Former Manchester United academy graduate Tom Heaton has opened up on how Sir Alex Ferguson reacted to his departure from the club.
Heaton struggled to break through at United after coming through the ranks, with the goalkeeper heading out on loan to the likes of Swindon Town, Royal Antwerp, Cardiff City, QPR, Rochdale and Wycombe.
The England international eventually decided that following five years of loans he wanted to nail down a regular spot away from Old Trafford.
Instead of signing a new deal at United, Heaton left the club ahead of his 24th birthday as he departed for Cardiff on a free transfer.
Heaton remembers telling Ferguson of his plans, something which naturally produced a fiery response from the United legend.
“It was, how do you say, an interesting moment. I understood his point of view. I’d been there since I was a kid. He was offering me a new contract and I was turning it down," Aston Villa keeper Heaton told the Daily Star.
“He wasn’t best pleased! So, I was on the end of it a bit. I totally understood it because they had invested a lot of time in me.
“But I knew what was right for me. It was a risk, but it was one I wanted to take. I walked out of his office with my tail between my legs. It needed to be done. It was the right decision. I knew that and I never wavered from it.
“In fairness – and I always say this because it’s important to me – two or three weeks down the line, he called me back into his office, and said, ‘I will always be there for you, whenever you need me. I respect your decision’. That meant the world to me.”
