Former England star says he was travelling to sign for Newcastle and wanted to join another team instead

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Newcastle United were investing in youth in 2002, but Jermaine Jenas has now admitted that he did not initially want to sign for the Magpies.

Sir Bobby Robson was Toon manager at the time, with Newcastle United agreeing to pay £5million to sign Jermaine Jenas from Nottingham Forest.

It was a significant investment. He was only 18-years-old, and became the second most expensive teenager in British football behind Irish striker Robbie Keane.

Newcastle saw something special in Jenas, and were willing to pay decent money to bring him to St James’ Park. They did just that in February 2002, but only after Sir Bobby Robson convinced the midfielder that it was the right move to make.

At the same time as Newcastle’s bid, there were two other clubs trying to sign Jenas – Manchester United and Leeds United. And now the 41-year-old has explained how he initially wanted to head to Elland Road.

Jermaine Jenas initially wanted to sign for Leeds United

Jenas has been speaking about his 2002 transfer on the latest episode of That Peter Crouch Podcast, and explained what happened when he left Nottingham Forest 22 years ago.

“He [Paul Hart] went we have had three offers on the table,” he said.

“Sir Alex Ferguson has rang and he’s basically said we’ve bid £3million and not a penny more because it’s an honour to play for the football club.

“David O’Leary has rang from Leeds, they have bid £5million and Newcastle have bid £5million and the car is going to be here in an hour.

“So I’m in the car from Nottingham to Newcastle and I’m saying to my agent that I want to go to Leeds and I knew Rio [Ferdinand] as I’d bumped into him a couple of times out, as you could imagine!

“Rio was there, Fowler was there, the Champions League stuff was just kicking off at the time. And Paul Hart’s son was my agent, and Paul was at Leeds previously, and said you are not going to Leeds. He said it’s going to fall apart, you’re not going.

“United was the only one I said no to straight away because I wanted to play. I looked at their midfield and they had Veron, Scholes, Giggs, Roy Keane and Becks.”

Jenas then went on to add that a phone call from Sir Bobby Robson helped him change his mind, which resulted in him signing for Newcastle United.

Joining Newcastle was the right decision for Jenas

Given the options available to him, Jenas made the correct decision.

While he may have wanted to sign for Leeds initially, the advice he was given by his agent was spot on. While they were doing incredibly well at the time, it had all fallen apart within two years.

Financial issues resulted in them being forced to sell their best players, and they were relegated from the Premier League in 2004.

Jenas certainly would not have got in the Manchester United midfield, but he got plenty of opportunities on Tyneside. He was a regular under Sir Bobby Robson, while he even got the chance to play in the Champions League.

The England international made 152 appearances for the Magpies, leaving in 2005 to sign for Tottenham Hotspur after admitting he was not happy with life in the North East.