GiveMeSport
·30 September 2022
GiveMeSport
·30 September 2022
Park Ji-Sung was an integral member of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United winning juggernaut.
Ferguson signed the South Korean star from PSV Eindhoven in 2005 and it proved to be an absolute stroke of genius.
For the paltry price of £4 million, United got their hands on one of the hardest working, most fiercely determined footballers on the planet.
However, it very nearly didn’t happen as Park thought the entire thing was a joke.
Speaking to NBC, Park highlighted the fact that he simply didn’t believe it when he was told that United, and more specifically, Ferguson, was interested in him.
“My agent told me that Man United were interested in me, but I thought it was a joke, why? Then I just didn’t take it seriously.”
“My manager said to me that Sir Alex Ferguson was waiting for your call! I said ‘What? Why?’ and he said ‘he wants to talk to you’ and then i realised he was really serious.”
When he did come to terms with the reality of it all, Park made the move and found that it was the perfect step for his career.
In the same interview, he sung the praises of his colleagues who made his initiation to English football as smooth as it could be.
“When I joined the players all just helped me to adapt to the culture of the club and the culture of England, how it looks like in the Premier League,” he added.
“And even Sir Alex Ferguson off the pitch is a really great man and great person to follow, it made it a lot easier to adapt to the English culture.”
“When I look back, it was quite strange. It was just one day after training and we were playing a video game. I won the first game and he (Patrice Evra) was quite angry at that, so he wanted me to play again, that started our relationship.”
Of course, Park would became famous for his relentless man-marking of Andrea Pirlo that effectively nullified the Italian maestro.
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