Jaap Stam Blames Ferguson For United Exit
By Joshua Walters
Former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam has revealed the reason behind his Old Trafford exit in 2001 and says he was sold out of the club without his knowledge.
The former Netherland international says former Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, took that step because he did not like him.
Alex Fergusson claimed in his memoir the biggest mistake he ever made in his 26-year-old stint at Old Trafford was the selling of Jaap Stamp.
The defender, who guarded the Red Devils to three Premier League titles, one FA Cup title and a Champions League trophy in a career that spanned between 1998 and 2001, insists selling him was the easiest thing Ferguson ever did since he was not the manager's fan in his book titled 'Head-to-Head.'
"It wasn't long, maybe 10 minutes,Like in the first meeting to the last, I didn't have a lot of stuff to say. Of course, my status and personality were different and he knew that as well.
"I was fuming, of course, but that was it. I told my wife I am going to go early in the morning because I want to speak to the manager about what happened,” he said.
“I heard he wasn’t too happy with everything. I spoke to him and we had a brief conversation. Not the best to be honest. I went back into my car and I went home.
“My agent phoned me and he told me: ‘Jaap where are you?' I said I was in my car. I’d just had a meeting but I went home. “He said: ‘They’re going to call you back because they’ve sold you.’
“I thought he was joking. I hung up and then Sir Alex phoned me and he asked me where I was. I said I was in the car halfway from Carrington to my house and he said: ‘Wait for me I’m going to come over.'
“I spoke to him in the car and he told me that they had an offer at Monaco where all the teams from the Champions League came together. They had an offer and they agreed to it, and he was going to be playing other players.
“At the time they used it (the book),” he added. “It was hard from out of the blue to say ‘OK, we’re going to sell Jaap’ without any reason.
“It was quite convenient that the book was there at that time. I think it's better to just be straightforward in how it is.”
