Former Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd has discussed trying to sign Paul Gascoigne for Kevin Keegan's team.
In 1995, when Gazza was told he was no longer wanted at Serie A giants Lazio by strict coach Zdenek Zeman, Newcastle were in the running for the England star.
Shepherd told the Evening Chronicle: "Without a doubt I wanted to sign Paul.
"When he was at Lazio we wanted him.
"We'd made contact with him, but we couldn't do the deal.
"He was on a fantastic wage by Lazio. We couldn't get him in the end.
"But Gazza was Gazza and I wanted him."
