It should have been the start of something special. In the summer of 1993, when Graeme Souness was looking to inject quality into his Liverpool side, he identified two prime targets to strengthen.
One was the heart of his defence and he had no hesitation in paying Tottenham Hotspur £2.5million to sign Neil Ruddock, a powerful left-footed figure who he proclaimed would play for England.
The other area that Souness wanted to bolster was his forward line and, again, there was only one logical target. Nottingham Forest had been relegated in May 1993 and the two jewels in their crown were being sold.