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.
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.
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.
There were so many opportunities, and so many near misses, that if John Scales had been meant to play for Leeds, he would have.
"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."
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.
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.
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.