I was in Man Utd's invincible youth team - there were three senior stars I never liked in the Sir Alex Ferguson era

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EDDIE JOHNSON has revealed that there were three players at Manchester United that he never liked during Sir Alex Ferguson’s era.

The former youth prospect spent seven years rising through the ranks at Old Trafford but only featured once for the club.

Johnson played one game for the club which came in a 3-2 League Cup victory against Leeds in 2003.

He was a member of the Red Devils youth team after joining the club’s academy in 1999.

During this period the club were a dominant force having won the treble the same year.

And in 2003 he was a member of the club’s youth team that went invincible alongside the likes of Gerard Pique, Giuseppe Rossi and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.

However, he has admitted that while he would speak to most of the senior players of the club there were three that he did not like.

French duo Fabien Barthez and Laurent Blanc would apparently not acknowledge Johnson while Ruud Van Nisrelrooy made things “difficult”.

He told Manchester Evening News: “Most of the senior lads were great.

“There were only three people at United I never really liked, (Fabien) Barthez, Laurent Blanc and Ruud (Van Nistelrooy).

“Laurent and Fabien wouldn’t acknowledge you which was poor considering the rest of the first team were great.

“I didn’t necessarily dislike Ruud but he made it tough for you.

“Gary Neville made it tough but never made you feel like you were below him, whereas Ruud was different.

“I felt he didn’t like the young lads.

“He couldn’t stand Ronaldo at first!

“He was making run after run and Ronaldo would take ages to pass the ball.”

The now 38-year-old went on to play for Royal Antwerp, Coventry, Crewe, Bradford and the Portland Timbers in America.

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