Dion Dublin was so keen to join Manchester United that he signed his contract without knowing his wage. The striker snubbed both Chelsea and Everton after a meeting at Old Trafford with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Career before United
Dublin started his career in Norwich City's academy before making a name for himself with Cambridge United. However, after they missed out on Premier League promotion in 1992, he was put on the chopping block and a handful of suitors wanted to snap him up.
One of those teams was United and they won the Dublin stakes with a bid of £1million. Yet matters didn't pan out for the forward in Manchester. He played just 17 times before departing for Coventry City in 1994, owing to a severe leg injury and Eric Cantona effectively replacing him whilst he was sidelined.
Meeting Ferguson
Despite all this, the 57-year-old reflects and says he was so smitten with the prospect of United after meeting Ferguson that he signed without knowing how much he'd earn and the experiences he gained in red shaped the rest of his career.
Speaking on In The Mixer, Dublin said: "We started geographically. We started at Chelsea, Ian Porterfield was the manager. Went straight to Stamford Bridge. I turned up at Stamford Bridge with the people who were representing me at the time.
"I sat at the table. There was Ian Porterfield, eight staff and one spare chair. We sat down and he said, 'Dion, I want to build a team around you. You can have my number nine shirt.' And I thought, 'Wow, that's incredible. Chelsea.' Went to Everton, Howard [Kendall] was there, went to the training ground. Howard went, 'Come on in. Come on in.' He went and popped the champagne open."
"It was 11am, Jesus. Players were out there training! But I had a glass of champagne. Then I went to see Sir Alex. Sir Alex was waiting for me in the car park. I turned up with my reps and he turned up with the financial people and he literally went, 'Come with me, come with me. You guys go and talk about contracts. Come with me, come with me.'"
"He walked me from the car park into the stadium, through the bowels of the stadium. And back in the day, the laundry was at the ground, so all the kit was there, all the boots were there and he walked through and said hello to everybody by name. Everybody. All the women doing the tea, chefs, everything. Went down to the tunnel, walked out."
"The tunnel was in between the dugouts. He walked me up the bank. Put his arm over my shoulder. Walked me to the centre spot and said, 'How do you fancy playing here once a fortnight?'"
"I've looked around and gone, 'It's a bit bigger than the Abbey [Cambridge's ground].' I signed for United not knowing what I was going to earn. I couldn't be bothered, I didn't care. I was on £275 a week at Cambridge. It couldn't get any worse, could it?"
Career earnings
After his short-lived spell at United and iconic stint at Coventry, where he netted 72 goals in 162 games, Dublin moved on to Aston Villa. He also achieved cult hero status there, scoring 59 goals across 192 appearances.
Following a loan at Millwall, he finished off his career with stints at Leicester City, Celtic and finally, returning to where it all began with Norwich. He went on to touch on his career earnings and the high wages intrinsic to the modern game.
"It was £2,500 a week at United, which was unbelievable then," he said. "Then the money just changed. Go to Coventry and you're on £5,000 or £6,000. You score a few goals, you're on £10,000 or £15,000. I left Coventry on £20,000. I went to Villa and signed for £20,000 and then after a season or two it went up to £25,000."
"The last season at Villa was the highest I ever earned. I was on £35,000 a week. At United, I was on a pittance compared to what is going on now. But at the time, I was happy with what I was getting. It started to change and the big money came in. And I'm pretty sure there was a lot of envy. Not jealousy. Just, 'Well done.'"
