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Dramatic exits from Manchester United

Roy Keane joined Celtic in 2005 © Getty Images

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With Wayne Rooney seemingly on his way out of Manchester United, we look back to a series of other high-profile exits from Old Trafford...

November 2005
Following Manchester United's 4-1 humiliation at Middlesbrough, a damaging defeat that sent the Red Devils 13 points behind leaders Chelsea, Ferguson was scathing in his assessment of his side's pitiful performance. "It was shocking," he told the BBC. "We conceded some terrible goals and we cannot afford do that with what we are trying to achieve."

Skipper Roy Keane, absent from the match due to injury, clearly agreed with his boss' sentiments - but he was rather less diplomatic in the way he vented his frustrations. The Irishman launched a tirade on the club's in-house television channel MUTV that was so explosive as to be deemed unfit for air. Keane, who could never be accused of pulling his punches, angered Ferguson by tearing into a number of his United team-mates after the Middlesbrough debacle.

The outburst was the last significant act of Keane's storied 12-year stay at Manchester United. Less than a fortnight later it was announced that he was leaving the club by "mutual consent" - although surely an uneasy consensus - after the simmering tensions between Ferguson and Keane became too much to bear. The veteran midfielder went on to spend six months at Celtic before pulling the curtain down on his career.

July 2003
The 2002-03 campaign promised to be a glorious one for David Beckham in the wake of his much-lauded achievements the previous season, when he scored 11 goals in 28 league games as United fell short in their title battle with Arsenal.

But Ferguson, who was far from enamoured with the growing circus surrounding Beckham off the field, shocked everyone by regularly preferring Ole Gunnar Solksjaer in the first team - even after the England star had shrugged off his early-season injury struggles. Ferguson believed that the hysteria surrounding Beckham, particularly the tabloid interest in every banal aspect of his life, was harming both the player and the club.

If the mood between the two was fractious by the start of 2003 - and Beckham, the England captain, can't have been happy with life on the bench - then their strained relationship finally crumbled in February of that year during United's FA Cup tie against Arsenal. With United trailing at half-time, a raging Ferguson kicked a stray boot across the dressing room, catching Beckham in the face - a freak accident that hastened the end of the winger's career at Old Trafford.

Jaap Stam left Manchester United for Lazio © Getty Images

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Five months later, after a bitter struggle for his signature, Real Madrid nipped ahead of Barcelona to capture the 28-year-old Beckham for £24.5 million. Peter Kenyon, who was Manchester United chief executive at the time, made clear that the deal was struck very much on Ferguson's terms: "While we are sad to see David go after so many great years at Old Trafford, we believe this is a good deal for the club."

August 2001
"[Selling Jaap Stam] was one of the mistakes I made - hopefully I haven't made too many - but that was one," Ferguson said in 2009 - a rare admission of fallibility. Time has clearly healed the rift between the pair that played a significant part in the Scot's decision to sell his prize defender to Lazio for £16.5m.

The line offered up for public consumption was that Stam had been jettisoned because his pace had deserted him following Achilles surgery. Yet the Dutchman, who won an unprecedented treble in his first year at Manchester United, had been voted the European Defender of the Year in 2000 - and he was replaced by the veteran Laurent Blanc, a man not renowned for covering the grass swiftly. Even without pace, Stam's astute footballing mind was still hugely beneficial to any team.

The fracture in the relationship was most likely caused by Stam's decision to serialise his autobiography, Head to Head, in the Mirror. Despite being renowned as a man of few words - your strong, silent type - Stam's autobiography was littered with revelations that acted as tabloid cannon fodder. Most notably, he accused Ferguson of approaching him without permission. Months later, Stam would be playing for Lazio.

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