10 Players Who Turned Down Big Moves To Join Newcastle

2. Rob Lee - Middlesbrough

Midfield marvel Rob Lee could and should have been playing in the inaugural season of the Premier League after Boro chased the then Charlton man throughout the summer of 1992, but slow negotiations between his club and the Teesiders and the legendary negotiation skills of Kevin Keegan meant a last minute change of direction for the future England man. Somewhat notoriously, Keegan managed to convince Lee that Newcastle was closer to London than Boro - or at least that's how the story goes - and he turned his back on the chance to sign for the Premier League side to kick-start the Entertainers movement. Subsequently, Lee has said that Keegan actually just told him that it was significantly easier to get to London from Newcastle thanks to train links and the airport, and that he is not in fact a geographically inept moron. Lennie Lawrence had been locked in negotiations with Charlton all summer, and was unhappy with the way negotiations had gone, so no doubt the final snub went down like a tonne of bricks.