Gary Neville has revealed that he was a central midfielder throughout his youth days at Manchester United before switching position after the arrival of David Beckham and Paul Scholes.
The United legend went on to register over 400 appearances for the Red Devils at right-back, earning 85 caps for England in the same role.
Neville is synonymous with the Old Trafford crowd for bombing down the right-hand side of the famous stadium in support of the likes of Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo throughout his illustrious trophy-laden career.
However, Neville has revealed that growing up he used to play in the centre of the park but decided to switch after the emergence of future teammates Scholes, Beckham and Nicky Butt.
The trio's arrival left Neville sweating on his future in the United youth set-up, prompting him to make the switch from midfield to defence.
"I was a central midfield player at Manchester United as a 12, 13, 14-year-old," Neville explained to Sky Sports Off Script.
"Then David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes joined and all of a sudden, I was a right-back. I thought 'oh dear, I've got a bit of a problem here because there are some talented players that are a different level of talent than I am'.
"They joined the club and I thought I better find a new position. The club moved me to centre-back initially and then because of my height, and Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister in the first team, they moved me to right-back because Paul Parker had been picking up some injuries.
"So I had to adapt over years and, to be honest, beggars cannot be choosers, so I was happy wherever I was as long as I was in the team."
