JOEY BARTON once believed Manchester United wanted to sign him after a prank call from a friend of his agent pretending to be Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Rangers midfielder was on his way to sign for QPR in 2011 when the words ‘Sir Alex’ popped up on Willie McKay’s phone.
“I’ve seen what you’re up to on Sky. Don’t go doing anything silly now. Why don’t you come here and we’ll have a conversation?” ‘Fergie’ told Barton when he picked up the phone.
“What are you waiting for?” I asked McKay. “Turn the bloody car round”,” Barton wrote in his book No Nonsense: The Autobiography.
“Finally, a big club, and a great manager, had come to their senses.
“I would give Manchester United’s midfield a bit of bite, an injection of urgency,” added the Rangers man.
But then McKay admitted the whole truth about his friend’s flawless impersonation of the then-United boss.
So Barton was left with no choice but to continue to QPR’s training ground and pen a four-year deal.
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After four-years at Loftus Road, the free transfer signing from Newcastle helped Burnley to promotion before joining Rangers this summer.
However, the Gers suspended him for three-weeks following a foul-mouthed rant at his team-mates after the club's 5-1 Old Firm defeat to Celtic.
When asked a week ago if he was still a Rangers player, Barton could only respond: "I think so."
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