Not only was he a world-class manager, but Sir Alex Ferguson was also a talented agent when he gave it a go too.
Keith Gillespie was part of the Fergie’s famous Class of 92 side that featured the likes of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville before he rose through the youth ranks and graduated into the first team squad.
However, once he lost his starting place on the wing to Andrei Kanchelskis, his tenure at the club began nearing its end. Eventually, he was shipped on to Newcastle in January 1995.
Ferguson parted with the Northern Irishman in a part-exchange deal worth £7 million in order to lure Andy Cole away from St James’ Park.
The looming move left him in a predicament as he did not have an agent at the time. He was earning just £250 a week as a first-team player with the Red Devils, so Sir Alex stepped in and played the part of the negotiator, as Gillespie explained to the Manchester Evening News.
“We went to meet Kevin Keegan and some directors in a hotel with Sir Alex – he acted as my agent.”
“I don’t know if he ever did it before; I don’t know if he ever did it again. He just rang my Mum and asked if it was OK if he looked after me. He looked after me, definitely!”
(Photo by Graham Chadwick/Allsport/Getty Images)
Ferguson managed to work out a hell of a deal with the Magpies by telling then Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan that Gillespie was earning £600-a-week at Old Trafford. The strategy to see Gillespie’s wages increased paid off as Newcastle ended up doubling this figure to £1,200-a-week.
As fate would have it, six months later, Kanchelskis would leave United after falling out with Fergie. He then reached out to Gillespie to see if he was interested in returning to the club, but the move never came off which gave David Beckham the opportunity to nail down that starting place.
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