Ruud van Nistelrooy burned his bridges with Manchester United after he insulted Sir Alex Ferguson during the club's 2006 League Cup final win.
Van Nistelrooy was a substitute for the 4-0 mauling of Wigan as Louis Saha, who had scored in his previous four games in the competition, started alongside Wayne Rooney.
Nemanja Vidić and Patrice Evra, who had joined United the previous month, were introduced to give them a "smell of winning".
"You ****," Ferguson claims Van Nistelrooy called him in his autobiography. "I'll always remember that. Could not believe it. It became fractious in the dugout. The other players were telling him: 'Behave yourself.'
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"But that was the end of him. I knew we would never get him back. He'd burned his boats. After that incident, his behaviour became worse and worse.
Ferguson left Van Nistelrooy out of United's final league fixture with Charlton, even though the club was "walking on eggshells" regarding Saha's notorious fitness, after an exchange with Cristiano Ronaldo in training.
As reported at the time, Van Nistelrooy told Ronaldo to "Complain to your daddy," meaning United assistant Carlos Queiroz. Ronaldo's father had died earlier that season.
Ferguson adds Van Nistelrooy asked for a clause to be inserted into a new contract after his second, 44-goal season with United which would enable him to join Real Madrid. Eventually, United agreed to a £35 million figure a year later, believing the price would deter any potential bidders.
Van Nistelrooy is still hailed as one of United's "best goalscorers" by Ferguson in his book, though.