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.
