Former Manchester United defender Phil Neville says Sir Alex Ferguson loved Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola.

The Italian forward spent seven years in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge, and proved to be a constant thorn in Man Utd's side.

He scored after just two minutes on his first appearance against Ferguson's side, and later starred in a rare 5-0 drubbing of United.

Zola's influence was so feared that Ferguson even went to great lengths to keep him quiet when United had already wrapped up the title in the 1999/00 season.

Speaking of United's 3-2 win that day, Neville said: "We'd won the league so we were really relaxed.

"The manager had made a few substitutions but the one thing about playing Chelsea, particularly at this point, was the unbelievable respect that Sir Alex Ferguson had for Gianfranco Zola – he loved him.

"In terms of the positions he took up he was similar to Eric Cantona [but also] in terms of the effect he had on English football. He always made it a tough game."