Former England star Darren Anderton spoke exclusively to Tribalfootball.com's Jacob Hansen about how close his transfer was to Manchester United and how one man stood in his way.
“It was as close as it can get, I guess, I had a clause in my contract where I could leave for a certain fee and the club were definitely willing to meet that and more,” Anderton recalled.
“Me and Gary Pallister had the same agent so we obviously spoke in the old Umbro cup we were playing in and he did ask whether his manager could give me a call, so I said yeah why not?
“So, I had the conversation with him and when I finished the conversation, he wanted me to go there and the manager was going to pay whatever the fee was. He asked if I was interested in going up there to have a look around and I said yeah, I would be interested!”
The transfer seemed imminent, Anderton was ready to pack his bags for Manchester until one man persuaded him to stay.
“I told him I was very happy where I was and then I went off on my summer holidays, then I came back and Sir Alan Sugar called me to his house and wouldn’t let me leave without signing a new contract that got rid of that clause and I was happy!
“It was very close though, there were a couple of opportunities after where Sir Alan would come back in and at that point for a much bigger transfer fee but unfortunately it never materialized but the transfer was very close.”
Anderton stayed at Tottenham for over 12 years and joined Birmingham City after he left the club. Could his career been majorly different if Sir Alan Sugar didn’t stand in his way?
- Darren Anderton was talking to Tribalfootball on behalf of William Hill