Soviet international winger Andrei Kanchelskis, who had joined United in the later stages of the 1990–91 season, was also putting in star performances to give manager Alex Ferguson a more attacking alternative to the ageing Mike Phelan on the right hand side of midfield.

Danny Wallace, who was by now rarely selected for the first team, was put on the transfer list before Christmas, but was still at Old Trafford when the season ended, despite talk of a return to Southampton.

He now prepared his squad for an assault on the league title that had not been United's since 1967, when Matt Busby had been manager and the likes of Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best were in the team.

As well as having established stars like Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes at his disposal, there was plenty of young talent on the way up at Old Trafford.

On 11 August, Sir Matt Busby, 82-year-old club president and former team manager, earned around £250,000 in gate receipts from his testimonial in which Manchester United drew 1–1 with a Republic of Ireland XI at Old Trafford.

Six days later, Manchester United began their league campaign with a 2–0 home win over newly promoted Notts County in the First Division.

There were ugly scenes on the night of the game, leading to five Manchester United supporters receiving £1,500 fines and seven-month prison sentences for their involvement in a Greek bar brawl.

Before the end of September, they began their quest for Football League Cup glory with a 3–0 home win over Cambridge United in the second round first leg.

Newcastle-born Shearer had been the centre of much speculation and hope since scoring a hat-trick on his Football League debut nearly four years ago at the age of 17, and in 1991–92 had established himself as a regular goalscorer.

Denis Irwin and Brian McClair both scored twice, with the other goals coming from Ryan Giggs and Andrei Kanchelskis, helping United maintain their lead at the top of the league.

The next day, out of favour goalkeeper Jim Leighton headed out of the Old Trafford exit door in a £250,000 move to Dundee, 16 months after making his final United appearance.

Eight days later, however, the highest Football League audience of the season saw Manchester United lose 2–1 to Nottingham Forest at home, a result which made winning the title look like an uphill task following a recent downturn in form which saw Leeds United emerge as the stronger side in what had been a two-horse title race for most of the season.

They had high hopes for the game, only to lose 1–0, a result that left them needing to beat Liverpool at Anfield four days later to stay in the title race.

After the season ended, Alex Ferguson began his quest to sign a striker in order to address the lack of goals which had cost United the title.