Gabriel Heinze has expressed regret for the acrimonious manner of his departure from Manchester United, blaming his "impulsive and strong-willed personality" for the dispute that ended his working relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Heinze, now a part of the Marseille defence and preparing to face his former club in the Champions League, said it had been a mistake to respond to losing his place to Patrice Evra in 2007 by trying to force a transfer to Liverpool and become the first player since Phil Chisnall 43 years earlier to be sold from Old Trafford to Anfield.
The Argentinian has never before spoken publicly about the row but as he prepared to play against United for the first time since leaving Old Trafford three and a half years ago, he made it clear there is no lingering bad feeling on his part.
"I don't have many regrets from my career as a footballer, but that episode with Ferguson [has] to be one of them," he said. "I'm impulsive and strong-willed and this has got me into trouble at times, which was the case when I left United."
The dispute eventually went to a Premier League tribunal, with Heinze's legal team arguing United had agreed in writing to sell him to any club that matched their valuation of £6.8m.
Liverpool, then managed by Rafael Benítez, had submitted such a bid and Heinze took the extraordinary step of employing the Anfield club's solicitor, Hill Dickinson, to represent him. The tribunal ruled in United's favour, with Heinze never playing for Ferguson again before moving to Real Madrid the following month. He spent two years at the Bernabéu before joining Marseille.
"I spent three years in Manchester and had some great moments and I regret it [leaving the club] a lot. There are a lot of things I regret from the last months but I am a strong personality, Sir Alex is a strong personality. I took the decision and, looking back, I regret it because it meant leaving a great club and their supporters. I was aware of the rivalry [with Liverpool], I knew the risk of going from Manchester to Liverpool and what it means. I hope it doesn't tarnish the way they [the supporters] see me and they will remember the three years I had in the team."
That contrition may come as a surprise given the way the bad feeling appeared to have continued since he left Manchester. Ferguson once claimed that Madrid had signed the Argentinian only because he was close friends with Cristiano Ronaldo and "the endgame was to get Ronaldo", a withering assessment of the left-back's ability that prompted Heinze to accuse his former manager of coming up with "a work of absolute fiction".
Yet Ferguson also made it clear he did not hold a grudge. "I thought he had a bad agent who engineered the situation and tried to trick [the chief executive] David Gill. I have no issues with Gabby. He was a fantastic player for us, a warrior. He just took bad advice. From day one after we signed him his agent was trying to get him another move and, of course, that's how they [agents] make their money these days."
Heinze, 32, added he met Ferguson when in Qatar in November for Argentina's friendly against Brazil. "I was really pleased to see him. On reflection, it is easy to see Ferguson was a major influence on my career, in a positive way. I'm sorry that we fell out in the final days because I still have so much respect for him."