Manchester United V Newcastle United, FA Cup Final
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Premier League legend Alan Shearer has now touched on Sir Alex Ferguson’s desire to sign the iconic former striker for Manchester United during the 1990s.
Alan Shearer’s incredible impact in English football speaks volumes, including ending his prolific playing career as the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer.
The 56-year-old former England striker was able to lift the Premier League title after he captured the major honour in the 1994-95 season at Blackburn Rovers.
Sir Alex Ferguson was keen to land Shearer on two separate occasions before the former Three Lions international signed for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle.
Alan Shearer ‘knows’ the huge silverware that he missed out on by not signing for Man Utd
Blackburn Rovers landed Alan Shearer for a record-breaking £3.6m fee in 1992, despite Manchester United being linked with him at the time. Fast-forward to 1996 and the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer was on the radar of iconic former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson again.
Real Madrid were prepared to challenge United in the race to sign Shearer from Blackburn, but Newcastle landed the Geordie-born former striker for a world-record transfer fee at the time of £15m in 1996. Shearer etched his name into the history books of his boyhood club and remains idolised by Newcastle supporters.
Alan Shearer’s stats for Newcastle during his 1996 to 2006 run at St James’ Park:
Appearances: 405
Goals in total: 206
Goals in the Premier League: 148
Assists in the Premier League: 36
Two FA Cup finals: 1998 and 1999
No Premier League Golden Boots
No major trophies won
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer admitted that he could see both the pros and cons of not signing for United in the 1990s.
“I don’t regret not joining Man United. I know that I would have won more trophies,” he said.
“Absolutely. That’s pretty much guaranteed. But I wouldn’t have been able to play for my club, have the goalscoring record, have a statue, have my foundation up here in Newcastle, which is for people with complex disabilities.
“So, for all of those things, no, I got to live my dream and I was one lucky boy, you know.”
Shearer had a decade-long run at Newcastle before he bowed out of St James’ Park in 2006. During the time that the former England striker spent at Newcastle, Ferguson became the first manager to lead Man Utd to a continental treble in 1999.
If Shearer’s time at the Magpies was applied to a potential run at Old Trafford, then the former Blackburn star could have won at least nine major honours with United. The trophy haul could have extended to 13 if other silverware was included, including the Community Shield.
The complete list of Red Devils trophies that Shearer could have won under United legend Ferguson from 1996 to 2006:
Premier League: 5
FA Cup: 2
Champions League: 1
League Cup: 1
Intercontinental Cup: 1
Community Shield: 3
There is no certainty that Shearer could have won all the trophies stated above, as the course of history would have been altered if he had signed for the Red Devils. Ferguson’s time in the 1990s included establishing the iconic strike partnership between Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, who were core parts of Man Utd’s famed treble-winning 1998-99 season.