Dixie Dean turned down a 'stupendous' wage offer from the New York Giants after his record-breaking 60-goal season to save Everton losing him for nothing.
Dean had netted 138 goals for the club at this point and would spend almost another decade at Goodison Park but he would have trebled his wage in America during the summer of 1928.
The forward was earning £8-per-week with Everton and Giants player-manager George Moorhouse - a Liverpool native who played for Tranmere Rovers before originally leaving for Canada in 1923 - was willing to pay him £25 to lead the line for his team.
But Moorhouse would not have paid a single cent to Everton for his services.
On a recruitment mission in North-West England, the Giants boss secured the signatures of Charles Edward Glover, Chris Harrington and Liverpool star David McMullan and admitted he had circumnavigated the rule-book because of the transatlantic deal.
"McMullan, who I am taking with me now, is on Liverpool's transfer list for £650 but we obtained him without paying a fee, as the English Football Association has no jurisdiction over us," Moorhouse said. "With us, he will be paid £10-a-week."
There would be no such luck with Dean.
"Soccer in America is rapidly gaining popularity," Moorhouse added, speaking on board the White Star liner Cedrio prior to departure from Liverpool to New York. "The schools have started to play the game.
"The American Soccer League consists of 11 professional teams, which are composed mostly of imported players, and the gate attendance averages from 5,000 to 10,000 per match, [with] all spectators paying the one price in order to give the game a boost.
"We offered Dean, the English centre-forward, £25-a-week to play in America, but our overtures were unsuccessful. Dean said he preferred to play in England."
The Belfast Newsletter described the proposition as 'stupendous' yet Dean would go on to score another 250 goals for Everton and cemented his status as a football legend in the process.
Moorhouse became the first English-born player to appear in a World Cup match when he played for the USA in a 3-0 victory over Belgium in 1930 and captained the team four years later in Italy.
He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1986.
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