DANNY SIMPSON claims Gary Neville bagged him more cash after negotiating his Manchester United contract with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Simpson, 37, came up through the ranks at Old Trafford but played just eight times before joining Newcastle in 2009.
Neville negotiated on Simpson’s behalf with Sir Alex Ferguson[/caption]
The right-back, who also played for QPR and Leicester, was at one stage hailed as a future Red Devils star.
And he took plenty of inspiration from fan favourite Neville, who played in his position.
But Simpson knew he was tucked firmly under his fellow defender’s wing when Neville went face-to-face with Sir Alex in contract talks.
Fergie famously hated dealing with agents when he would negotiate deals.
The Scot did it all during his time at United manager, sorting out moves and renewals while also coaching his side to titles.
And in a stroke of genius, Simpson decided against using an agent in contract talks with Ferguson, instead leaving negotiations to pal Neville.
It worked wonderfully too, with Simpson revealing his mate actually bagged him more money.
Simpson, who won a Premier League title with Leicester in 2016, told talkSPORT: “Gary Neville actually negotiated my contract with Fergie.
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“As a young kid, when you’re starting to knock on the door and get around the first team, you’re scared that you’re going to annoy him.
“He’d go, ‘I want to give you a new contract,’ and you’d say to him, ‘My agent will see you.’
Simpson later went on to win the Premier League title with Leicester[/caption]
“You were scared to say that. Whereas now it’s the first thing you say.
“I’m thinking, ‘If I say that, he’s going to bin me off.’ So I spoke to Gaz and Gaz was like, ‘I’ll go see him for you.’
“It was me, Gaz and Sir Alex in the room.
“I didn’t really know what to do. So I’m just sat there in the middle.
“He (Neville) actually got me more money, to be fair. He actually didn’t [ask for a cut].
“The Gaz that you see now is always that Gaz.”
Danny Simpson’s career stats
- Man Utd, 2005-2010: 8 games, 0 goals
- Royal Antwerp (loan), 2005-2006: 30 games, 1 goal
- Sunderland (loan), 2006-2007: 14 games, 0 goals
- Ipswich (loan), 2007-2008: 8 games, 0 goals
- Blackburn (loan), 2008-2009: 20 games, 0 goals
- Newcastle, 2009-2013: 138 games, 2 goals
- QPR, 2013-2015: 44 games, 1 goal
- Leicester, 2014-2019: 133 games, 0 goals
- Huddersfield, 2019-2020: 25 games, 0 goals
- Bristol City, 2020-2022: 8 games, 0 goals
- Trophies: Championship (Sunderland); Championship (Newcastle); Championship play-offs (QPR); Premier League (Leicester)
