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Missing out on Paul Gascoigne is Sir Alex Ferguson's biggest transfer regret in his 27-year-reign at Manchester United.
After winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award with boyhood club Newcastle United, Gascoigne found himself the subject of interest for a number of clubs and Ferguson was desperate to bring him to Old Trafford in 1988.
A deal was set up and Ferguson was convinced he would be able to land Gascoigne, only for the midfielder to join Tottenham Hotspur for a record British fee of £2.2 million.
Speaking to the UTD Podcast about the player he regrets missing out on, Ferguson said:
In reality, you have to say, the only one that always comes to my mind and that's Gascoigne.
He was absolutely fantastic. I think if we'd have got him, he would have had a great career, I really do. I'm not saying he didn't have a good career but he would have had a better career with us.
We had Geordies in our squad like Robson, Bruce plus Bobby Charlton. Sir Bobby would have been a fantastic mentor to him because he's such a fantastic man and even Gary Pallister, although he was from Middlesbrough and I know they don't count that as a Geordie, as someone who understands the culture like Gary would.
He promised to sign for us and I went on holiday. I got a phone-call from the front desk from Martin Edwards saying he'd signed for Tottenham.
He signed for Tottenham because they bought his mother a house for £80,000 and, dearie me, I couldn't believe it, you know. He was a fantastic player.
The Geordie genius spent four years at Spurs, winning the FA Cup in 1991 before joining Lazio the following summer for a fee of £5.5 million.
There was a sense he never fulfilled his incredible potential, partially down to the knee injury he sustained in that 1991 cup final against Nottingham Forest, prior to a switch to Lazio.
