Nottingham Forest legend Stuart Pearce has claimed that former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was "desperate" to sign him, which could have come at the expense of Gary Neville's career.
The 60-year-old, nicknamed 'Psycho' during his playing days for his aggressive style of play, made over 400 appearances for the Reds and managed the club between 2014 and 2015.
But things could have been a lot different for Pearce, Forest and perhaps Man United. In a clip from The Overlap featuring Neville, Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher, Pearce discussed how he could have joined the Red Devils.
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"You [Man Utd] weren't winning anything at the time, Forest were a better proposition," Pearce said. "But I think Sir Alex Ferguson was desperate to do it and he said somewhere that he drove, because Brian Clough wouldn't take his phone calls about me, so he drove to Nottingham and sat in the car park and waited for him to come out the door."
Pearce's revelation was a potential sliding doors moment in the career of Gary Neville. The ex-Red Devils right back went on to make over 600 appearances for United but the signing of Pearce could potentially have changed everything.
"I wouldn't have got in at United if you had come to Man United," he said. "It sounds daft that but Denis Irwin went to left back and I stayed at right back so if you had gone left back and Irwin right back, I was done."
Roy Keane then joked that United's fortunes would have improved if Pearce had signed for the Red Devils. "We could've won more then," the former United and Forest midfielder said.
"You've always been a lucky b****** I'm telling you. That's spoiled my dinner. Oh if only. You on one side and Denis. Proper full backs."
