Sir Alex Ferguson had a 'concrete' agreement to become Tottenham manager two years before his appointment at Manchester United, according to former White Hart Lane chairman Irving Scholar.
Scholar, who was Tottenham chairman for nine years from 1982 until he was bought out by Alan Sugar in 1991, revealed he shook hands with Ferguson on a deal when the Scot was still Aberdeen manager.
But Ferguson reneged on the agreement and chose to stay in Scotland for two more seasons before joining United in 1986.
Scholar's story is quoted in Martin Lipton's book 'White Hart Lane - The Spurs Glory Years', with the property tycoon revealing that he targeted Ferguson to replace former boss Keith Burkinshaw, who had just resigned after winning the UEFA Cup.