Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown has revealed that nobody questioned Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to sell David Beckham despite the surprise sale in 2003.
The England star was quickly becoming an iconic figure in world football and saw his relationship with the legendary Scottish tactician deteriorate during his final months.
In the aftermath of their FA Cup defeat to Arsenal, Ferguson accidentally kicked a boot across the dressing room hitting the free-kick specialist on the head. The incident forced Beckham to have butterfly stitches on the cut which were evident in the following matches.
Real Madrid came in for Beckham that summer as they created their Galacticos which saw Steve McManaman and Michael Owen among the global stars Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and Iker Casillas.
Whilst the decision to allow the switch from Manchester to the Spanish capital sparked surprise, Brown revealed that with Sir Alex's success in rebuilding teams nobody questioned the outcome.
"Becks [David Beckham] was the biggest surprise because he was world-class and only 28,” he told the Daily Mail.
"But still nobody questioned the gaffer inside the club because he’d done it successfully before. I played in three great United sides and realised he always knew when to move with the times and build another one.
"It’s a cliché but the team always came first.
"I spoke to Berba [ Dimitar Berbatov ] about it, he said at Tottenham he was the best player with Robbie Keane and everyone accepted it."
Following the departure of the former England captain, Ferguson introduced Cristiano Ronaldo signing the talented winger from Sporting.
Brown added: "At United, there were many great players who’d won things like Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs but every player still worked hard and respected each other.
"The gaffer created that atmosphere. When I went to other clubs, I realised it wasn’t a guarantee.
"Not every decision proved right but he corrected it. Juan Sebastian Veron was an unbelievable player but for some reason it didn’t fit.
"So he left and the team quickly moved on.”
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