'I was a flop after big-money transfer – but now it's paying dividends at Man Utd'

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Jonathan Woodgate's transfer to Real Madrid is infamous for all the wrong reasons. But the defender's switch to Spain is now helping him as a coach at Manchester United under Michael Carrick .

Former Leeds United and Newcastle United centre-half Woodgate impressed in the English top flight early in his career but was ravaged by injury troubles. That made his £13.4million move to Los Blancos from the Magpies in 2004 all the more puzzling .

In the Spanish capital, Woodgate made just 14 appearances. While he showed glimpses of leadership, injuries again ensured he never truly got going and his debut was one to forget . He returned to England in 2006 on loan with Middlesbrough, making that move permanent a year later before ending his career with them in 2016 after spells with Spurs and Stoke City .

In retirement, Woodgate transitioned into coaching and after working with Carrick at the Riverside Stadium, he joined his coaching staff at Old Trafford last month. Now, although his Real Madrid transfer was a relative failure, it has reportedly given him an edge in the dugout.

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According to the Daily Mail , Woodgate has emerged as an incredibly valuable first-team coach thanks to his ability to speak Spanish. He, of course, learned it while playing for Real Madrid .

This has reportedly gone down well with a lot of the senior players who converse in the language, meaning Woodgate's transfer all those years ago is still paying dividends.

Joining Woodgate under Carrick, who is yet to be beaten during this spell as United boss, are ex-England coach Steve Holland, as well as Travis Binnion and Jonny Evans.

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Speaking about his coaching choices in January, Carrick said: "Yeah, [getting the coaching balance right] was probably the most important thing. Steve's got an unbelievable wealth of experience, massive experience at Chelsea in terms of going through similar situations and dealing with that and staying successful.

"Jonathan, he's loyal. He's very knowledgeable. He's the perfect balance to me personally, I think that's important, you know, I don't want all the same. He challenges me, pushes me and has done so for the last three years. He'll keep doing that.

"Trav, I think this club's about young players, you know, developing the young players, working with the young players and pushing the young players when they need a push. He's going to have a massive part of that.

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"And Jonny, obviously he's someone who's close to me and everything he stands for, I respect and I appreciate. He's got unbelievable knowledge. He's come through the whole thing.

"He's in this football club and he gets it. So I think there's a real balance of personalities, of characters, of knowledge and experience. I'm really, really happy."

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