Manchester United's early success in the Premier League was largely attributed to Sir Alex Ferguson's capture of Eric Cantona from rivals Leeds United. The Frenchman, understandably, was viewed as the missing piece of the jigsaw.
Having said that, behind him, Ferguson had brought together two centre-backs in the form of Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister, who had forged an almost telepathic understanding at the heart of the United defence.
Following Bruce's departure to Birmingham City in the summer of 1996, Ferguson spent a number of years looking to replicate that partnership. Jaap Stam could, and by Ferguson's own admission should, have remained at Old Trafford longer, while the likes of Laurent Blanc, Henning Berg, Ronny Johnsen, Mikael Silvestre and Wes Brown had varying degrees of success in that position.
However, the signing of Rio Ferdinand for £30m from Leeds in 2002 saw Ferguson start to address the situation long term. It would take the Scot another four years, though, to find the England international a suitable companion.
It was on this day that United confirmed the arrival of Nemanja Vidic for a reported £7m from Russian club Spartak Moscow. Then 24, the defender joined up with United having been part of the Serbia & Montenegro rearguard that had conceded just one goal during the qualification phase for the 2006 World Cup.
"He is a quick, aggressive centre-half and will be a terrific addition to the squad," Ferguson told MUTV. "Good defenders win you things. The lad is really natural and athletic. You need good defenders and that is exactly what this lad is."
He made his debut on January 25 during a League Cup tie against Blackburn Rovers as a substitute for Ruud van Nistelrooy, while his first outing in the Premier League came against the same opponent in a 4-3 defeat at Ewood Park. As for his first goal, that was scored at the expense of Wigan Athletic in the October of that year.
After what many regarded to be a difficult start to life in English football, Vidic - along with Patrice Evra, who also joined during the same January - became one of the key components to United's recent triumphs, so much so that Ferguson entrusted him with the captaincy on permanent basis from 2010 onwards.
At the time of writing, his 284 appearances for the club have yielded five Premier League titles, one Champions League, three League Cups, one FIFA Club World Cup and five Community Shields.
Liam Apicella
