Gary Neville labelled Jaap Stam a "beast" in a conversation with Ruud van Nistelrooy, who also waxed lyrical about the one error of judgement Sir Alex Ferguson made at Manchester United.
The Dutch defender, signed in the late 1990s, was part of the treble winning side, but was later sold in 2001 to Lazio in a sudden and unexpected turn of events. Stam is still regarded as among the finest centre-halves of the Premier League era, yet United let him go in his pomp.
Neville had the luxury of playing outside him in a back four at United whilst Van Nistelrooy got to know him well in the national team, and they crossed paths briefly at Old Trafford. The Dutch striker then had to face his compatriot years later in a European outing - and he left quite the impression.
He said on the Overlap : "When we played Milan away in the Champions League. There was Cafu, Nesta, Jaap and Maldini with Gattuso in front - that was too much. But I would say when I played Jaap in that game, having played with him, but playing against him. He was quick, also quick on the turn and that determination, aggressiveness. It was a lot."
Stam was surprised when he found out about his Manchester departure, which came as a shock to many people within the club, let alone outside it. Laurent Blanc was bought in as his replacement but United failed to win any silverware that year.
Neville has admitted Ferguson made the wrong move by letting the Dutchman leave: “It was a strange one, made more bizarre when Laurent Blanc, a class act but clearly past his best, arrived as a replacement. There aren’t many big decisions you can point to and say the manager called that one wrong. This was one.”
Ferguson himself has confessed his mistake previously, as 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."
Stam would spend three years at Lazio, with whom he won the Coppa Italia. He then moved to a star-studded AC Milan side and was part of an iconic Champions League final, admittedly on the wrong side after Liverpool's incredible comeback in Istanbul.
The defender spent a further two years in Italy before he headed back to his homeland to see out his career with Ajax before retiring in October 2007.
