McManaman finished alongside Nick Barmby as joint runner up to Giggs in the PFA Young Player of the Year awards in 1992, was named in the PFA Team of the Year for four consecutive seasons from 1994 – 95 to 1997 – 98, and also made the five man shortlist for PFA Player of the Year for three seasons from 1995 – 96 to 1997 – 98, with the PFA website describing him as one of the most gifted players of his generation.

If McManaman thinks he is coming to one of the world's top clubs then he has made a big mistake.

McManaman made his debut for Madrid on 22 August 1999 in the 2 – 1 La Liga win over RCD Mallorca at the Son Moix stadium, Mallorca, where he assisted Fernando Morientes in scoring the injury time winner.

In 2002, McManaman also turned down a transfer to Internazionale at the time when he was made available for exchange as part of Ronaldo's signing.

" A further honour was also extended on the pitch by the club in the 2001 / 02 season, where as part of Madrid's Centenary Celebrations, McManaman was made the first Englishman to captain Real Madrid in a game against a FIFA World XI, to the applause of the ultras, with whom he was a cult favourite.

McManaman made his debut on 14 September 2003 in a 4 – 1 win over Aston Villa at the City of Manchester Stadium, and quickly showed good early form, with the club starting with a run of wins and progressing in the UEFA Cup, with McManaman hailed by Keegan to great hype, but by Christmas that year, results had fallen, the team languished and ended the season, well out of European contention, and McManaman injured again.

When McManaman ( and Fowler ) opted out of Le Tournoi in 1997 to choose to undergo non-urgent medical operations ahead of International duty, it was noted that this reportedly lost them their team spots as Hoddle though angered at losing them, found a winning team in their absence, and this made it even harder for McManaman to regain his place later.

McManaman made a grand total of four appearances under Hoddle, and only one appearance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup against Colombia, as a substitute for Paul Scholes.

Zidane went on to state England had made a mistake, and described McManaman with a rare passion as one of the highest quality players he ever played with: " I was surprised when McManaman was left out of the last England squad.

In 1999, Steve McManaman became the most lucrative transfer at the time in British football, as " Britain ’ s first high-profile Bosman departure ", when he moved from Liverpool to Real Madrid and the deal resulted in McManaman once becoming the highest paid British player in history, for the years 1999 through 2001.

In 1991 – 92, Saunders partnered Ian Rush ( also his strike partner for Wales ) in attack, backed by young Steve McManaman which saw the club win the FA Cup for the fifth time in its history in manager Graeme Souness's first full season in charge.

He is also notable for a contractual saga in the late 1990s, that resulted in his football transfer becoming one of the most controversial and high profile Bosman ruling related transfers of all time, with the deal resulting in McManaman once becoming the highest paid British player in history, for the years 1999 through 2001.

However this form faltered following a confidence drop after an incident with Bruce Grobbelaar towards the end of a Merseyside derby, when the players exchanged blows after Grobelaar lambasted McManaman for a poor clearance which led to a goal being conceded ( an incident later named as one of the top five bust ups between team mates in Premier League history ).

Until 2011, McManaman held the record for greatest number of assists in Liverpool history, ahead of Steven Gerrard, who has since overtaken him.

The arrival of close friend, Steve McManaman, from Real Madrid gave Fowler hope, but the pair failed to rekindle their prolific partnership from their time at Liverpool, and received criticism from the fans and tabloids for their salaries, alleged excesses as well as named and shamed in a sex scandal covered by the News of the World that year.

The goal was followed by the " Dentist's chair " celebration referring to an incident before the Euro 1996, where England team players were photographed on a drunken night with Gascoigne, Teddy Sheringham and Steve McManaman shown drinking in a dentist's chair, as well as causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to a Cathay Pacific first class flight cabin.

Šmicer joined Liverpool for a fee of £ 4. 2 million, recruited to fill the void left by the departure of Steve McManaman to Real Madrid.

Redknapp became vice-and then full club captain by 1999 – 2000 following the departures of John Barnes, Steve McManaman and Paul Ince.

Players like Steve McManaman and Darren Anderton emerged, and Venables decided to employ Paul Ince and Gascoigne in central midfield by the time Euro 1996 came round.

James rose to fame together with Liverpool teammates Steve McManaman, Jamie Redknapp, and Robbie Fowler, who were nicknamed the " Spice Boys " – an epithet named after the Spice Girls that was used by those who alleged the Liverpool team of the 1990s were more focused on partying than winning games.

New coach Vicente del Bosque utilised him in a powerful midfield combination with Steve McManaman ; in the quarterfinals against Manchester United at Old Trafford, he was the author of a spectacular play in which he dribbled past defender Henning Berg by backheeling the ball around him, recovering it and assisting Raúl for Real Madrid's third goal ( 3 – 2 win, 3 – 2 on aggregate ).

The decade also saw footballers merge into the popular culture scene and sporting stars like Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman were oft labelled by the British media as being scally characters as well as Spice Boys, lending the term an air of innuendo and hedonism.

Evans strengthened his side that was built around McManaman and Fowler, with the acquisition of Czech midfielder Patrik Berger over the summer of 1996, but by the end of the 1996 – 97 season all the talk around Anfield was about a promising 17-year-old striker, Michael Owen, who had shown tremendous potential in a handful of games for the club.

Robinson, who won 24 caps for the Republic of Ireland, stayed in Spain after retiring, having settled very well in the country and learned the language to fluency, a trait that was later picked up on by Steve McManaman ( with Real Madrid from 1999 – 2003 ), who regarded Robinson as his mentor.

The attempt failed, but was repeated in 2006 by a merchants association organized by James McManaman.

His performances saw McManaman described by Ian Rush as the most promising young player at Liverpool.

In 1994 – 95, McManaman got a new million pound contract, and was given a central, freer role by new coach Roy Evans, who wanted to utilise McManaman's natural running and dribbling ability to drift all over the park.

' The situation was further aggravated by stories of McManaman and Robbie Fowler's lifestyles off the pitch following an interview with the magazine, Loaded, which depicted the duo as hedonists and scally characters, as well as stories about McManaman and Fowler's lack of decorum and disruptive influence in the dressing room.

McManaman responded by joining The Times to write a weekly column, becoming the first footballer of his generation to do so.

Having been overlooked by Glenn Hoddle for the 1998 World Cup squad in an underachieving Liverpool side, denounced in the English media as being greedy and bolstered by reports from the likes of Paul Ince and Paul Gascoigne, McManaman publicly announced his desire to play abroad.

When Mark Lawrenson and Jim Beglin named McManaman in their team of the 1990s, they said that most managers in the league used the same tactic of marking McManaman to stop Liverpool and whilst it was a tremendous compliment to McManaman, the opposition could stop Liverpool because the tactical system of 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2 was too dependent on McManaman and would fail if McManaman was off form, or if the team was not complemented by a quality defence ( players who could play both wingback and centre half to cope with onslaughts ), or the presence of a steely defensive midfielder, which was what happened with the team of that time.

McManaman reportedly won over the manager by October, and managed to feature in two thirds of the club's matches, becoming a first team regular for the second half of the campaign, and held the unique distinction of being described as the only top class football player from England playing overseas at the time.

To his credit, McManaman never spoke ill of the Galáctico policy's effects on him during his tenure, only critiquing the policy and ultimately describing it in his autobiography " El Macca " ( a book that was shortlisted as the William Hill Sports Book of the Year ), in 2004 as the " Disneyfication of Real Madrid " upon his departure from the club ; a piece of foresight that proved telling for the future as the club never reached its heights in the period ensuing with the policy, and with the term becoming somewhat pejorative to this day.

After a goalless first 45, Thomas scored the opening goal of the final after 47 minutes with a spectacular shot from a Steve McManaman cross.

By this stage, however, Whelan's days in the Liverpool first team were looking numbered, as the midfield was now featuring recent signings like Mark Walters and Michael Thomas, as well as breakthrough stars Steve McManaman and Jamie Redknapp.

Ince won no honours in his first season with Liverpool as his new club were in the midst of a transitional period where they were cast as ' nearly men ' and, rather derogatorily, ' Spice Boys ' – a term coined to describe the likes of team mates and good friends of Ince's like Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Jason McAteer and Jamie Redknapp as underachieving playboys in the game ; the term itself is derived from the name of the contemporary pop-group, the Spice Girls.

McManaman was the first British player to win the UEFA Champions League title twice, and was also the first English footballer to win the Champions League with a non-English club.

McManaman created and scored several crucial goals in the league and FA Cup, and his performances in his first season established him as a regular first team player.

McManaman claimed that he was being exploited: " I signed the Umbro contract when I was an inexperienced 18-year-old, before I had got into the first team.

Real Madrid subsequently accepted first an £ 11 million bid from Middlesbrough and then a £ 12 million bid for McManaman from Chelsea that included the exchange of Tore André Flo, in the summer of 2000, both of which the player stubbornly rejected.

Real's change toward McManaman began when Del Bosque gave him his first appearance of the 2000 – 01 season as a substitute in a 3 – 3 draw against Málaga in September.

In this match of monumental proportions, due to " El Clásico " being a massive game in its own right, but also the fact that it was a Champions League Semi-final, McManaman appeared as a second half substitute to score a critical goal in second half injury time to secure a 2-0 first-leg advantage, chipping over goalkeeper Roberto Bonano after being played in by Flavio Conceicao, after Zidane had scored the first goal on 55 minutes.

In February 1993, McManaman captained the England Under-21 team for the first time against San Marino and scored the last goal in a convincing 6-0 win.

The last of McManaman's caps came in 2001 when Sven-Göran Eriksson utilised him for his first games in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, including a game back at Anfield against Finland-where McManaman setup David Beckham's winner-but then apparently left a message on McManaman's answering machine to inform him that he was not going to be in the final 2002 FIFA World Cup England squad in early 2002.

McManaman was once described as " England's forgotten man " but was also accused of being apathetic and having a laidback attitude and having a reputation for being a troublemaker, which began after an infamous " dentists ' chair " incident before Euro96, where along with Teddy Sheringham and Gascoigne, McManaman was photographed drinking and causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to a Cathay Pacific first class flight cabin.

McManaman first got a taste for media work in 2005 after he became active as a freelance media commentator and pundit, providing analysis to ITV for the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final, in which he provided the analysis as his old club Liverpool won the trophy.