Neville identifies two clubs he'd like to have joined had he ever left Man Utd

Gary Neville says he’d have had two clubs in mind had Sir Alex Ferguson ever decided to move him on from Manchester United.

The former United defender spent his entire career at Old Trafford after coming through the youth ranks, and is fifth on the club’s all-time appearance list having clocked up 602 games for the club between 1992 and 2011.

All of those matches came under Ferguson, and Neville admits that once he signed his final long-term contract at the club he knew he’d see out his career under the Scot.

“I’m fortunate in the sense that, because I signed a five or six-year deal when I was 29, it ran out when I was 34, I’d made the decision that if Sir Alex came up to me at the end of that contract and said ‘Gary, your time’s up’, I was never going to go and play for another club,” Neville told Sky Sports.

Neville spent his entire career under Sir Alex Ferguson
(Image: Getty Images Europe)

“I made that decision that I only wanted Manchester United next to my name.

“However, if he’d come to me at 28 and said, “Gary, your time’s up”, of course I would’ve gone and played for another Premier League club. I would have had to have done, because ultimately I’m a football player.”

And Neville says that Arsenal would have been his destination of choice within England, while he’d also have welcomed a move to Germany if he decided to play abroad.

“If you said to me, in the perfect world, in my years of growing up in the Premier League, playing, which clubs would I say did I think had some real tradition, they’re a proper club?” he continued.

Neville says he’d have liked to play for Arsenal if he had to leave United
(Image: Birmingham Post and Mail)

” Arsenal would be number one. You used to go to Highbury, you could just feel the tradition of the place, and I just felt they always did things the right way.

“The clubs in Europe I always admired were Juventus and Bayern Munich because we played them a lot in the late 90s, early 2000s and I just respected them as football clubs in terms of the teams that they had.

“Bayern Munich always felt meticulous in their preparation, so for me, Bayern Munich would be the club I would choose internationally.”