Gabriel Heinze regrets manner of leaving Manchester United

Published Feb. 22, 2011 at 5:03 p.m.

• Defender blames his 'impulsive and strong-willed' nature
• Argentinian praises Ferguson before Marseille meeting

Gabriel Heinze has expressed regret for the acrimonious manner of his departure from Manchester United, blaming his "impulsive and strong-willed" personality for the dispute that ended his working relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson.

Heinze, now a member of the Marseille defence and preparing to face his former club in the Champions League, said it had been a mistake to defy Ferguson by trying to force a transfer to Liverpool in the summer of 2007 and become the first player since Phil Chisnall 43 years earlier to be sold from Old Trafford to Anfield.

The 32-year-old Argentinian has never before spoken publicly about the row but, as he prepared to play against United for the first time since leaving Old Trafford, he made it clear there is no lingering bad feeling on his part.

"I don't have many regrets from my career as a footballer, but that episode with Ferguson [has] to be one of them," he said. "I'm impulsive and strong-willed and this has got me into trouble at times, which was the case at the time when I left United."

The dispute eventually went to a Premier League tribunal, with Heinze's legal team arguing United had agreed in writing to sell him to any club who matched their valuation of £6.8m. Liverpool, then managed by Rafael Benítez, had submitted that bid and when United refused to let the deal happen, Heinze responded by taking the extraordinary step of employing the Anfield club's solicitor, Hill Dickinson, to represent him. The tribunal ruled in United's favour, with Heinze never playing for Ferguson again before moving to Real Madrid the following month, spending two years at the Bernabéu before joining Marseille.

"I spent three years in Manchester and had some great moments and I regret it [leaving the club] a lot. There are a lot of things I regret from the last months but I am a strong personality, Sir Alex is a strong personality. I took the decision and, looking back, I regret it because it meant leaving a great club and their supporters. I was aware of the rivalry with Liverpool, I knew the risk of going from Manchester to Liverpool and what it means. I hope it doesn't tarnish the way they see me and they will remember the three years I had in the team."

That contrition may come as a surprise given the way the bad feeling appears to have continued since he left Manchester. Ferguson once claimed that Madrid had signed the Argentinian only because he was close friends with Cristiano Ronaldo and "the endgame was to get Ronaldo", a withering assessment of the left-back's ability that prompted Heinze to accuse his former manager of coming up with "a work of absolute fiction".

Yet Heinze is effusive in his praise for Ferguson. "On reflection, it is easy to see that Ferguson was a major influence on my career, in a positive way. I've met him only once since I left when I was in Qatar to see Brazil play Argentina [last year] and I was really pleased to see him.

"He gave me a winning culture. I thought my mind was set to be a winner before moving to United, but I discovered I had completed only part of the journey. Sir Alex makes every player so much more driven and committed.

He demands that his players dig as deep for the cause and I'm sorry that we fell out in the final days, because I still have so much respect for him."

• Champions League
• Manchester United
• Marseille
• Sir Alex Ferguson

Daniel Taylor
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