A player named Savage has just been invited to join Manchester United. Seriously. You may recall a long-haired midfield player in his mid-30s being frozen out by Paul Jewell from the Derby County team that recorded the lowest points tally in Premier League history last season, but this is a new year, a time for new beginnings and, after being approached by Liverpool and Manchester City, Charlie Savage, aged 5, most recently of Alderley Edge Nomads Under-7s, has opted for United.

Back in the grown-up world, Robbie Savage, Charlie’s father, is hoping to return to first-team action for Derby tonight as United visit Pride Park for the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final. Savage has been in the wilderness since last summer, cast aside as Jewell vainly attempted to shake off the hangover of a demoralising relegation, but with Nigel Clough having been appointed yesterday as Derby’s new manager, Savage is hoping that his nightmare — “the worst six months of my life” — is over.

He is back in contention and, while Sir Alex Ferguson may not be quaking in his boots, the tie will be a livelier occasion for Savage’s involvement if he goes on from the substitutes’ bench, to which he returned for Saturday’s dramatic 4-3 FA Cup victory away to Forest Green Rovers.

The wheel has turned full circle for Savage. Told at 19, by Ferguson, that he was not good enough for United, at 34 he is attempting to relocate his self-esteem after being told by Jewell that he was not good enough for Derby. This may have had something to do with him earning £25,000 a week at a Coca-Cola Championship club struggling to find their feet.

“I was told I wasn’t good enough to start with, and again now,” Savage, who spent a month on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion in October, said. “Fergie called me in and told me. It was horrendous. I remember it was nerve-racking. He told me, ‘You’re not going to make it here, but you will somewhere else and I think you’ll come back to haunt me.’

“And I proved him right. Amazing how it comes full circle — I wasn’t good enough when I left Man U and, under the previous manager, I was not good enough at Derby.”

David Lowe, the head of academy coaching, took over as caretaker manager last night after Chris Hutchings followed Jewell out of Pride Park and, in Derby’s first significant semi-final since they lost to United in the 1975-76 FA Cup, he would be unlikely to offer a veteran a sentimental run-out against his first club, but Lowe will want senior players onside for the new manager. Throwing in the former Wales firebrand for such a tie may provide a galvanising influence.

Perhaps the Carling Cup is not a competition only for kids. “What’s happened to me over the past six months has matured me,” Savage said. “If this had happened to me early in my career, I’d have thrown all my toys out the pram, but I’ve just got on with it. I’ve calmed down. If I lose the ball, I care, of course I do, but I’m going out on to the pitch, if selected, with no pressure on me because of what’s happened.

“The fans haven’t taken to me; I understand that. But I’ll keep looking for the ball. I can be a calming influence on the young lads because this has been a tricky time and we do have a lot of youngsters in the team.”

Savage will be telling Derby’s inexperienced players to make the most of the occasion and to aim high. “Can you imagine beating Man U and going to Wembley?” he said. “It would be incredible for this club after all it’s been through. Some of us might never go to Old Trafford again. So it’s massive and we’ve got nothing to lose.

Savage believes that the quality of his training proves that his legs have not “gone” and that he can cut it in the Championship, albeit in an anchorman role. He also denies that he has been too flash — for instance, by driving to training in a £160,000 white Lamborghini. “I wouldn’t change anything,” he said. “Certain people thought I must’ve won the lottery when I signed for Derby. They forgot about the 11 years I had in the Premiership before that, thought I went from £100 a week to twenty-odd thousand pounds a week. So why aren’t I allowed to buy a nice car? I’ve earned the right.”

With that, Savage prepares to drive off home to pick up Charlie — in a black Mercedes. “The Lamborghini’s in the garage,” he shouts as, once again, he revs up his engine.

Trouble magnet

- Controversy follows Robbie Savage around. He has played in three League Cup semi-finals, but in the 1999 final, when Leicester City lost to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, he was accused of overreacting in a confrontation that ended with Justin Edinburgh being sent off.

- He forced his exit from Birmingham City in January 2005, erroneously claiming Blackburn Rovers, whom he joined for £3 million, were nearer to his parents' home in Wrexham.

- In a Carling Cup semi-final between Blackburn and Manchester United three years ago, Savage was alleged to have been kicked by Rio Ferdinand, prompting an altercation in the tunnel at Ewood Park.

- He won 39 caps for Wales but was scolded by Bobby Gould, the manager, early in his international career for dropping a replica Paolo Maldini shirt into a bin before a game against Italy.

- Playing for Leicester, he was charged - but not punished - by the FA for using a referee's toilet.