Had Alan Shearer gone to Man Utd..

..how would his career have differed?

It's no secret that Man Utd were very much in the hunt for Shearers signature and reportedly twice close to capturing him. Had he actually made the move I wonder if he would have gone onto becoming the icon that he eventually became.

At Newcastle he was THE man and was guaranteed a starting place regardless of form and fitness. His peak years at the club were probably between 96 and 04 in which time the Utd squad boasted strikers such as Cantona, Cole, York, Solskjaer, Sherringham, and Van Nistelrooy. Which leads me to the questions:

Would he have sustained an 8 year career as Utd's number one front man during that era?

Would his style of play suited the Utd style of play or would they have to have altered theirs to accommodate his?

Would his ego have allowed him to settle into a rotational system?

Do you think he ever regrets not signing for Utd when they twice coveted his services?

Is being Newcastle Utd's record scorer more satisfying than bagging a sack full of medals and establishing himself as a renound Champions League goal scorer?

It's a tough one. I'd suspect that whilst he's extremely proud to be his home town club's record marksman there's a side of him that wonders what if.

Your thoughts guys.

Cheers.

I do not think that he would have become that influential at United.

I think that he would have fit in to any United side during that time. Beckham whipping balls in for him to finish? He'd have a hatful -- and we know that him and Sheringham worked well together too.

I think of all the strikers you listed he is superior to all barring Cantona, and perhaps, van Nistelrooy...but I would put them on a par I think, for goalscoring abilities.

I don't think he would have stayed there for 8 years though. I think it would have been time for him to move on around 2001/2 after five years there, and he would have gone to another Premiership club to end his career -- probably Newcastle!

Shearer doesn't seem to have any regrets about his career, and to be the record goalscorer for your boyhood club -- it's the dream isn't it? Medals and trophies would have been nice too, but to go down in history at a clun you love is pretty priceless, in my eyes.

Agree with Sodhat. He's become a legend at his boyhood club and it is great to see loyalty. The players nowadays who jump ship to a team already winning trophies so they can win trophies. Surely, there's less self accomplishment there.

At Newcastle and Blackburn he was a big fish in a small pond.

At Man U he would of been one player on the team. He would of retired with a room full of trophies, but I think deep down he is happy with his choice of clubs with no regrets.