Former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd has said he always knew Alan Shearer would sign for his club rather than Manchester United after striking a £15 million bargain.
The Magpies smashed the world transfer record when they persuaded Shearer to head home from Blackburn during the summer of 1996 with Sir Alex Ferguson desperate to take him to Old Trafford instead.
But speaking at the unveiling of a statue of the former Newcastle and England skipper on Monday, Shepherd insisted the club had got more than value for money in a decade's loyal service after thrashing out a deal with then Rovers owner Jack Walker.