17 Mar 2013

'Man Utd wanted me' - LFC star admits he rejected Old Trafford move

Reds striker Michael Ngoo has revealed that he rejected an offer from Manchester United before agreeing to sign for Liverpool.

In an interview this week, the 6'5 striker - currently on loan at Heart of Midlothian - revealed that he actually played for Man United in the Milk Cup final prior to joining the Reds in September 2009. He told the Scottish Herald:

"They [Manchester United] wanted to sign me but I ended up choosing Liverpool.

"I never spoke to Sir Alex [Ferguson] but Kenny [Dalglish] was a big influence as academy manager at Liverpool. He was always around and passing on great advice for us all"


Speaking to the Scotsman today, Dalglish discussed his experience of working with Ngoo. he said:

“He was a very pleasant boy, and mannerly. He did all the training and worked really hard. It’s great for him to be up here [in Scotland] and getting this opportunity. Playing first-team football is not going to do him any harm.

“I don’t think at 20 he is going to put Luiz Suarez or Daniel Sturridge out of the Liverpool first team. It’s a bit much to expect at his age, but it’s fantastic for him to have come up here and to have played at Hampden.”


Since joining Hearts on Loan, Ngoo has grabbed three goals and one assist in ten starts for the club, and the Scottish club's manager John McGlynn is clearly happy with 20-year old's overall contribution. He told The Scotsman:

“Over the years I’ve seen many players come and go, you have your Ricardo Fullers and big Michael is a similar player in many ways. Ricardo Fuller leaves then Mark De Vries comes in. You always think you’re going to miss him and then someone else comes along.”

Ngoo still hopes to figure for Liverpool when his loan period ends, and insists that his 'height and strength' could be an asset to the team:

"Hopefully I have done enough to be considered one of the young players in his [Rodgers'] plans for next season. There are different reasons he could put me in. I am still young, and if I keep working and practicing then I could be a Plan B for Liverpool"

Rodgers seems to rate Ngoo, and after watching him in a reserve game in November 2012, he enthused:

"I love his [Ngoo's] attitude. He’s a funny player, Michael. He’s unorthodox, but effective, and he’s a real nuisance around the six yard box. He's brilliant in that he gives 100% every single game".

Earlier this season, Liverpool legend John Aldridge called for Ngoo to be given a chance in the first team. He told the Liverpool Echo:

"Michael Ngoo might get a senior call-up. Ngoo is a powerful lad with a presence about him. He has had a really good season for the under-21s and, despite his size, is better on the floor. I believe he could do a decent job"

Is Ngoo a potential 'Plan B' for Liverpool? I don't see why not, and if Rodgers is going to employ a different type of striker to give the Reds a bit of variety upfront, I'd rather it be Ngoo than the Andy Carroll.

Unfortunately for Ngoo, he will inevitably be tarred with the usual cliches about tall strikers, but As Aldo says, the youngster is very good on the floor (as the video below shows), and if the (younger) likes of Sterling, Suso et al can get a few chances in the first team, why not Ngoo...?





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34 comments:

  1. kenny beat fergie this proves the pulling power kenny has and thats why suarez signed and why cavani or falcao would of signed but brendan gets the mighty borini and sturridge and why siggy went to spurs the man has no cups to his name and is a 3rd rate manager even andy carroll is better than the bums brendan has signed i would name carra boss with kenny doing a paisley role like in 86 when kenny took over,take the yesterday brendan goes on about joe allens injury then picks him ahead of are best def.mid lucas why change a winning team maybe to make joe allen look better in a so called easy game he needs to face the fact joe allen is not xavi and never will be

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  2. Are you serious? KD has ruined our club twice! Carra has zero experience! The problem for Joe Allen is not himself, it is who he has alongside him. Gerrard has zero leadership quality and is the real reason teams waltz through the centre of our midfield. Put a Souness//keane/viera type alongside Allen and Lucas in a midfield 3 and he will thrive as long as our players move. For too long now Gerrard is static after making a pass and creates al sorts of problems for our ball retention. I agree, Joe Allen should not play whilst Gerrard plays and Lucas is a better fit. IMO the only place for Gerrard is out wide or behind our striker/s and never in CM. He is pathetic at times

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  3. your right m8 getting 50m for torrez ..getting us in two finals ( winning one ) getting us into europe and leaving the club with the 3rd best defence in the leauge really left us in a mess

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  4. spot on tony i agree with all your points ...especially rogers trying to hand pick games for allen to try and make him look good ..whats funny and shows how inept he is it usually always ends up with us getting whooped by some poor team

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  5. ps kenny has done more for the club and city of Liverpool than you can even dream about...

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  6. Oh yeah right, and spending £35m on Carroll was good business too I suppose. M8 I'm a season ticket holder and watched some absolute dross under KD. Don't get me wrong the guy is a legend in my eyes, twice the player Gerrard is/was but as a manager no. I appreciate he came and galvanised us after Hodgson, but he could take us no further. He cannot build a defence, certainly not on a budget. Hence his failings during his first tenure

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  7. what like the games Kenny did last season with Charlie Adam?

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  8. Cavani or Falcao? Wishful thinking,me thinks. But then again, KK II managed to pull Hendo, Carroll, Adam and Carroll.....(!)

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  9. so wats the point in any disagreement in any discussion just to be deleted!

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  10. Preach on! The amount of delusion regarding KK 2nd tenure is unreal! Next they'll be saying Charlie Adam is the Scottish Iniesta!

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  11. how did king kenny ruin us twice ,maybe it was his fantastic playing carear maybe it was his first stint as manager when he put together the most exciting side i,ve ever seen ,maybe it was the way that he stood up for the club and supporters in our darkest hours tillan the strain finely got to much for one man to bare ,maybe it was the way he turned the club round after hodgeson and at least got us back into europe admittedly at the second tier,and the people who like your comment do not know there history and have no respect what so ever and as for your comments about gerrard he may well be getting on but i can garuntee you one thing allen will not be a tenth as good as gerrard ,even on gerrards worse days

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  12. what failings you halfwit,the double ,league championships and more fa cups

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  13. no m8 we will leave that to you rodgers and allen delusionists

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  14. Jason I'm under no illusions that Allen hasn't been great but do you accept that KK wasted an awful lot of money 2nd time round?
    Do you also accept that a very lacklustre league cup victory cannot compensate for dismal form?
    With regards to Ngoo may as well give him a chance to be a plan B surely he can be no where near as bad as Carroll!

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  15. i do agree with some of your points ,all points you could say about rodgers two couple of differences thou kenny was a legend rodgers is not ,kenny got some success and european football rodgers as not

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  16. what you forget is lucas was injured all season and suarez suspended yet we still got silver ware

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  17. You've forgotten to mention that Kenny would have talked Pele and Maradona out of retirement, rejuvenated them and we would have been world beaters. Make no mistake, Kenny was my idol many moons ago, but I think you are getting a bit too excited in your post above. Kenny arguably has some pulling power when it comes to British players, but he is not very famous or well known abroad. And after all, I would prefer us to employ players who want to play for us because we are Liverpool and not because someone happens to be our manager (whether it is Kenny, Roy, whoever).


    Carroll better than Coutinho or Sturridge? I don't think so.


    And may I remind you that when Kenny took over, he took over at a club that had dominated not only the national competitions, but was also extremely successful in Europe at the time. You can't (unfortunately) compare the Liverpool of the 70ies and 80ies to the current Liverpool.

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  18. You make some good points concerning Kenny here!

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  19. No need to insult someone only because he says something you don't like. You should know that at your age.

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  20. I actually didn't know that Kenny himself negotiated the deal for Torres. There doesn't pass a day where I don't learn something new.

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  21. oh thank you so much my life as not been in vain

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  22. oh shit my life as been worthless i will go to hell i hope they do not have internet there then at least i will not get 50 posts a day of you lol;-)

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  23. and if that had happened this season we would well and truly be in a relagation battle

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  24. Is that the most intelligent reply you can come up with? Ignoring what someone has said seems to be fashionable where you live.

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  25. Sorry for giving you a positive reply. You obviously can't handle that.

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  26. well everyone blames carroll and his fee on kenny so why not torrez and his fee ..when you mention the Carrol fee you have to mention the Torres fee as well as one drives the other

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  27. Let BR spend the equivalent amount as KK then we can judge! Whether you like it or not- Sturridge trumps Carroll, Coutinho trumps Adam, Hendo & Downing although much improved is still not value for money. At 16 & 20 mill respectively is a gross waste considering what they have produced! Both are at best squad players, you don't spend close to £40mill on squad players! Even if KK wasn't directly involved in agreeing the fee (which he would have been aware of ) he should have said forget it let me send scouts to look at non-uk players!

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  28. Suarez trumps Borini

    Henderson trumps Allen

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  29. i think rodgers net spend will not be far of kennys signings now ,plus rodgers has the players kenny signed as well

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  30. look m8 you can keep sending your 50 posts a day to me but they will be no more replys read the comments policy if you do not like someone do not post to them

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  31. no m8 you only mention the negatives about kenny,it,s a way of trying to justify the shambols that is rodgers reign

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  32. Wot Hodgson gets the credit for Saurez!

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  33. Hogdson was sacked at the end of December Suarez was signed at the end of January

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