Alan Shearer has jokingly called Gary Lineker a "f****** idiot" for turning down Manchester United not once but twice.
Shearer himself famously snubbed United and Sir Alex Ferguson on two occasions, first as he joined Blackburn from Southampton and then when he left Blackburn for hometown club Newcastle. While he became the club’s record goalscorer, he didn’t win a single piece of major silverware with the Magpies.
Meanwhile, United under Sir Alex cleaned up, winning Premier League titles and the Champions League, although Shearer has regularly insisted he has no regrets over turning down moves to Old Trafford.
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TNT SportsHe wasn’t the only legendary England striker to reject Sir Alex as Lineker passed up two opportunities to sign for United back in the 1980s. Lineker, Shearer and Micah Richards were asked which club they wished they’d played for during their careers on The Rest Is Football podcast.
For Lineker, it was United. The Match of the Day presenter said: “I had two opportunities to join them, once when Ron Atkinson was manager but I went to Everton instead.
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“You’ve got to remember, Man United weren’t that dominant in those days. The second time was when I went to Spurs when Sir Alex was in charge, but it was still a good three or four years before he started to have any success. They also gave me a lovely send-off in my last-ever game in English football, so I’d perhaps say Manchester United.”
Shearer, alluding to his own big career decisions, then piped in: “You turned Sir Alex down? You f****** idiot! What idiot does that?”
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Lineker jokingly replied: “I can’t think of anyone, Alan. You thought you were the first.”
For his part, Shearer said he would have liked to have played for Sunderland “so I could have got them relegated again”. While Richards picked Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles team at Arsenal.
