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Journalist’s Tweet suggests Premier League legend almost signed for Leeds

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The Athletic’s George Caulkin has suggested that Leeds came close to signing Alan Shearer from Newcastle United in August 1999.

Shearer, who joined Newcastle from Blackburn – where he won his one and only Premier League title in the 1994-95 campaign – in 1996, would go on to score 206 goals in 405 appearances for his boyhood club, becoming their all-time record goalscorer, while his record of 260 Premier League goals remains unbeaten to this day.

However, it seems things could have been very different for Shearer, had results generated a different outcome at the start of the 1999/00 season, when the striker was infamously left on the bench as Newcastle were beaten 2-1 by Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Indeed, when asked on Twitter by one fan whether victory for Newcastle in that match with Shearer on the bench would have spelled the end for him with the Magpies, Caulkin responded in the affirmative, revealing that Kieron Dyer – who was also playing for Newcastle at the time – believes Shearer’s next destination would have been Elland Road.

Leeds would go on to finish third in the Premier League that season, while Newcastle would end the campaign in 11th.

With the Whites then going on to qualify for Europe in each of the next two campaigns, before dropping down the standings and eventually suffering relegation in 2004, you can’t help but wonder what might have been had they secured a deal for Shearer, especially given he was still scoring regularly even after Leeds’ relegation from the top-flight.

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UCLan Sports Journalism graduate. Have been working for Leeds All Over since summer 2020, and can only be found writing on Football League World.