He has also worked as a pundit largely abroad on international coverage of the Premier League for both ESPN Star and the Abu Dhabi Sports Channel.
His first team chances increased in November with the departure of the club's first choice left winger Jesper Olsen, and were further enhanced when new signing Ralph Milne performed inconsistently.
He played 30 games in all competitions that season, and was on the shortlist for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, which was won by Arsenal winger Paul Merson.
He managed 18 appearances in the league that season (and 20 in all competitions), but failed to make the squad for the FA Cup final which United won 1–0 against Crystal Palace in a replay after drawing 3–3 in the first match.
He also famously scored a hat-trick against Arsenal at Highbury in the League Cup fourth round on 28 November 1990, a match which United won 6–2.
He was then out of the game for long periods of time through injury and illness (he suffered from viral meningitis in the autumn of 1992) and when his fitness recovered, the form of Ryan Giggs meant he had normally to play out of position at left back (by now the preferred position for Denis Irwin) or on the right wing, competing for a place with Andrei Kanchelskis who had arrived in March 1991.
His first team opportunities were limited by injury and by the form of Giggs in the 1991-92 season, although he did appear as a substitute in the Football League Cup final victory over Nottingham Forest.
Sharpe is well remembered for his memorable goal against Barcelona during the 2–2 draw in the 1994–1995 Champions League season's group stage, when he spectacularly back-heeled a cross from Roy Keane into the corner of the net.
His first goal of the season came at Blackburn Rovers on 28 August, as a relatively strong United side recorded their third successive league win after being beaten by Aston Villa on the opening day.
Sharpe also managed two FA Cup goals that season, the winner against Manchester City in the fifth round at Old Trafford on 18 February, and the second in the last minute of a 2–0 home win over Southampton in the quarter finals on 11 March.
He made 26 Premiership appearances in 1996–97, scoring five goals, but a pre-season knee injury ruled him out for the entire 1997–98 season and he was unable to regain his place in the team on recovery.
He signed on loan for Bradford City in March 1999 and he helped in securing the club's promotion to the Premiership after 77 years outside the top division.
Following a brief trial stay with Grimsby Town in the summer of 2002 he was snubbed a contract with the Mariners and he eventually signed for Exeter City.
Sharpe, alongside former Bucks Fizz singer Cheryl Baker, currently fronts a London Underground advertising campaign for Nourkrin, a baldness treatment.
[9] After retirement in 2004 and 2006, Sharpe became a football pundit for ESPN Star in Singapore in Asia, and together with Les Ferdinand, is a celebrity host on the game show "Kickoff".
[citation needed] Sharpe was previously a pundit on BBC's Match of the Day 2 and Football Focus, and during the 2006 World Cup presented a vlog for Yahoo.
[citation needed] Sharpe was one of the football pundits hired by Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, for their exclusive coverage of the Premier League.