The Dublin native McGrath made a name for himself at Manchester United and Aston Villa during the pre-Premier League era and the early years of the competition.
Often heralded as one of the world's best, McGrath won a heap of individual awards during his career, as well as domestic trophies with Villa and United.
His former boss at United and Villa, Atkinson, explained on a podcast what he saw in the early days of McGrath's career. In the same discussion, the 85-year-old compared the Irish defender to Dutch legend Ruud Gullit, while also believing that he could do what the Dutch legend did for club and country.
"I signed Paul McGrath, originally for Manchester United, for, I think, about £30,000 or something, and he was a bit raw. I'd seen Ruud Gullit play at Feyenoord as he was at the time, and he either played up the right-hand side or in the middle at the back," Atkinson said on the Under the Cosh podcast.
18 May 1985: Graham Sharpe of Everton (left) and Paul McGrath of Manchester United in action during the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in London. Manchester United won the match 1-0 after extra time. Mandatory Credit: Bob Martin/Allsport"When I first saw McGrath, I had this theory or feeling that he could do that, that if he didn't quite make it at centre-half, I could always play him on the right side of midfield."
McGrath's troubles during his career are well-documented, and it got so bad that when Atkinson arrived, the solution presented was to offload the talented Irish defender to Celtic.
Atkinson explained that he was glad that Liam Brady's offer for the best defender to ever play in the Premier League didn't materialise into a concrete sale.
"Quite honestly, when I got there, I thought, if there's going to be a problem, let's get it out of the way before we start. I actually offered him on the market and offered him to Liam Brady at Celtic," he added.
"If Liam Brady had come up with £1.5 million, I would have let him go. Liam was prepared to go to £750,000. I went, 'No, no.'
"That was the luckiest escape I ever had, because I don't think there's ever been a better centre-half in the Premiership."
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