Sir Alex Ferguson has always considered Paul Gascoigne the one that got away.
The Manchester United manager tried to sign the attacker from Newcastle United in 1988 only for Gazza to choose Tottenham Hotspur, in part because they offered his sister a sun bed and his dad a car. And the Scot, 82, might still hold a grudge over a rare rejection because, according to Gascoigne, he received a firm telling off when they met at a game last season.
"I saw him not long ago, Alex Ferguson,” Gazza said in an interview with author Rob Moore. “He's 82 and it was at a game last year. So I was told, 'Paul, Alex Ferguson wants to see you.' I thought, 'F***, here we go again.'
"And he went ‘How we doing?’ I said, ‘I'm alright, thanks.’ Then, ‘You b*****d, why didn't you f***ing sign for me when you had the chance, no one ever f***ing lets me down. I said, ‘I know, I'm sorry.’ ‘You were some f***ing player then, son.’
“I'm still annoyed looking at him, thinking, ‘F***, what a manager.' He took no s**t. I reckon I'd have gotten a few b******ings from him definitely but I'd have been the same player."
Gascoigne believes it is impossible for another manager to reach the same heights as Fergie. Spurs were in a better position than United when Gazza moved to north London and he enjoyed his time playing under Terry Venables immensely but he still wonders what might have been had he gone to Old Trafford.
"The best in the world,” he added of Ferguson. “When you see the likes of Pele, Maradona, Johan Cruyff and that I thought, 'Right, I can be as good as them, definitely.' I knew that as a player. But when you say you want to be a manager, how can anyone be as good Alex Ferguson?
"I turned down Man United more because Spurs offered me mam and dad a house phone and £20,000 and me dad a car and me sister a sunbed. At that time Spurs were better than Man United, they were much better. It wasn't until I signed for Spurs a year later that Fergie brought on Becks, Scholes and they started winning everything. Then you think, wow.”
When Gascoigne was looking to return to England from Lazio seven years later, he approached Ferguson to gauge United’s interest. But with Eric Cantona in his prime, a second opportunity did not present itself.
Gazza added: “At Lazio when I was leaving, I did speak to Alex Ferguson and said 'Look, I'm going to leave, do you wanna sign us?' He said, 'Look, Paul, you had the chance once, I've got Eric Cantona but if he goes I'll sign you. If he stays then obviously I don't need another player like him.' Eric Cantona stayed.
“Sometimes you think I wonder what it would have been like if I signed for Man United. Seeing the fans there, it's incredible. Some of what the players who've been there have achieved. But the Spurs fans were fantastic, they love us even now."
