Paul McGrath has claimed that Sir Alex Ferguson offered him £100,000 to retire from football before his move to Aston Villa.
The former Manchester United defender spent seven years with the Red Devils where he went on to make 203 appearances, scoring 12 goals.
The legendary manager, 81, wanted him out of the club because he was 'acting up' and drinking with then striker Norman Whiteside.
'Sir Alex got me into the room and just said "we'd like you to stop playing football",' McGrath told The Telegraph.
'Simple as that. And he said they were willing to give me £100,000 to quit playing football altogether and just go back to Ireland.
'I was thinking about it because £100,000 back then was quite a lot of money.
'But I spoke to Kevin Moran and Bryan Robson, and I just said I wanted to play on because I thought I could still do something in football.'
The 63-year-old Irishman lifted the FA Cup under Ron Atkinson in 1985, but signed for Villa in August 1989.
He played for the Republic of Ireland 83 times and scored eight goals in a 12-year career, which included playing with the Irish squad at Euro 88 and the World Cups of 1990 and 1994.
McGrath had a troubled life following his retirement from football.
He spoke openly about his battles with alcohol addiction in an interview on the Late Late Show in 2017.
'I don't drink to be social,' he said. 'I don't drink to chat up people or anything. [I drink] for oblivion really to be honest.
'[I drink] so I can just lie in my own house and just get myself ready, and then tidy myself up, and then try and go out to something that I don't really want to go out to.'
