The £2m Coventry City masterstroke involving Man Utd they may never repeat | OneFootball

Dion Dublin's move to Highfield Road in 1994 was a masterstroke for the Sky Blues

During Coventry City's lengthy stint in Division One and the Premier League between 1967 and 2001, Sky Blues supporters were treated to watching a plethora of high-level performers at Highfield Road.

The 1987 FA Cup winners began the Premier League era under the management of Bobby Gould, who was eventually replaced by ex-Liverpool legend Phil Neal in October 1993.

After finishing 15th and 11th in the first two seasons of the newly-formed top-flight, the Sky Blues looked to make great strides of progress moving into the mid 1990s.

Of course, over 30 years ago, financial resources at clubs, in both world and English football were nowhere near the ridiculous levels showcased even by mid-table to relegation-fighting clubs in the Premier League, meaning clubs would have to be extremely shrewd with their dealings.

However, the Sky Blues struck transfer gold back in September 1994 with a bargain deal which brought Dion Dublin back to the Midlands after an unfortunate spell at a rejuvenated Manchester United under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Coventry City pulled off transfer masterstroke with Dion Dublin, Manchester United agreement

The Leicester-born man had an intriguing career path prior to his move to Highfield Road, initially gaining attention for his performances at Cambridge United under the well-documented tenure of John Beck.

The U's rose from what is now League Two to within a whisker of featuring in the first-ever Premier League season of 1992/93, with Dublin scoring 73 times in 202 appearances for the club following his switch from Norwich City, which included the winner in the first-ever play-off final to be held at Wembley Stadium against Chesterfield in May 1990.

This caused Ferguson, who developed a knack for sourcing talented and proven goalscorers to showcase their worth at Old Trafford, to take a punt on the physical, well-rounded forward for a sum of just £1m.

After scoring the goal which presented the Red Devils with their maiden Premier League success en route to a first title since 1966/67, Dublin would miss six months of the campaign after suffering a broken leg against Crystal Palace, subsequently dropping down the pecking order behind Eric Cantona and Mark Hughes after his return to fitness.

Howard Kendall was then keen to strike a transfer agreement at Everton for Dublin's services in 1993, before the hierarchy at Goodison Park put a stop to the move.

This would eventually become Coventry's gain a year later, as after making just 16 appearances in two years for United, the striker well and truly rekindled his goalscoring touch in Sky Blue following a £2m transfer agreement.

Coventry City supporters saw the best of Dion Dublin after £2m Man Utd transfer exit

During all four of his campaigns in this part of the West Midlands, Dublin ended City's top scorer under the aforementioned Neal, Ron Atkinson and latterly, Gordan Strachan.

He started life with Coventry like a house on fire, scoring in all four of his first league appearances for the club, ending the season with 13 goals to his name, before going one better in his first full season with 14 strikes.

Those on the terraces will best remember Dublin's contribution in City's 'great escape' act of May 1997, however.

Their star man netted 13 goals once again across the season, but due to Strachan's defence shipping 54 goals, the club's Premier League status was in grave danger.

However, the striker netted one of the two crucial strikes against Tottenham Hotspur in a 2-1 success at White Hart Lane, and with other results falling in the Sky Blues' favour, they survived ahead of Middlesbrough and Sunderland by one and two points respectively.

The following season was much more stable on the pitch for Strachan's men, which allowed Dublin to benefit even more, with a tally of 18 goals - including a hat-trick in the 3-2 win against Chelsea on the opening day of the campaign - seeing him accumulate the same figure as Michael Owen and Chris Sutton, ending the season as joint-golden boot winners.

After a surprise omission from Glen Hoddle's France '98 squad, Dublin's form continued to attract the attention of sides further up the division, and after a record of 68 goals and 16 assist in 162 games, the striker made a somewhat controversial switch across the M6 to Aston Villa, with John Gregory agreeing a £5.75m deal with Coventry for his signature.

After a strong spell at Villa Park, Dublin's career started to dwindle with spells in the Championship at Leicester City, Millwall and Norwich City.

Yet, whilst he is now well-known for his TV exploits, those who watched his four-year spell at Coventry will never forget his quality on the pitch, as it looks like they may never repeat a masterstroke of a similar kind anytime soon.