David Beckham thought he was going to be axed by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as a junior player.
Ex-United youth boss Eric Harrison revealed how a loan move to Preston North End had Beckham upset.
"With David Beckham when the boss decided to send him off to Preston in 1995 on loan he'd only been at United a few days," Harrison told the Manchester Evening News.
"He rang me up all upset saying the manager wanted to get rid of him and I told him that just wasn't the case - we just wanted him to play league football and he did have a big future at the top of the game.
"When he got to Preston he met Tom Finney and he made him feel 10ft tall when he told him he was a good player.
"It's a must these days for players to go out on loan and Sir Alex is making the most of this arrangement. It's a case of picking and choosing your clubs, though. It's no use sending young players to teams that don't play anything like the United way.
"It's either the United way or no way as far as Sir Alex is concerned and he handpicks the teams where the young players are going."
