Former Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards still regrets not signing Paul Gascoigne.
Gascoigne, who left Newcastle United for Tottenham, won an FA Cup medal under Terry Venables in 1991 before transferring to Lazio for £5.5million a year later.
Edwards told the Daily Star Sunday: "Alex went on holiday and he had a long chat with Gascoigne before he went.
"Paul had led him to believe he was coming to us. We thought we had the deal done.
"But he elected instead to go to Tottenham. It would have been a different story for him coming here and winning trophies.
"Alex would have been a father figure to him. And he might have been able to help him with some of his problems."