How would his career have panned out if a legendary Premier League centre-forward had made the trip to Leeds United in the aftermath of Howard Wilkinson bringing the First Division title to Elland Road?
That is a question which may have had Duncan Ferguson lost in thought plenty of times over the last three decades.
Long before the broad-shouldered Scot was bulldozing his way through Premier League backlines and leaving elbow-shaped bruises on unfortunate central defenders up and down the land, Ferguson was the subject of a £3.25 million bid from Leeds United.
The 1992 English Champions were looking to move on from the iconic Lee Chapman. And Ferguson, while only 21 years of age and a baby-faced number nine making his way at Dundee United, had been highlighted by the Yorkshire giants as a leading candidate to take Chapman’s place.
Dundee United’s then vice-chairman even confirmed, at the time, that Leeds had agreed terms with the Scottish Premiership outfit ahead of a deal expected to cost around £3.25 million.
Pocket change today, of course. Anything but in the early-1990s.
So why, when Ferguson’s name is brought up, does he conjure up memories of flying headers in the blue of Everton and the black-and-white of Newcastle rather than the gleaming home shirt of Leeds United.
Why, when Tony Yeboah became the posterboy for Leeds at the dawn of the Premier League, did Ferguson instead become a famous figure across the Pennines?
Everton legend Duncan Ferguson explains why he didn’t join Leeds United
Well, speaking to The Overlap, Ferguson explained that, having been left somewhat uninspired in talks with the aforementioned Wilkinson, he could not resist the temptation to join Walter Smith at his beloved Rangers instead.
“I could have stayed [at Dundee United]. Walter wanted me to stay for another 12 months [before moving to Ibrox] because he had Ally McCoist there, Mark Hateley there, he had other great players who had won title after title,” Ferguson recalls.
“They were bringing me for back-up to start in a year or two years’ time.
“But because I was desperate to get out, and Leeds had just won the old First Division, I went to Leeds and spoke to them. They wanted me to replace one of the strikers, the big fella Lee Chapman.
“I went and spoke to Howard Wilkinson. After I spoke to him, I never went back! I was bored stiff to be honest with you! Lovely, lovely guy, great coach, but oh my God he put me to sleep!”
Ferguson admits he was not ready for £4m Rangers transfer
Ferguson would eventually secure that dream move to Rangers, to the tune of a British record fee of £4 million. But, featuring only 21 times and scoring just five goals in two years, is that a decision he looks back on with regret?
“I was a Rangers man, you know? I wanted to play for Rangers, and Walter said to me ‘We’ll take you and we will play you’,” Ferguson admits, the pressure of both the price-tag and the expectation taking it’s toll on a fresh-faced centre-forward.
“They paid too much for me. I was a bit too young. They paid £4 million, which was a record at the time. I wasn’t ready.
“I wasn’t playing and it just started to go downhill from there.”
Ferguson, of course, would belatedly make his mark in English football a couple of years later. He spent over a decade at Everton during two spells at Goodison Park either side of that Newcastle tenure, scoring 68 Premier League goals in the process.
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