The Blades midfielder's feet haven't touched the ground from the moment he was told by his agent that Bramall Lane bosses had accepted a bid from top-flight newcomers Stoke City just 75 minutes before the closure of the transfer window.

Tonge, at his home in Manchester at the time, quickly sped off across the Snake Pass to Sheffield to sign forms with Stoke and Blades officials present – with the documentation promptly faxed off to the Football League in the nick of time.

The following morning £2m man Tonge – who has signed a four-year deal with City – was busy acquainting himself with his new Potters team-mates and trying to take in the surroundings following a whirlwind of activity in which he hardly had time to draw breath.

The 25-year-old, part of the fixtures and fittings at United for eight years, told Yorkshire Sport: "It was pretty sudden and a very late one.

"To be honest, it was difficult as I didn't have any time to think about it at all.

"I only found out at 10.45 in the evening that Stoke wanted to sign me.

The club had obviously agreed a fee, so it's not like they knocked it back and that made my mind up."

That said, Tonge still admits it's a big wrench to leave his adopted "second home" in Yorkshire, where his career got off the ground in a big way following his release from Manchester United at the age of 16.

During his lengthy tenure at the Lane, the highs were innumerable for Tonge, who played more than 250 games for the Blades after making his debut on the final day of the 2000/01 season against Bolton.

His real breakthrough came in a stellar 2002/03 campaign when he sprang to national prominence after netting a brace in the Blades' 2-1 League Cup semi-final first-leg home success over Liverpool.

His performance marked the card of the Reds, who soon began to track his progress, while a host of other top-flight clubs also started to eye the talented play-maker.

Tonge eventually made it to the promised land with United during the ill-fated 2006/07 season and having seen his top-flight dream cruelly dashed inside just 12 months, he was more than anxious to make a swift return to mix it with the big boys.

Despite being among the bookies favourites to do that last term, the kick-back never materialised in a stop-start campaign, with Tonge suffering along with a host of team-mates in a disappointing season.