United wanted a different striker to me!

The speedy striker was signed from Coventry City in 1986 but failed to hold down a regular place and left 18 months later to join Wimbledon, the club he would win the FA Cup with in 1988.

Now a popular co-commentator and pundit on Spanish football in particular, Gibson was our special guest for this week's episode of UTD Podcast, in which he expressed his disappointment at failing to show his best form at Old Trafford.

Gibson had been a top prospect with England Schoolboys and enjoyed his pick of clubs, eventually opting for Tottenham Hotspur, where he made his debut soon after his 17th birthday. The goals flowed after a move to Coventry and a sensational hat-trick against Liverpool in 1983 will certainly have put him on United's radar.

As one of the leading marksmen in the old Division One, the forward jumped at the chance to sign for the Reds. However, even the contract talks did not get off to a great start and it was to become a frustrating time in his career.

"It was a massive moment," he recalled to hosts Helen Evans and Sam Homewood, when discussing the transfer.

"I had the chance to go back to Spurs as well. They had a rethink and wanted me to sign for Spurs. So you imagine the pull of Manchester United if I turned Spurs down. It didn't get to the point where Spurs offered as much money as United but there was a chance they were going to do that.

"I played here in my third-ever game [for Spurs], in front of 60,000 in a midweek FA Cup match, and I also played well here for Coventry. I thought then 'imagine this being your home stadium, in front of those fans in the Stretford End.' United were at another level to Spurs and Coventry and it was a thrill to be asked to come up and join.

"I remember meeting Ron and Martin Edwards and Sir Matt Busby popped in," he said of his transfer talks. "It was a great big table and I was sitting quite a distance away from them. I'm 22 years old, I was really intimidated by the whole thing. They could have offered me anything - by the time I left, I would have paid to play for United!

"Ron's saying to me: 'What's your best asset, kid?' He had this annoying habit of calling me kid at the time, which I didn't like. 'Pace'. He said: 'I knew you'd say that, go over and get the tea!' I came back with a tray of tea and I didn't realise my hands were shaking and all the teacups and saucers were rattling around. So I realised then, I'm nervous.

"I didn't put me off, put it that way. Later on, I thought that was strange but I had no agent. I was literally on my own and 22 years old, so young. I was going to sign whatever was put in front of me."

It seemed to Terry that Big Ron felt he had made the wrong move in the market and the timing was also not ideal for all parties, with United's blistering start to the 1985/86 campaign over and another season without the league title being played out.

"I didn't have the easiest of times," he accepts. "United had started the season by winning the first 10 league games and everyone thought this was going to be the year. I came at the back end of January and the team was already second. So they'd been in a run of outstanding form, 10 wins playing great football, but had deteriorated.

"I do look back and realise I came to a team that had got to its peak and was on its way down. I didn't know that at the time. I came when we were second and Liverpool went on to win the league. I'm not saying I expected to be first choice straight away but I was in confident mood. I felt I was different to the other strikers here, smaller and the quickest of the lot.

"Frank Stapleton, Norman Whiteside and Mark Hughes were miles better at holding the ball up but, in terms of running in behind and using my pace, I was different so I thought I might be used off the bench but never really got going, to be honest."

When asked if the relationship with Atkinson was behind his struggles, Gibson replied: "I've no idea to this day. I started one game at Liverpool and one at Newcastle in the second half of the season. I was a pest [in terms of asking the manager for answers] and it didn't go well. I probably made it worse.

"I felt I never got a straight answer. Early on, I thought: 'Why have you signed me?' Ron said to me: 'I wish I'd signed Cyrille Regis instead of you'.

Regis, an aggressive centre-forward who had played under Atkinson at West Brom, had been a team-mate of Gibson's at Coventry. Atkinson would later sign him for Aston Villa, on a free transfer in 1991.

"Seriously, how could he choose between me and Cyrille as we're different types of striker completely," wondered Terry.

"He had Cyrille before at West Brom and it didn't help. I never really got it, to be honest, and it was a shame."

The Terry Gibson episode of UTD Podcast is available now in the United App and other popular streaming services.