Fotherby on Tour: Faustino Asprilla
"I'd be very happy to join Leeds if the clubs can agree on a fee," said Asprilla, and knowing the player's willingness to come Fotherby was jetting off to Italy to do the deal not for £7m, not for £4m, but a bargain at £3.5m.
Transfers are one of modern football's obsessions, because they represent football without its messy reality: why watch some donkey playing for your team, when you can imagine the difference being made by a prime stallion? The best players are usually out of reach for all but the richest clubs, but in the 1990s Leeds United's managing director, Bill Fotherby, had his own ideas about the word 'unattainable'.
As the Peacocks returned from Division Two to Europe with one of the best teams in our history, Fotherby's pursuit of top transfer targets created a shadow team of world stars fans could keep in the back of their minds while watching, say, Carlton Palmer instead.
For the next few weeks, we're going to follow Fotherby on his travels around Europe, chasing the biggest and best transfers, wondering how close he got to his targets, who we signed instead, and what might have been if Bill's will could have forced history into being just a tiny bit different.
In case you missed the previous parts, so far:
Diego Maradona ⭑ Pairing England's most-hated footballer with England's most-hated football club would have sunk the likes of Emlyn Hughes into tabloid column apoplexy for months. Which would have been fantastic.
Trevor Steven ⭑ It's easy to understand from the adjectives — diligent, hard-working, cultured-but-disciplined — why Trevor Steven appealed to Howard Wilkinson. Besides, he already had Steve Hodge, so might as well collect another midfielder Diego Maradona had run rings around in 1986.
Duncan Ferguson ⭑ Jim McLean wanted a clause in the deal with Leeds preventing them from selling Ferguson to Rangers. But Duncan Ferguson really, really, really wanted to play for Rangers.
Des Walker ⭑ "Howard Wilkinson has been very persistent," about coming from Arsenal, said David O'Leary. "He would like to pair me with Des Walker if they are successful with a bid to Sampdoria."
John Scales ⭑ There were so many opportunities, and so many near misses, that if John Scales had been meant to play for Leeds, he would have.
Tomáš Skuhravý ⭑ Given his translator had instructions to fight an MRI machine rather than let it scan his legs, Leeds had a near miss with Tomáš Skuhravý.
Rubén Sosa ⭑ Gordon Strachan had been worth two players to Leeds, but Rubén Sosa could be the one to replace him. But he would cost two player's salaries.
Paul Gascoigne ⭑ Bill Fotherby was keen to stress that this wasn't a spur of the moment urge. Buying Paul Gascoigne was the culmination of a plan that began when Howard Wilkinson took over at Leeds in 1988 and made headlines by taking his ball-clutching nemesis, Vinnie Jones, to Division Two.
Who was signing?
Parma were joy's choice for Serie A followers in the early 1990s. By depending on the solid defending of Roberto Sensini, their thrilling forwards Tomas Brolin, Gianfranco Zola and Faustino Asprilla could come up with attacking combinations even they couldn't rehearse, three free spirits playing off the cuff to create and score spectacular goals for themselves and each other. Brolin arrived first, in 1990, and Parma won the Coppa Italia in 1992. That summer Colombian international Asprilla joined from Atletico Nacional for around £6m and the team finished 3rd and won the European Cup Winners' Cup. In summer 1993 they bought Zola, won the European Super Cup and reached the European Cup Winners' Cup final again, and in 1994/95 they finished 3rd again and won the UEFA Cup. Brolin was injured for much of that season but in 1993/94 he'd scored 12, Asprilla 16, Zola 22; in 1994/95 Zola led the way again, scoring 28, while Asprilla scored 9.
Zola was the star, and in 1995 the attack was being retooled around him, former Leeds target Hristo Stoichkov arriving from Barcelona and Filippo Inzaghi from Piacenza. Two years earlier Asprilla had been voted 6th best player in the world by FIFA, just behind Stoichkov but ahead of Bebeto, Ronald Koeman and Eintracht Frankfurt's Tony Yeboah, and he was the most versatile of Parma's attackers: he could play anywhere across the front line or attacking midfield, inventing new ways to score no matter where he lined up. One goal in his highlights reel showed him feinting to beat a tackle, having his shot blocked, then teeing the rebound up for himself and scoring with an overhead kick. But despite all that, Parma were ready to let him go.
How close did we get?
By summer 1995 Tony Yeboah was a Leeds United player, although the club had to fend off Eintracht Frankfurt's moneybags full of seller's remorse as they, and several other European clubs, tried to take advantage of a break clause inserted in case he hadn't liked Yorkshire. All was sorted eventually, although according to Leeds' managing director Bill Fotherby, it hadn't been easy. "The documents are on the way to us and Tony's financial adviser has assured us that everything is agreed," he said. "Our main objective this summer has been to secure his agreement to stay, but the negotiations have been the most difficult I have encountered."
That couldn't have been entirely true. The club's main objective of the summer had appeared to be buying Paul Gascoigne from Lazio, and those negotiations had ended with him signing for Rangers. But with Yeboah tucking into his Yorkshire puddings, Fotherby was soon heading back to Italy, trying to tick another of the world's best players off his list.
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