# Rio Ferdinand Reveals Sir Alex Ferguson Ignored His Request to Sign Aaron Lennon for Manchester United
Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon has enjoyed a successful career in the Premier League, but he could have been playing for Manchester United had it not been for Sir Alex Ferguson’s refusal to heed Rio Ferdinand’s advice.
Ferdinand, who was part of England’s squad for the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, revealed that he had urged Ferguson to sign Lennon while the two were teammates at Leeds United.
“I don’t think I trained with Tom Huddlestone many times but every time I trained with him he left something in that session that afterwards you’d go to one of the lads, ‘did you see that from Tom?'” Ferdinand said on Vibe With Five.
“Aaron Lennon one time when he was young and got in the team, oh my god, he stopped and started a few people and went through the middle of the pitch and all of us were like [open mouthed].”
“Like Fergie, I’ve gone, ‘from what I’ve seen in training, if he can replicate it in training, we need to get this guy’.”
Ferdinand added that Ferguson’s response was simply to ignore his request. Tottenham ended up signing Lennon in a £1 million deal from Leeds in 2005 and he went on to score 30 goals in 364 appearances for Spurs.
The former England defender also revealed how impressed he was with Tom Huddlestone during England’s training sessions.
“He played with both feet, bearing in mind he was massive, he used to have this skill where he would roll it with his right or left foot, rolls it with one and in the same motion slap pass it with the opposite, mate, hard to do, he’s doing it in training full speed, nonchalantly, or smashing a ball off either foot top corner, curling it, anywhere you like it,” Ferdinand said.
Ferdinand also believes that Jermain Defoe would have thrived at United under Ferguson.
“The one player I always used to say to him [Ferguson] if you want to buy someone from our England team… Defoe,” Ferdinand said. “Because he wouldn’t have started for us [Manchester United] all the time, but it would’ve been another type of Chicharito [Javier Hernandez], that he comes on and all he cares about is scoring, and if we’re winning 5-0 he’ll want to make it 6-0.”
It’s clear that Ferguson missed out on some great talent by not taking Ferdinand’s advice. Had he done so, Manchester United could have had a very different look over the past decade. Nevertheless, Lennon and Defoe have gone on to have successful careers in the Premier League and will be remembered as two of the best players of their generation.