A player who helped bring Manchester United back to the top of English football almost came to Chelsea instead.
Some of the most important transfers a club can make almost don’t happen.
A telling sign of a top-quality target is someone who is being pursued by multiple clubs. The tussle between Chelsea and Liverpool for Moises Caicedo springs to mind. Or Spurs and Arsenal’s battle for Eberechi Eze this summer.
Well, before Chelsea and Manchester United were the global powerhouses they are today (the latter’s form aside), they were vying for the services of a Norwich City centre-back, who would captain United to their first Premier League title in over 25 years.
Steve Bruce Manchester United debut 1987
Photo by Simon Bruty/Allsport/Getty Images/Hulton Archive
Steve Bruce reveals Chelsea wanted him before he joined Man United
Veteran Premier League manager Steve Bruce was also quite the player in his day. An imposing centre-back, he formed a formidable partnership with Gary Pallister which Gary Neville labelled the best in United’s history.
But Bruce has recently revealed that United weren’t the only team looking to sign him all the way back in 1987.
Appearing on The Good, The Bad & The Football, he recalled interest from Chelsea and Spurs when he was making a decision on his future. But Bruce had only one destination in his mind, and something Alex Ferguson did sealed his decision.
As he tells Paul Scholes: ““Even though I had the chance to go to Tottenham and Chelsea, and there was only one club I wanted to go.
“And it’s funny enough, I’ve got a photograph at home where as we flew up, the pair of us, Jan and I, as we flew up there, when we get to the airport, he’s (Alex Ferguson) there. He’s carrying our bags, I’ve got a photo of that, to pick us up in his car. Just little things like that straight away, you think. Bit of class.”
And so he went to Old Trafford.
United at this point were over two decades without a title, but Bruce won three in his nine seasons at Old Trafford. But what if Chelsea came out on top?
Steve Bruce would have been huge for Chelsea in the 90s
Chelsea’s first and only title pre-Jose Mourinho was in 1955. By the time Bruce was on the move to a big club, it had been over 30 years since the Blues were champions of England.
The eventual success Chelsea would find in the mid-2000s was built over many years, but Bruce genuinely might have accelerated things.
In the early 90s, Chelsea were a relatively insignificant mid-table side. But their ambition grew over the course of the decade, bringing in stars like Ruud Gullit, Gianfranco Zola and Roberto Di Matteo.
helsea new signing Gianfranco Zola meets the press with manager Ruud Gullit (right) at Stamford Bridge
11 Nov 1996: Chelsea new signing Gianfranco Zola meets the press with manager Ruud Gullit (right) at Stamford Bridge in London. Mandatory Credit: Ben Radford/Allsport
The improvement was there, but until Marcel Desailly’s arrival, there was a lack of top quality in defence. If Chelsea had managed to sway Bruce to Stamford Bridge, he could have sped up their ascent to the top end of the table.
Instead, United rose to dominance in those years, possibly because Alex Ferguson was the kind of coach who would pick you up from the airport.