Alan Shearer has recalled how "hurt" he was after Kevin Keegan quit as manager of Newcastle United in 1997 - just months after agreeing a world record £15million deal.

The legendary number 9 and the club's all-time top scorer has spoken about his shock and confusion when Keegan resigned as boss in the same season he'd sold him a trophy-laden dream. However, that dream never materialised and Shearer admits that even to this day he does not know all the reasons why Keegan made a decision that rocked the world of football.

Speaking in a new book out for Christmas, Shearer has reflected on one of the most controversial moments in Newcastle's history books. Shearer said: "Kevin leaving surprised and hurt me. I was disappointed because he’d worked so hard to get me here. I didn’t sign for Kevin, I signed for Newcastle but Kevin was my hero. He is a great talker, has great passion and to this day still loves this football club.

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"You can imagine how hard he was trying to sell the football club to me. Although he didn’t have to sell my hometown club to me. I knew what it was all about. So, for him to leave after six months of my coming here, after making a huge decision to turn down Man United, where I was guaranteed to win trophies, yes, I was angry and disappointed.

"I still don’t know the full reasons why Kevin left, whether it was as far as he could take the club or the club wanted to go in another direction."

Keegan's departure would spark a host of unpopular exits within the fanbase as David Ginola, Peter Beardsley and John Beresford all left on the watch of Kenny Dalglish. But most criminally, Les Ferdinand.

Shearer said: "One of the worst decisions this football club has ever made was to sell Les. It was made by another of my idols, Kenny Dalglish.

"The club agreed a fee of £6million with Spurs on the eve of a pre-season tournament at Goodison Park, Everton. They told Les and of course, Les didn’t want to leave. Subsequently, I broke my ankle in the game at Goodison Park and Kenny, Freddy Shepherd and others went and tried to do everything they could in their power to stop the deal going through. Les being Les, refused.

"He said, ‘You wanted rid of me and that’s it, I’m off.’ And rightly so."

The Entertainers 1992-1997 Kevin Keegan's Legacy by Will Scott is available in all BACK PAGE Shops in the North East and online at Amazon or www.newcastlelegends.com