Rio Ferdinand, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has slammed his former club for failing to take his advice to make a move for Declan Rice before he joined Arsenal.
The Gunners spent big money to bring Rice from West Ham to the Emirates Stadium in the summer of 2023, and he’s proven a huge success for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Rice had shown plenty of promise at West Ham, but he’s arguably just taken his game up another level since joining Arsenal.
It’s not too surprising that Ferdinand is annoyed that Man Utd didn’t manage to get the England international while he was still available.
There’s surely no hope of United being able to sign Rice now that he’s at Arsenal, and Ferdinand admits this was a huge error by the Red Devils.
Rio Ferdinand slams Manchester United over Declan Rice transfer failure
Ferdinand is clearly a big fan of Rice, and it’s obvious that it still frustrates him that he was ignored when he urged United to make a move for him.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former United defender said: “Declan Rice didn’t make a choice (between Manchester United and Arsenal). Man United didn’t bid for him.
“United f****d that s*** up. They f****d that one up because I wanted Declan and I advised a couple of people there to get Declan at all costs.
“And they didn’t even bid. They didn’t even bid. He’s the man, I love him. I would have taken him.”
Back in the day, it’s easy to imagine Rice being the kind of signing that Sir Alex Ferguson’s United would have made.
MUFC used to be specialists in landing the best players from other Premier League clubs, including someone like Ferdinand, who joined for big-money from Leeds in the summer of 2002.
Other similar signings include Wayne Rooney from Everton, Dwight Yorke from Aston Villa, and both Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham.
