Dwight Yorke reveals the two words Fergie said to convince him to sign for Man United over Atletico…for less money

Dwight Yorke spent 17 seasons in the top flight of English football, winning the Premier League three times and the Champions League once with Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson.

The former Aston Villa striker took his first steps on the management ladder in July and led A-League side Macarthur FC to their first piece of silverware since being formed four years ago, winning the Australia Cup final in October only to leave the club in January.

In an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes: Fanzone, Yorke spoke about Ferguson, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his hopes of managing a Premier League club in the future.

Click on the links for part one in which he discussed the problems at Liverpool and part two for his thoughts on Manchester United.

Fergie convinced me to sign for United with two words

I spoke in great detail with Atletico Madrid before signing for Manchester United. I met with their representatives in London, privately, and talked to them. They offered me a hell of a lot of money to sign for them…more than Man United did, actually. But once I found out Man United were interested, it was always going to be them.

There’s just something about that club, and English football, that I couldn’t turn down. Inter Milan were interested in me, too, and even though I felt I could play in any of those leagues because of my style of play, United were the one that stood out to me the most. I needed to go there. I wasn’t attracted by the other offers in comparison, although I’m sure as a lifestyle choice, Italy or Madrid would have been a lot better than Manchester! But I made a decision based on football, and that was to play at United.

I knew Becks [David Beckham] and Coley [Andy Cole], which helped, and I think my agent was pushing for me to join United over the two foreign clubs, and obviously it turned out to be the right decision!

I was only ever going to leave Aston Villa for a club like Man United. I don’t think I’d have left them for any other club in England. They wanted me to stay. It was a record for Villa at the time. I remember them throwing a million quid at me there and then to sign on with them, and I didn’t, so it wasn’t about the money for me.

Everybody knows Sir Alex [Ferguson] was a good motivator, a good talker. He could make you feel better than what you already thought you were. The first conversation with him was very brief but I’ll never forget it. He said he wanted me to be the main guy at the club, and just said two words which won me over from the word go: “express yourself”.

That was all I needed to hear. He told me there was a reason he brought me to the club, and it was because I belonged there. He wanted to give me a platform to showcase my talent, but the moment he told me to go and express myself, that was it. I could be myself and that was great; it’s just how I like it to be.

And then, of course, you walk in the dressing room and you see the calibre of players around the place. It was a match made in heaven, for me. I felt very comfortable from the moment I walked in because I always backed myself. Money wasn’t a part of it, I just wanted to play football at a higher level and I knew I was good enough to do so. Having Sir Alex to back me up was just the icing on the cake, really.

I hope to follow in footsteps of United legend Ole

It’s difficult when you know someone personally, as I do with Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer]. I used to share a room with him when we travelled for Man United games. I just never saw him going into management, to be honest with you, let alone managing United, because he’s not that type of individual. But he was obviously keen to get into coaching and worked his way up through the academy and into the first team. He’d been around the club for a while so I see why he got the job in the first place, and I think he did a reasonable, decent job in all fairness to him.

I think Ole was unlucky, actually. He got United into finals and put them in positions where they could have done better. But when you don’t capitalise on those opportunities, at a club as big as Man United, you’re always going to be in the firing line. When you start finishing outside of the top four, despite having the fans’ backing for as long as Ole did, the writing is on the wall, especially when you’re losing 4-0 to Watford. You just can’t lose games in that manner. He would have learnt from that, though, and I think he could walk away with his head held high. Given more time, I’m sure he’d have felt he could have done a better job, but you just can’t afford to let performances and results slip, and when you do, you’re not going to get the time you want.

The story on the whole is unfortunate for Ole, but he’s done something that no other player has been able to say – become a legend at United on the pitch and then go on to manage them for three years. No one else can say that, but hopefully I’ll be the next person to follow in those footsteps.

I’m not in a rush to come back to England. Time is on my side as a manager and this most recent job has given me a little bit more experience. I’d like to do a couple more years somewhere around this part of the world and come back to England when the time is right. I want to gain some more experience, win more competitions and build that reputation.

You need to prepare yourself for these big jobs. I always feel like it’s an educational phase we’re in, especially at this stage of my career. I’m certainly not in a rush, though.

In two or three years from now, I think it would be refreshing for the English game for new managers to come in. One of the things I see a lot is that recycling of managers, particularly in the top two divisions in England. Someone who hasn’t been successful at one place is walking into another job at the same level. I thought the job was based on your success, not your failures. And you see too many people who fail, being given another one, two or three attempts elsewhere, and you wonder why that is.

In a couple of years, hopefully I’ll be a fresh face in management that people are aware of, but haven’t seen me in the dugout. That gives me a cleaner slate to start from, rather than these same old faces we see getting jobs in and around the Premier League.

I wouldn’t say the goal is the Manchester United job. The goal is to be the best manager I can be, and if I truly believe in my ability, which I do, then the goal is to manage at the top of the game. I did it as a player and now I want to be seen as one of the best, young, up-and-coming managers. If you have anything about you, then the Premier League is where you want to be right now, and if that leads me to the Villa job, or United, then so be it. That’s the aim.