Tony Adams came within a phone call of leaving Arsenal for their fiercest rivals in the summer of 1996 — and it was Sir Alex Ferguson who made that call.

The Arsenal captain revealed to FourFourTwo that Ferguson contacted him directly during a period of deep uncertainty at the club, urging him to make the move to Old Trafford. At the time, Arsenal had just dismissed manager Bruce Rioch, only months after losing the highly-decorated George Graham to the bung scandal, in which Graham admitted receiving an unsolicited payment from an agent.

A club in disarray

The 1995/96 season had been turbulent. Arsenal finished fifth under Rioch — an improvement on a disappointing 12th-place finish — but the club had also suffered the pain of defeat in the Cup Winners' Cup final, failing to retain the trophy they had won previously. Rioch's exit before the 1996/97 season, partly due to a dispute over transfers, left the club without direction.