Club legend Gary Pallister was transferred to Manchester United from Middlesbrough just prior to the 1989-90 season for a then record fee of £2.3 million. He made an ordinary  start in which the transfer fee seemed to affect his form but soon began to put in the great performances he would become known for. The 6 foot 4 inch central defender went from strength to strength, forming the backbone of  United’s defence for nine years winning a major trophy in every season except 1994-95.

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The large number of players linked to Manchester United in the last few weeks has been extraordinary. A hardened cynic, like this one, could not be blamed for thinking that the vast majority of them never had a hope in hell of ever going through yet there is something about the proposed move of Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid that seems to be a little different. A gut feeling if you like, that this time, the transfer could prove to be the real thing.

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When Manchester United, not unexpectedly, failed to retain a title which had been held for three successive seasons, the common expectation was that the time had finally come for Sir Alex Ferguson to blow the cobwebs off his cheque book and start spending much of the £80 that had been stashed away from the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid this time last year. Chief executive David Gill had after all repeatedly assured everyone that the cash was available for his manager to strengthen the squad in any way he saw fit.

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