Featured Image Credit: The Rest Is Football
Topics: Paul Gascoigne, Manchester United, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Gary Lineker, Micah Richards, Alan Shearer, Football, Premier League, Sir Alex Ferguson
Ryan Smart
Topics: Paul Gascoigne, Manchester United, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Gary Lineker, Micah Richards, Alan Shearer, Football, Premier League, Sir Alex Ferguson
Paul Gascoigne jokingly took aim at Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs when explaining his failed Manchester United move - leaving Gary Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer all in stitches.
The England legend was the latest guest on the most recent edition of The Rest Is Football - and, naturally, Gascoigne had plenty of stories to tell.
Chief among them was his decision to reject a move to Manchester United in the summer of 1988 and to join Tottenham instead.
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Gascoigne had promised Alex Ferguson that he would move to Old Trafford, which meant the Scot could go on his end-of-season holiday with peace of mind.
By the time he got back, Gascoigne had moved to Spurs, subsequently explaining in his autobiography that he received a signing-on fee of £100,000 that allowed him to buy property for his mother and father.
Very few players during that time period turned down United, with Newcastle legend Shearer being another to reject the opportunity to move to Old Trafford in 1997 in favour of a move to St James' Park.
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Shearer joked about that fact on the podcast, asking Gascoigne: "What idiot would turn down Manchester United?"
The reply he got left the studio in stitches - with shots being fired at Rooney and Giggs in the process.
He said: "People always say, 'Would it have been different if I'd signed for Man United? Would he have kept us under control?'
"Well, Eric Cantona two-footed somebody in the neck [his kung-fu kick on a supporter against Crystal Palace in 1997] in the stands.
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"Wayne Rooney went with a granny, and Ryan Giggs went with his brother's wife. So I might have fitted in!"
After the presenters had regained their composure from laughing, Lineker shouted: "Micah's on the floor! Where are you, Micah, are you still around?
"It's a good point, Gazza, it's a good point.
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"I must say, I get that all the time. I always hear that people say, 'Oh, Gazza would have been fine under Sir Alex Ferguson'. I think you'd have been just as good."
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