Fraizer Campbell was left surprised by an offer Gary Neville made to him during his time at Manchester United. The 38-year-old made four appearances under Sir Alex Ferguson and had also caught Neville’s eye before his breakthrough.
Campbell joined United’s academy at a young age, rising through the ranks to eventually be on the periphery of the first team. Struggling to disrupt a forward line that included Wayne Rooney, he enjoyed successful loan spells at Royal Antwerp and Hull City before also joining Tottenham Hotspur as Dimitar Berbatov headed in the opposite direction.
The one-time England international signed for Sunderland in 2009 and later featured in the top-flight for Cardiff City and Crystal Palace, who United face on Sunday. However, Campbell never forgot how Neville, as an experienced player, reached out to help him at the start of his career.
“For me, [Neville] was brilliant,” Campbell told the UTD podcast in 2023. “I think, when I was 16 or 17, I was doing really well in the games and he was like: ‘Fraiz, you’ve done well in the last 10, 15 games, do you want me to go and speak to the manager and get you a better deal?’
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“I was like: ‘Is this a trick question?’ Why would I say no to that?
“So, he actually went in and got me a new deal, him and the gaffer might have been in cahoots or whatever, but it felt like he was looking out for me. He was great to be around as a young player.”
That was not where Neville’s influence on Campbell’s career stopped. The striker had emerged on the fringes of a title-winning squad and sought the veteran defender’s career advice when travelling back from a pre-season tour with United.
“I think we got the plane back from the tour, [I was] with Gary Neville and, at this point, there was talk of clubs offering for me and I said: ‘What do you think I should do? I want to play but I haven’t really been around the first team enough,'” Campbell recalled.
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“Every time I was [at United], everyone was fit and every time I went on loan, everyone got injured. I think one of the times I was on loan, [Federico] Macheda was playing. I was buzzing for him, but, at the same time, I was thinking there were five guys ahead of him that have got injured and he’s got a chance and done really well with it.
“I didn’t want to be doing that, so I spoke to Gaz and he was saying, ‘Yeah [go and play football].'”
Following three seasons out on loan, Campbell completed a £3.5million move to Sunderland in 2009. He spent three-and-a-half seasons at the Black Cats, scoring 10 goals in 71 games, before joining Cardiff in January 2013 and helping the club achieve Premier League promotion.
After 18 months with the Welsh club, Campbell opted to join Palace in 2014, who United host at Old Trafford this weekend. The forward scored eight in 50 appearances before making an emotional return to Hull in 2017. His career ended in 2022 after three years at Huddersfield Town.
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