Alan Shearer has insisted that he has no regrets over his decision to snub Manchester United and join Newcastle back in 1996.
Shearer was in demand after firing Blackburn Rovers to the Premier League title in the 1994/95 season. The England striker had clubs queuing up to sign him a year later with 112 goals in 138 top-flight games under his belt for Blackburn.
The Geordie striker held talks with United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who thought he had got his man. However, Shearer was swayed by a discussion with Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan, who made a successful emotional appeal and signed him in a blockbuster £15million deal.
In a cruel twist of fate, Newcastle then faced United in the Charity Shield at Wembley, putting Shearer face to face with the club he’d rejected. United won 4-0 and, after the match, Ferguson admitted that he was “‘sick and angry” about missing out on Shearer.
Writing in ‘In A Will to Win’, his diary of the 1996/97 season, Ferguson added: “History will prove whether he was right to pick Newcastle ahead of us. And I do feel that there’s often a sting in the tail when you sign someone for that kind of money.”
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Shearer went on to score 206 goals in 405 appearances for his hometown club over the next 10 years. While he never won a trophy in the black and white stripes, twice finishing as runner-up in the FA Cup, he finished his career as Newcastle’s top goalscorer and holds the Premier League’s all-time record of 260 goals.
"I am more than happy with my decision,” Shearer said on the Rest is Football podcast.
Alex Ferguson wanted Alan Shearer to join Manchester United (John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)“If I had the same decision to make again, I would do exactly the same thing. I loved my 10 years at Newcastle, despite us not winning anything. I wouldn't change anything.”
Micah Richards was not convinced by Shearer’s reply though. He said: “Are you telling the truth? I observe people's body language and when you said that, your body language was off. There was a hint you weren't telling the truth.”
Shearer shot back: “Stick to being a f****** pundit then and not a body language expert!"
Ferguson met with Shearer and his agent Tony Stephens in the summer of 1996 and the striker only had two demands. “He wanted to know if he would be able to take the penalty kicks and if he could wear the number nine shirt,” Ferguson wrote in In A Will to Win.
“I tell him that Eric Cantona hasn’t missed a penalty for us since he arrived but that if he ever did, then, possibly. As for the number nine shirt, no problem. I thought that if we were the only things worrying him, we would get our man.”
It wasn’t to be for United, who had previously missed out on signing the striker when he moved from Southampton to Blackburn in 1992.
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