I think there's more than a hint of exaggeration in that, but weren't Bruce's words that it was the equivalent of what he was earning in 1988? In which case he'd just joined Man U for £800k, at a time when the transfer record was less than £4M. Since the British transfer record is now £50M, it would mean the equivalent wages to what the average £10M signing now gets.
The meaning was that it was peanuts in real terms. So anyone wishing to congratulate AA on 'paying up' is sadly mistaken.
