Keith Gillespie has recalled how Andy Cole's shock transfer to Manchester United in 1995 landed the former Northern Ireland winger a massive pay-day.

It’s 30 years since the Red Devils completed their signing of striker Cole from Newcastle United.

Gillespie revealed how then-United manager Sir Alex Ferguson earned him a massive pay rise during negotiations with his Newcastle counterpart Kevin Keegan.

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“There were no mobile phones,” Gillespie told the UTD Podcast on the anniversary of the transfer that rocked the Premier League.

“He said, we’ll ring your mum and explain the situation. We got to the hotel, got on the hotel phone, it was about midnight, we rang home, mum answered and I explained the situation.

“Then the manager got on the phone. I didn’t have an agent or anything. He said, is it okay if I do the deal and act as his agent? She was happy enough with that.

“I remember the manager said to me, when we go in here, don’t say a word.

“We were on £230-a-week. That contract we signed was going up to £250-a-week the next year to £270 to £290. Obviously we hoped it would be ripped up in no time, that you’d be on a bigger contract, which happened with a lot of them.

“But again, I was on that £230-a-week and I remember sitting at a big round table. Sir Alex, Keegan, the chairman and chief executive, and I was there with my head down.

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“I remember Sir Alex going, he’s on £600-a-week at the minute and we want you to double it to £1,200.

“I sort of looked up when he said £600. There was this look from him as if to say, don’t you say a word here. Newcastle agreed to it straight away.”

Gillespie was happy to play his part in the transfer, having spoken to Keegan already about the Toon Army manager’s plans for the club, reports the Irish Mirror.

“He sold the club to me in 30 seconds. He’s an incredible character, very enthusiastic and he just explained what his vision was for Newcastle. He had it sold to me,” said Gillespie.

The Northern Ireland star had broken into the United first-team, having graduated from the same underage squad as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Gary Neville.

However, Andrei Kanchelskis was in flying form at that time, so his opportunities were limited.

“If I’d have said no, the whole deal was off. Andy Cole would never have ended up at Man United,” recalled Gillespie, who spent three years at Newcastle before moving to Blackburn in 1998.

“But there was no pressure on me. Alex Ferguson wasn’t saying, look, you have to go. I just thought it was a chance for me to get regular first-team football at a big club under a big manager.”

He won five Premier League titles, two FA Cups and a Champions League during his time at Old Trafford, which came to an end in 2001 when he moved to Blackburn.

There, he teamed up for a couple of seasons with Gillespie, the man whose decision to leave Old Trafford made Cole’s move there possible.

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