Dwight Yorke has ended his Old Trafford nightmare by joining Blackburn.
Manchester United and Blackburn finally agreed a deal for the out-of-favour striker after weeks of haggling over the fee. Dwight Yorke has ended his Old Trafford nightmare by joining Blackburn. Manchester United and Blackburn finally agreed a deal for the out-of-favour striker after weeks of haggling over the fee.
United have been looking to offload Yorke for a year since he fell from favour at the club and his last competitive appearance was as a substitute in the Red Devils' FA Cup defeat at Middlesbrough in January. He did, however, appear in Dublin last week and scored what turned out to be his last goal for United when he notched the fifth in the Premiership team’s 5-0 win over Shelbourne.
United are expected to take a hefty loss on Yorke, who was their record signing when he joined them from Aston Villa for #12.6million in August 1998, although the fee has yet to be disclosed.
Rovers boss Graeme Souness will be delighted to have finally got his man and he hopes he can rekindle the prolific partnership he enjoyed with Andy Cole at United. The pair helped fire United to the Treble in 1999 in Yorke's first season at the club and they scored 53 goals between them.
Souness had been keen to bring in another striker following Corrado Grabbi's flop last season and the fact Matt Jansen will miss the start of the season after being involved in a road accident while on holiday in Italy.
United were prepared to sell now and they did not want to lose Yorke for nothing next summer when the 30-year-old's current deal was due to expire.
Yorke's departure leaves Alex Ferguson with just three front-line strikers and despite chief executive Peter Kenyon's insistence earlier this week that there would be no more signings, the United boss may want to strengthen his striking options.
He failed last January with a bid for West Ham's Paolo di Canio and he may now move back into the transfer market. additional reporting by PA