Alan Shearer Despite Branfoot's claim to be "in the driving seat", "Saints" failed to include a "sell-on clause" in the contract. Shearer, less than a month off his 22nd birthday, was the most expensive player in British football. In his four years in the Southampton first team, Shearer made a total of 158 appearances in all competitions, scoring 43 goals. Despite making just one goalless appearance as England failed to progress past the Euro 1992 group stages, Shearer was soon subject to an English transfer record-breaking £3.6million bid from Blackburn Rovers. Although there was also interest from Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson,
Alan Shearer restricted Shearer to just two goals in 17 games in the 1997–98 season. His injury was reflected in the club's form, and Newcastle finished just 13th in the Premier League. However, United (now managed by Shearer's old boss at Blackburn, Kenny Dalglish) had a good run in the FA Cup; Shearer scored the winning goal in a semi-final victory over Sheffield United as the team reached the final. The team were unable to get on the scoresheet at Wembley, and lost the game 2–0 to Arsenal. An incident during a game against Leicester City in the league saw Shearer charged