“If I had not played for Newcastle, then I would play for ….”- Newcastle Legend Alan Shearer names the club he would join if he didn’t play for Newcastle United
Alan Shearer names club he would join if he didn’t play for Newcastle United
Alan Shearer has revealed he would have joined an American club if Newcastle United sold him to a club outside of Europe’s top five leagues.
Sir John Hall bankrolled a world-record transfer in 1996 to bring Shearer – the deadliest Premier League striker and Euro 96 Golden Boot winner – home to St James’ Park. Thousands of Toon fans attended his unveiling, with the former goal machine greeted by a sea of black and white.
Shearer snubbed Manchester United – and a bucketload of silverware – to join his boyhood club. This was the second time he turned the Red Devils down, with Sir Alex Ferguson also approaching him before his Blackburn Rovers switch.
The former England captain was supposed to be the final piece of the jigsaw following Newcastle’s gut-wrenching Premier League capitulation the previous season. However, Shearer’s time at the Magpies would end trophyless – with FA Cup final defeats in 1998 and 1999.
A bronze statue and legendary status as Newcastle’s all-time leading goalscorer, in his opinion, justifies the bold call he made 29 years ago. Shearer is on the record multiple times insisting he has no regrets about joining Newcastle.
“Of course, I was tempted to join Manchester United but I do not regret either decision,” he told The Sun in 2018. “I had a magical time at Blackburn, winning the league, and I completed my own dream of playing for my home town club of Newcastle. I have memories I will hold forever and a goalscoring record that makes me extremely proud.”
Fast forward to the present and Shearer has been asked which club outside of Europe’s top five leagues he would have loved to join. He told The Rest Is Football podcast: “We’ve got to go somewhere in America, LA or something, haven’t we?”
