Learn More On Three Of The Best: Manchester United Players
Manchester United is a team with a worldwide reputation; you’ll find fans of the side from Tokyo to Tennessee and Brazil to the Bahamas. It’s for good reason too – it’s long been one of the best sides in the world, and the charismatic Sir Alex Ferguson – who retired in 2013 – is every bit as well loved as the club’s star players.
Here at our talent management agency we’re lucky to work with a handful of phenomenal former players, all of whom were at the club in some of its best ever years. Any one of our celebrity speakers who’ve played for the Reds could have the audience at your next event eating out of the palm of their hand. Keep reading to find out why:
Louis Saha
Though his nationality is French, Louis Saha nonetheless spent much of his career living and working in the UK – his parents hail from the French department of Guadeloupe so his cultural background is an interesting one. After signing for Metz in 1995, Saha began his football career, but it was not until 1999 that he first played in the UK – for Newcastle United.
In 2000 Louis was transferred to Fulham for £2.1 million, and he went on to be named Premier League Player of the Month in his first month playing in the top flight of English football. By 2004, the player had valued significantly, and Louis Saha was signed to Manchester United for £12.4 million, a decision that no-one lived to regret as he scored seven goals in his first ten matches for Man U.
Although the 2004-5 season wasn’t a great one for Saha as he suffered an injury to his knee, the Frenchman came back with a vengeance in his third season with the club and became the first choice strike partner for golden boy Wayne Rooney. In 2006 he started even stronger, scoring a goal within the first seven minutes of the first match of the season, though injuries began to plague him over the next couple of seasons; in all Saha scored 42 competition goals for Manchester United over a total of 120 appearances.
Peter Schmeichel
Reknowned as one of the world’s best ever goalkeepers, Schmeichel was born in Denmark and grew up close to Copenhagen, though he had Polish citizenship like his father and siblings until 1970. His path to becoming a professional footballer was not a wholly smooth one and at times he worked in a textile factory and for the World Wildlife Fund before he became employed full time as a footballer.
Well known already in Denmark, Schmeichel was playing for Brøndby when he first started to get noticed on the international scene, playing in the 1991 UEFA cup competition. As an important part of the team, which reached the semi-finals, Schmeichel caught the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson and signed for £505,000, a price Ferguson later described as the bargain of the century.
Over the course of the eight years that Schmeichel played for Manchester United he became an important fixture of the team, and won five FA Premier League titles, three FA cups, one league cup and the UEFA Champions’ League.
Rio Ferdinand
Brothers Rio and Anton Ferdinand took the Premier League by storm in the ‘90s, but the novelty of having two brothers in the upper echelons of football wasn’t the only interesting thing about them. Rio also commanded two separate record-breaking transfer fees during his time as a football player, and when he earned his first cap for the international team, he was at the time the youngest defender ever to have done so.
In his career for Manchester United, Ferdinand appeared 455 times over more than a decade, and became known for his hard-grafting as an integral member of one of British football’s best ever teams.
Book a footballer
Footballers can be real crowd-pleasers when it comes to booking a celebrity guest, and these three are sure to be familiar names and faces to most people. At the top of their game in their respective heydays, they can speak eloquently around themes such as perseverance and hard work, as well as telling anecdotes from behind the scenes of one of the world’s best loved football clubs.
To enquire about booking Louis Saha, Peter Schmeichel or Rio Ferdinand, please contact MN2S talent agency to find out more.
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