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| Nicky is a hard working central
midfielder equipped with a powerful engine comparable to that of his mentor
Roy Keane. He is superb in the slide tackle and not lacking in skill. Statistics
have in fact shown that Nicky is the most effective midfield tackler in
the Premiership, winning 79% of the challenges he commits to! He was the
first of the current crop of young players to emerge in the first team,
making his debut in late 1992. It wasn't until the 1994/95 season that
he fully established himself though. Due to the restrictions of the foreign
player rule he became a first choice in United's Champions League lineups.
Arguably the most impressive of his early performances came in the Nou
Camp. As the rest of the team fell apart in a humilating 4:1 demolition
at the hands of Barcelona, Nicky produced a defiant performance in an unsuccessful
attempt to defy the odds.
In 1995 Alex Ferguson showed complete faith in Butt's ability by choosing him to replace the Inter Milan bound Paul Ince. He has never failed to repay that trust shown in him, forming a formidable midfield partnership with Roy Keane. However following Keane's cruciate knee ligament injury in September 1997 that partnership was broken up for the remainder of the season. Nevertheless Nicky lifted his performances to fill the void left by the United captain as best he could. Such a workload tooks its toll though and a string of injuries mid-way through the season left United short of central midfield cover which proved costly in the final run-in. Since his emergance Nicky has seen the likes of Gary Neville and David Beckham gain full international recognition while he failed to progress any further than the England Under-21 squad. Finally in the 1996/97 season all that changed as he made the breakthrough into Glenn Hoddle's England team for the friendly against Mexico on April 2, 1997. He has made sporadic first team appearances at the highest level and had a right to feel aggreived that he failed to make England's final World Cup finals squad. But he is destined to play an important part in England's future. |
| United League Career |
| Season | Appearances | Goals |
| 1992-93 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| 1993-94 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| 1994-95 | 11 (11) | 1 |
| 1995-96 | 31 (1) | 2 |
| 1996-97 | 24 (2) | 5 |
| 1997-98 | 31 (2) | 3 |
| Total: | 97 (18) | 11 |