Paul Gascoigne was the hottest prospect in the 1988 transfer window but suddenly changed his mind after sending Sir Alex Ferguson on holiday and signing a move to Manchester United.
Paul Gascoigne of Tottenham and United. Paul Gascoigne of Tottenham and United.
Sir Alex Ferguson was in Malta when he received the bad news.
The worst part was that my vacation had been cut short. It was the summer of 1988 and Paul Gascoigne had agreed to join Tottenham after meeting Newcastle United’s £2.2m price tag, but they weren’t the first to do so.
Manchester United have already prepared the money. “Let’s go, can you go on vacation knowing that I made you?” Ferguson asked on the phone.
The answer was yes, but the deal was never closed or finalized. Willie McFaul’s Rays were languishing in the bottom half of Division One, but they had a star in the name of Paul Gascoigne.
The then 20-year-old had become famous for Mars Bar and Newcastle Brown Ale, but United’s midfield trio of Brian Robson, Norman Whiteside and Remy Moses was in disarray.
Of course, nobody was a fitness model at the time, but Gascoigne did things with United’s midfielders that had rarely been done before.
Ferguson helped the midfielder win the PFA Young Player of the Year award and was named in the PFA Team of the Year that season.
Gascoigne was a Newcastle hero. (Photo: Danny Brannigan/Houlton Archives)Ferguson was so keen to sign Gascoigne that he spoke directly to the volatile midfielder to sell United on the project.
And he cast a spell. The two reached an agreement and Ferguson was able to take his summer vacation.
After agreeing to his dream move, Gascoigne took a break in his hometown for the summer, where he managed to catch up with old friends before heading south to Manchester.
Around this time he went for a drink with Chris Waddle, a Tottenham player at the time.”I was in the North East at the weekend,” Waddle recently told FourFourTwo.
“Terry gave me extra leave and said if I met my friend there he’d tell me about coming to Tottenham because everyone knows he’s leaving Newcastle.“
I contacted Garza and arranged to meet him at a bar on Sunday afternoon.
He went in with his colleagues and all his colleagues. I asked him who he would sign with and he said Manchester United.
I said, “Why don’t you come to Tottenham?” I told him he could get lost in London and nobody would find half of what he was doing.
If he moves to United, he will continue to join Alex Ferguson and several senior players.
I said that Terry Venables has a lot of knowledge and interest.“He said: No, he was still going to Manchester United. “It’s okay,” I said and wished him luck.
I left the pub and he came out with his friends and said “Waddler, see you in White Hart Lane on Monday!”
I thought he was joking but when I got back to London on Tuesday he said Gaza was there.
“I went to the club the day before and signed the contract,” he said.Gascoigne may not have made up his mind that day, but his conversation with Waddle planted a seed of doubt.
The midfielder was on his way to Old Trafford when Tottenham chairman Irving Scholer called.
In a now infamous series of events, scientists tried to win over Gascoigne’s heart with several additions, including a house for the family, a white BMW for his father and even a deck chair for his sister.
So the in-demand midfielder ditched Manchester for London.Do not missRoy KeaneFerguson wrote angrily to Gascoigne, berating the Geordie lad for turning down the biggest club in the world, calling him a “stupid boy”.
The Reds manager has been crucified and this should not be taken lightly.Gascoigne’s brilliant form over the next two campaigns earned him inclusion in Sir Bobby Robson’s Italia 90 squad and earned him national recognition.
On his return he helped Tottenham reach the 1990/91 FA Cup final, but after many twists and turns he accidentally tore ligaments in his knee and was carried off on a stretcher.
Gascoigne suffered a serious injury in the 1991/92 FA Cup final.
The England star has missed regular football for over a year, his only real release, as his public profile and criticism have risen.
