England striker Gary Lineker was in demand in the late 1980s after falling out of favour at Barcelona, with Nottingham Forest boss Brian Clough among those who tried and failed to sign him
Gary Lineker has revealed an awkward phone encounter he had with Nottingham Forest icon Brian Clough during his last season at Barcelona.
However, Clough's attempt to reach out to the in-demand striker at the end of the 1988/89 season was shut down rather abruptly. Reminiscing about the occasion on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker remembered: "It was the end of my last season at Barcelona and I knew I had to move. He wanted his own players, which was totally understandable.
Eventually, Lineker was called in to take the call. He added: "So I came in and Peter put his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and said, 'it's Brian Clough'. I thought, 'oh s***, blimey'. I picked up the phone and he went, 'young man, have you washed your hands?' I said, 'yes I have, Mr Clough'. He went, 'call me Brian'."
"I said, 'I'm perfectly aware of your record, Brian, it's incredible what you've achieved. When I say one of the big clubs, I mean of the big grounds, London etc, if you understand?'"
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