Having impressed for West Ham United since breaking through as a trainee, many people felt that it was only a matter of time before Paul Ince left the London club. When the Hammers were relegated to the Second Division, it became even more clear that the midfielder would be snapped up by a First Division club. Ince had been attracting interest from Manchester United - among a host of other sides.
Ince made just one appearance for the Irons the following season before completing a highly controversial transfer to the Reds. His move to Old Trafford came after he had been photographed in a United kit - with the deal yet to even be complete. He received widespread abuse from West Ham supporters, and to make things worse, the initial move was postponed after Ince failed a medical.
However, the transfer was eventually completed in September 1989, with the midfielder - after an anxious wait - receiving the all-clear. He had grown up as a West Ham supporter, but with his relationship with the Hammers fans having soured, it was important that he quickly impressed the United faithful following his £1million move.
The midfielder enjoyed the perfect start to his Reds career - winning the FA Cup in his debut season. Ince, while not exactly registering the statistics that he, or the club, would have been hoping for, had become a strong presence in the United midfield. His determination to win tackles and ability to spread the play and get Sir Alex Ferguson's side on the front foot endeared him to the club's fans.
After defeating Barcelona in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1991, and Nottingham Forest in the 1992 League Cup final, the Reds would go on to claim their first league title in 26 years. Just four years after joining the club, Ince had completed his domestic medal set - and he had played a vital role in doing so.
Ferguson's men continued to dominate the domestic scene, but for Ince, considered by many as the 'general' in the double-winning 1994 side, the end to his Old Trafford career was closing in. It was a surprise to many, and could probably have been avoided.
In June 1995, United sold Ince to Inter Milan for £7.5m - at the time one of the biggest fees involving an English club. With Ferguson's relationship with the player having soured, many supporters were frustrated that the midfielder had seemingly been sold for personal reasons, rather than on footballing or economic grounds.
However, writing in his first autobiography, Ferguson conceded that he did want to sell Ince, but that he didn't force the player out. He got the sense that there had already been some contact made between the player and Inter.
"I had to act on my conviction that the fundamental change in Paul’s attitude, his insistence on trying to assume a role in the team for which he was not equipped, had diminished his usefulness to us to the point where a transfer made absolute sense," Ferguson said.
"As the negotiations between Inter and United gathered pace, the president of the Italian club, Massimo Moratti, arrived at Old Trafford with his entourage. They agreed to pay a fee of £6m and guaranteed further profit for United through the playing of four matches between the two clubs over two years. The next stage was to bring Ince to the table and it was left to me to get in touch with him at Mottram Hall, where he was having a game of golf.
"I don’t think he was surprised to see me waiting for him when he came off the course. I explained the latest position and told him that Moratti was in the chairman’s office and waiting for a call. When I got through to Martin Edwards he said the Italians wanted to speak to Paul, so I handed the phone over to him. I was struck by what seemed to me to be a tone of familiarity in the ensuing conversation. Paul had been giving the impression to our supporters that United were forcing him out. Such a version of events was nonsense.
"Yes, I wanted rid of him but if he had been determined to stay it would not have been possible to push the transfer through. There is no way you could force Paul Ince to do anything against his will. I believe that he and his agent had been in contact with people in Italian football over a period of months. I was told that at our reception after defeat by Everton in the 1995 cup final, Paul was heard declaring that he was on his way to Italy. Yet, in spite of all that, I was being branded as Public Enemy Number One for driving him away."
Ferguson also said that he felt Ince had become too arrogant and lacked the tactical discipline to play in central midfield. The Scotsman, in typical fashion, was not holding back.
"I was already bothered by his attitude around the dressing room," the former United manager said.
"He had attached a rather silly title to himself. ‘Don’t call me Incey, call me the Guv'nor’, he was saying, and that did not go down well. There had been a cockiness about him from the moment he came to Old Trafford but I reckoned it was his way of masking insecurity. Deep down he worries and I was happy to give him some licence while he was young and immature. In our youth, we all drift in and out of a make-believe world.
"Paul Ince had reached an age of maturity and this guv'nor nonsense should have been left in his toy box. On the field he had already worried me with an altered approach to his game. He was spending more and more time going forward but not coming back quickly enough and it was quite apparent that he was completely carried away."
It was on a Granada documentary - The Alex Ferguson Story - that his lack of regard for the self-styled 'Guv'nor' was confirmed. Speaking before a 1-1 draw with Liverpool in April 1998, whom Ince had joined from Inter, Ferguson went in on his ex-player.
"If he tries to bully you he will f*****g enjoy it. Don't ever let him bully you. Right?" Ferguson said.
"You just make sure you are ready for him. That's all you need to worry about. He's a f*****g big-time Charlie."
While the rant came as a surprise to some, the relationship between the pair had actually become fractious years before the Scot's 'big-time Charlie' claim. The United boss, for example, had blamed Ince for a 4-0 Champions League defeat at Barcelona in 1994.
Ince, speaking about Ferguson's comments in 2008, insisted that he was never really bothered about what had been said. While he was, understandably, keen to put on a show whenever he came up against United after returning to England, the midfielder was able to move on and bury the hatchet later down the line.
"People say things in the heat of the moment but you grow up," said Ince. "It never bothered me but ever since I came back from Italy things have been fine between us.
"He always invites me to his charity golf day but I can never go because I'm always on holiday in Portugal when it takes place. But the relationship between us is fine."
However, when recalling the circumstances surrounding his exit, the Englishman explained that his departure from Old Trafford broke his heart. He had won two Premier Leagues, two FA Cups, one League Cup and one UEFA Super Cup in his time at the club, so having to leave was certainly not part of his plans.
"I could have never gone from United to Liverpool, it doesn't happen," Ince told Stretford Paddock's YouTube channel. "I went from United to Inter Milan, I didn’t want to leave United. I had been there for six years, I was just about to sign a four-year contract.
"It was United who accepted the bid from Inter Milan because they had the new training ground, they had Nicky Butt coming through and they thought it was a good deal.
"United broke my heart 'cause they allowed me to go to Inter Milan, they sold me and they broke my heart!"
He added: "It was only a month later that Sir Alex rang me when he was in Colorado Springs and said, 'I think we’ve made a mistake. Come back to us.'
"Before I signed the contract for Inter, I had Inter Milan in my kitchen and Sir Alex rang me from Colorado Springs and said, 'I think we’ve made a mistake. We want you to stay.'
"I said, 'Hang on, gaffer! I’ve got Inter Milan in my kitchen with a mega deal.'"
Although Ince insists that he and Ferguson were able to move past the incident, scoring a late equaliser for Liverpool against the Reds in May 1999 - as United's Treble season reached its crescendo - was a moment the former England international certainly enjoyed.
Ince could be seen cupping his ear towards the visiting United fans who had turned on him for making the move to Anfield, and he admitted that Ferguson's comments were on his mind.
"I remember the ball going into the box and I just ran forward. In front of the Kop, last minute, it was perfect," Ince told the Evening Standard in 2018.
"I’d always wanted to score in front of the Kop, and with Fergie and what he’d said, I just enjoyed it so much - and rightly so.
"I never understand not celebrating because you’re playing against your former club. You play for these fans now. They pay your wages. It was an unbelievable feeling to do that."
Ince received an apology from Ferguson, but in actual fact, the former United midfielder believes the reality of the context was somewhat unimportant. The phrase was remembered, and it stuck to the Englishman.
"Of course I’m a big-time Charlie," Ince said at an event to promote Paddy Power’s Euro 2020 fan zones. "I played for Man United. I played for Liverpool. I won trophies. I won FA Cups.
"I’m no bigger-time Charlie than Cantona or Keane or Robson. But we are big-time Charlies because when it comes to the big events, we produce. That’s why we’re called big-time Charlies."
To his credit, Ince owned the 'nickname'. He certainly would not have chosen it, but at least it was, according to the man himself, accurate.