Top ten players who almost joined Manchester United before the deals fell through, Chelsea duo and Real Madrid legend included…
With Manchester United no longer playing in Europe, they don’t have the same ability to attract players like they used to. It used to be the case that if the Red Devils wanted you, you said yes. But even United didn’t always get what they wanted in the transfer market.
SEE MORE:
Manchester United Player Ratings v Everton: Manchester United player ratings v Everton: Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao run the show.
Welbeck Tackle Chelsea: (Video) Arsenal’s Danny Welbeck lucky to stay on the pitch after horrendous two footed challenge on Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas.
Falcao Goal Video Everton: (Vide0) Radamel Falcao gets his first Manchester United goal with a predatory finish.
Here are ten players that came so close to joining Manchester United but never actually completed their moves:
10) Michael Essien
Essien failed to impress Sir Alex Ferguson during trials at Manchester United, and so consequently joined Chelsea.
The combative midfielder went on to have a superb career both in London and the Spanish capital with Real Madrid.
9) Aaron Ramsey
The Welshman had an unbelievable 2013/14 season scoring 16 goals for Arsenal. He was even a contender for player of the season before an injury caused him to miss a large chunk of the campaign.
Manchester United actually settled on a fee with Cardiff to sign the young midfielder, but personal terms couldn’t be agreed and he eventually joined the Gunners.
8) Petr Cech
Arguably one of the best goalkeepers the Premier League has ever seen, Cech was reportedly very close to signing for Manchester United until Sir Alex Ferguson pulled out of the deal for unknown reasons.
United were on the hunt for a replacement for an ageing Peter Schmeichel, and although the Czech shot-stopper would have been an excellent replacement, they did go on to sign Edwin van der Sar so the fans can hardly complain.
7) Paul Gascoigne
One of the best players at the time, Manchester United narrowly missed out on Gascoigne due to wage demands allegedly.
The midfielder seemed on the verge of signing with the Manchester club, but Tottenham came in and trumped the Red Devil’s offering the Englishman a far better deal.
6) Arjen Robben
Manchester United have regularly been linked to the Dutch winger, and it was reported that they almost sealed the deal for the Bayern Munich man way back when he had hair.
The deal seemed as good as done, but Roman Abramovich intervened with his seemingly bottomless pockets and snatched the player away.
Although he didn’t perform outstandingly at Chelsea, Robben did go on to play for Real Madrid and Bayern Munich; and was superb for both.
5) Alan Shearer
Arguably Shearer was merely courted by Manchester United rather than coming close to signing for them.
Shearer allegedly turned down United twice, once opting for a move to Blackburn over the Red Devils, and once choosing the club he loved so dearly Newcastle.
4) Gareth Bale
Having missed out on Gascoigne to Spurs years earlier, it must have been even more painful for United to have failed to sign Gareth Bale.
Southampton apparently refused to deal with Manchester United over Gareth Bale for one reason or another, with the Welshman eventually joining Tottenham instead.
United then missed out on him a second time when they were trumped by Real Madrid with their world record bid.
3) Raul
The Real Madrid legend was open to a move to Manchester United and the Premier League when he was set to leave the Bernabeu, but at the time Sir Alex Ferguson had too many strikers on his books already.
With the players they had at the time being of world class quality as well it probably wasn’t a huge loss for the club, but it would have been great to see Raul in the Premier League.
2) Fernando Torres
Sir Alex Ferguson once confirmed that he was close to signing a 16-year-old Fernando Torres, but the move never materialised and he ended up making the switch to Liverpool.
The Merseyside club were able to get the best out of the Spaniard, who went on to make a £50m move to Chelsea before joining AC Milan this summer on loan.
1) Ronaldinho
The skillful Brazilian was certainly not short of suitors when he looked for an exit from French side PSG in 2003, and Manchester United looked like a possible destination.
Ronaldinho eventually opted to join Barcelona however, winning a number of accolades both personally and with the club.
The success seemingly went to his head a bit unfortunately, and his career rather quickly went into a downward spiral.