Former England international Paul Gascoigne has now shared why he chose to join Tottenham Hotspur over Manchester United in 1988.
Ending his playing career in 2004, Gascoigne played for a number of Premier League clubs, amassing 184 appearances in the English first division, and then 66 in the Premier League.
Of course, 111 of those came in a Tottenham shirt – the club he represented most in his career.
Gascoigne’s Newcastle United stint wasn’t far behind at all, playing 104 games.
But with the midfielder then only playing a significant amount of matches for Lazio, Middlesbrough, Glasgow Rangers and Everton, one name is missing from the list: Man United.
Gascoigne never wore red at Old Trafford, and has now shared why, and also how close he came to joining Sir Alex Ferguson’s project.
The England maverick has been discussing the choices he had available to him back in 1988 on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast.
And as well as having the opportunity to sign for Man United when leaving Newcastle, Gascoigne also spoke to Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool.
Paul Gascoigne’s father told him to choose Tottenham over United for financial reasons
Speaking on the podcast, Gascoigne initially shared his conversation with Dalglish, before then revealing the financial motivation behind his move to north London.
Gascoigne said: “I was sitting with my Dad and the phone went and it was Kenny Dalglish first. I said Dad it’s Kenny Dalglish and he said I want you to sign for Liverpool.
“So I spoke to him for half an hour and I put the phone down and I said Dad to be honest I did not understand a word he said!
“Then Sir Alex called us, and said look, we want to sign you. I said okay I’ll sign when I come back from holiday.
“So I told my Dad I’m going to Old Trafford, Man United and then two days later the phone went and it was to sign for Tottenham.
“I went ‘look I’m going to sign for Man United’. I said Dad it’s Tottenham and he said tell them to f off you’re going to sign for Man United.
“So I said my Dad says f off, I’m going to Man United. He then went tell your Dad we’ll give him £120,000. He went what are you waiting for then, son?”
Of course, Gascoigne did then go on to play for Tottenham for four years before moving to Lazio in the Serie A.
The midfielder won an FA Cup medal with the club in 1991, one of five club honours he won throughout his career, which would have surely have been almost doubled had he moved to Manchester United.
All that being said, one Spurs teenager is now actually being likened to Paul Gascoigne.