Rio Ferdinand has revealed that Wayne Rooney thought Nemanja Vidic was ‘terrible’ and thought Manchester United ‘had messed up’ when they signed him and Patrice Evra.
Sir Alex Ferguson brought Vidic and Evra to Old Trafford in the summer of 2006 but they initially struggled.
The pair went on to become legends at Old Trafford, but after a single training session Rooney was less than convinced.
Speaking on the Filthy @ Five podcast, Ferdinand recalled his first training session with Man United’s new signings Vidic and Evra when they first joined.
Ferdinand revealed: ‘I remember after one session, me and Wazza were walking around. He said “Who the f*** is this guy?”.
Rio Ferdinand (right) revealed that Wayne Rooney (centre) thought Nemanja Vidic (left) was ‘terrible’ during his first training session at Manchester United
The pair went on to win major trophies at Old Trafford and become club legends
Rooney also criticised Sir Alex Ferguson for the signings at the time
The Man United and England legend continued to reveal that Vidic looked unimpressive during his first training session before expanding on Rooney’s criticism of the signings.
‘He was terrible,’ he continued.
‘Vidic and Evra signed in the same window and he (Rooney) was going “The manager has f***** it, he’s messed up, I don’t know what’s going on with the recrutiment”.
However, Rooney was soon proven wrong as he went on to lift some of the biggest trophies with Vidic and Evra becoming key figures in Ferguson’s defence.
Rooney will be hoping that his eye for talent has improved since 2006, with the former England international now in charge of DC United in the MLS.
His side sit 9th in the Eastern Conference and will be looking to make a push for the MLS Cup play-offs by the end of the season.
