Les Ferdinand asked Newcastle United's board if they were 'taking the f****** p***' after they turned down his request to wear the number 23 in homage to basketball legend Michael Jordan.
Ferdinand had the No 9 on his back during his first season at St James' Park but manager Kevin Keegan informed the striker that Alan Shearer had asked for the iconic shirt before completing his world-record move from Blackburn Rovers in the summer of 1996.
Newcastle were just about to fly out to the Far East for their pre-season tour and, deep down, Ferdinand believed that Keegan wanted Shearer to have the No 9 because the the Magpies' boss did not tell the new arrival he could not have it when he originally asked.
Ferdinand, like Shearer, had worn the No 9 throughout his career and when Keegan said it was just a number, the Londoner pointed out that his manager had a No 7 pendant hanging from his chain in reference to the shirt the Liverpool great wore during his own playing career.
Shearer, of course, took the No 9 but, regardless, the new signing formed a devastating partnership with Ferdinand in their one and only season together at St James' Park and the pair scored 49 goals as the Magpies finished in second place in 1997.
Ferdinand ended up wearing the number 10 that season but the man who loved watching Michael Jordan play basketball for the Chicago Bulls was not granted his original request.
"I never had a problem with Alan and he thanked me for it," Ferdinand told Jamie Carragher in his new book, 'The Greatest Games'.
"But when I asked for the number 23, because I was a Michael Jordan fan, the board said I had to have between 1 and 11.
"I was like, 'Are you taking the f****** p***? You took a number between 1 and 11 off me'. Then they sold Lee Clark to Sunderland, so that's the only reason I ended up in the number 10."
