Former Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards still regrets not signing Paul Gascoigne.

Gascoigne, who left Newcastle United for Tottenham, won an FA Cup medal ­under Terry Venables in 1991 before transferring to Lazio for £5.5million a year later.

Edwards told the Daily Star Sunday: "Alex went on holiday and he had a long chat with ­Gascoigne before he went.

"Paul had led him to ­believe he was ­coming to us. We thought we had the deal done.

"But he elected instead to go to Tottenham. It would have been a different story for him coming here and winning trophies.

"Alex would have been a father figure to him. And he might have been able to help him with some of his problems."