Former Northern Ireland international Keith Gillespie says Sir Alex Ferguson acted as an impromptu agent to quintuple his wages as he left Manchester United for Newcastle.
Gillespie came through the youth ranks in Manchester but left seeking first-team football in 1995, with David Beckham eventually breaking into the team ahead of him.
Joining Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle, he got his wish and was a regular for three years on Tyneside, before moving on to Blackburn in 1998.
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And, according to Gillespie, his time in the North-East was made even more enjoyable by a cheeky intervention from Ferguson.