According to The Athletic, Manchester United and Liverpool have not exchanged senior players for over 60 years, with the last case occurring in 1964 when Phil Chisnall transferred to Liverpool for £25,000. However, recent youth player movements suggest this impasse may be easing at academy level.

Last week, Isaac Conde drew attention when he moved from Liverpool's U18 to Manchester United. The 16-year-old, who made six appearances for Liverpool last season, signed a five-year contract with Manchester United on Wednesday and will join Darren Fletcher's Manchester United U18 team. In 2021, another youth player, Eden Enis, made a similar move in reverse. After leaving Manchester United, he joined League Two's Stockport County this summer. Enis's transfer was notable because he was the first player to move between the two clubs in 57 years.

Despite several near-misses, no senior player transfer between Manchester United and Liverpool has occurred in over 60 years since Phil Chisnall's £25,000 move to Anfield in 1964. Although the two clubs are geographically close in England's North West, most Liverpool players actually live near Manchester, and both teams frequently compete for the same players, England's two most-supported clubs have never done a senior player deal.

Gabriel Heinze figures most prominently in the closest attempt. Roughly 20 years ago, he was widely reported to be on the verge of joining Merseyside. A few years before that, Gary Neville reportedly confronted Jordi Cruijff in the dressing room after hearing reports he might join Liverpool. However, Chisnall remains the last senior player to complete a transfer between them.

In 2004, I visited Chisnall's home in Urmston, a suburb west of Manchester not far from where I grew up (he passed away in 2012 at the age of 78).

Locally, he was known as a former employee of the Malt Loaf factory on Stretford Road and a former Manchester United player. As an inside forward for Manchester United, he made 47 appearances and scored 10 goals alongside legendary players such as Denis Law, David Hurd, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Nobby Stiles, and Johnny Giles.

Chisnall, a Manchester United fan from Stretford south of Old Trafford, signed apprenticeship terms with the local club two months after the 1958 Munich air disaster. He represented Lancashire and England as a youth. He played in Manchester United's youth team alongside Stiles and joined the first team at 19. He recalled his debut against Everton in 1961, saying "I stopped for steak and chips before the match. Then we lost 5-1. But I kept my place."

As a Manchester United first-team player, Chisnall earned 12 shillings per week, but lost his place during the 1963-64 season when Liverpool made an offer. It was not headline news and caused little stir. He did not face abuse from fans on either side.

"Manager Busby told me he had received an offer from Shankly (Liverpool manager Bill Shankly), but nobody forced me out," he explained. "I was only 22, and I made the decision to transfer regardless of right or wrong. I thought that if I got into Liverpool's starting lineup, my career would restart."

"It was special watching Busby and Shankly negotiate my future in a room. They were like father and son, with tremendous respect for each other."

At Liverpool, Chisnall became notable for another reason a decade later. He was the first player filmed touching the ball in the first broadcast of BBC's iconic "Match of the Day" highlights program in the early 1964-65 season. However, his performances at Anfield were unsuccessful, and he made only a few appearances.

"Perhaps I wasn't aggressive enough," he said. "I saw football as a game, a good way to earn money and enjoy life, not as a life-or-death matter." Yet he inadvertently became part of a statistic.

"It's remarkable that nobody has transferred since," Chisnall said. "But the rivalry wasn't what it is now. Liverpool were champions in 1964, but they had only been promoted in 1962, and Manchester United was the bigger club."

In the decades that followed, not only have no players transferred between Manchester United and Liverpool, but even being linked with Anfield has been enough to cause anxiety at Old Trafford.

Gary Neville confronted me in the dressing room about reports linking me with Liverpool," confirmed Jordi Cruijff, the Dutch midfielder. "He told me I couldn't sign with 'them.' I wound him up a bit, and he got very angry.

"But I understood. Transferring from Ajax to Feyenoord in the Netherlands is unthinkable. It's the same as Barcelona to Real Madrid, or Manchester United to Liverpool."

Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze was indeed a player who actually wanted to transfer from Old Trafford to Anfield.

"When Gabi returned to pre-season training in 2007, he told the players he was going to Liverpool," said Patrice Evra, a Manchester United teammate at the time. "He said goodbye to us, and we watched him pack his boots."

The Frenchman may not have fully grasped the fierce rivalry between the two clubs. He had only joined from Monaco the previous year. But he quickly realized it wouldn't work. The case went to the Premier League arbitration tribunal, with Liverpool arguing they should be allowed to buy Heinze, while Manchester United accused Liverpool of illegal approach.

Sir Alex Ferguson was adamant and vowed that Liverpool would not get their £6.8 million target. "I am confident that Liverpool will not sign Gabriel Heinze. We have received several offers and rejected them all," he declared.

The previously somewhat cordial relationship between Manchester United and Liverpool deteriorated over the Heinze affair.

"For a month, Gabi did nothing while Manchester United's decision was pending, and when we found out, it was that Gabi had joined Real Madrid instead," Evra recalled.

"Later, he regretted his impulsive and stubborn attempt to force the move, but at the time Gabi was frustrated with Ferguson. I thought that when he returned from injury, he would be back in the starting XI, but I had already established myself as left-back. It was tough for Gabi. Before I arrived, he was player of the year. But that's football."

And so the record continued.

In April of this year, I passed through Manchester Airport and spotted a group of Liverpool youth players around 14 years old. A coach called my name—Michael Thomas, the former Liverpool midfielder and Arsenal legend. He explained that he was taking the team to a tournament on the European mainland.

We exchanged greetings, and I asked about his players, their level, and where they were from. "Many of the kids are from Manchester," Thomas answered with a smile.

This, along with Conde's transfer last week, suggests increasing fluidity at academy level. However, for now at least, Chisnall remains the last senior player to have directly transferred between Manchester United and Liverpool—one of the rarest transfer paths in football.

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