Manchester United tried to sign Sheffield Wednesday legend to ease Alan Shearer miss and even submitted record bid
David Hirst rues the fact he didn't bang on the manager's door to force through a transfer to Manchester United.
The forward was playing for Sheffield Wednesday when United missed out on a deal to sign Southampton striker Alan Shearer in 1992 and attention was turned to the hotshot Hillsborough ace.
In fact, Sir Alex Ferguson tried to sign Hirst on six occasions, ultimately tabling a British record bid of £4.5million for the England forward — an offer that was rejected by the late Sheffield Wednesday boss Trevor Francis.
With United moving on to sign Eric Cantona from Leeds United instead, Hirst, who scored 128 goals in 358 games for Wednesday, never got the opportunity to move to Old Trafford again, something he regrets.
In an interview with the Daily Mail in November 2015, Hirst explained: «I'd been talking to Alex Ferguson for a couple of weeks and I was going to Man United.
»A fax was sent with an offer of £4.5million and I was expecting Trevor to say: 'Man United, £4.5m, away you go'. But he said, 'I'm not selling you'.
«One thing I never did in my career was knock on the manager's door because I'm not in the team or I want more money. If you're not happy with the contract, don't sign it.
»If you're not in the team, go out on the training ground and do your best. It's no good knocking on the door telling him what a good player you are if you've not been doing it. I never had a problem with that.
«Sitting here now, I should've banged the door down. It's orchestrated now and if Man United are interested your agent will get you there by hook or by crook.
»Financially, it wouldn't have been much different. We weren't on £50,000 a week then. We were all on pretty much the same.
«I was playing for Sheffield Wednesday, third in
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