "I’d agreed to go to Norwich on loan and was going to the hotel on the Friday night before the Saturday game to go and meet the team, but not play," he said. " Pulis phoned me and said ‘if you come to us you’re playing Saturday’ so that swayed me.
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