A look at the one player big clubs around Europe wish they’d never sold, featuring iconic stars let go too soon by the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid…
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1) Arsenal – Patrick Vieira
Stats have shown Arsenal never recovered from the sale of legendary midfielder and captain Patrick Vieira, who is certainly one of the most important players to ever play for the club, leading them to three Premier League titles in his time at Highbury.
2) Manchester United – Cristiano Ronaldo
They may have got £80m for Cristiano Ronaldo when he joined Real Madrid, but how much would Manchester United give to have kept the Portuguese goal machine, who only got better when he moved to the Bernabeu? Quite simply, Ronaldo is one of the greats of his generation and could have ensured United remained dominant for years to come.
3) Liverpool – Luis Suarez
With Liverpool so close to winning the Premier League title last season, how much must it have hurt to immediately lose the player who made it seem so possible? Luis Suarez’s exit to Barcelona has hit the Reds hard this season, as they have struggled for goals and dropped to fifth place in the table.
4) Chelsea – Arjen Robben
Chelsea have had many great players down the years, but some fans must be wondering why they weren’t a little more patient with Arjen Robben, who has gone on to become one of the best players in the world at Bayern Munich and who was inexplicably let go after a good start to life at Chelsea as a youngster.
5) Tottenham Hotspur – Gareth Bale
The best player Tottenham have had for a long time, £85m will not make up for losing Gareth Bale to Real Madrid, with Spurs spending that money on largely average players who have not come close to replacing the world class Welshman, who, to rub salt into the wound, may now be back in the Premier League next season with Manchester United or Chelsea.
6) Barcelona – Ronaldo
With just one sensational season at Barcelona, the club’s fans must be rueing the day their team let Ronaldo go, with the Brazilian superstar going on to shine for rivals Real Madrid later in his career.
7) Real Madrid – Samuel Eto’o
In a reverse of the Ronaldo situation, Real Madrid stupidly let Samuel Eto’o leave for Mallorca as a youngster, with the Cameroon star going on to become one of the best strikers of his generation, scoring in two Champions League final victories for rivals Barcelona and terrorising his old club whenever he played them.
8) AC Milan – Andrea Pirlo
Let go on a free when AC Milan thought he was past his best, Andrea Pirlo has since won four consecutive Serie A titles with rivals Juventus, and still looks one of the top playmakers in Europe on his day. Bad move, Milan.
9) Juventus – Zinedine Zidane
Let go for a then world record £50m, Zindane Zidane was a huge player for Juventus but is now better remembered as a Real Madrid legend, scoring THAT goal to win the Champions League final of 2002. Could a similar fate await the Italian giants with current French midfield star Paul Pogba?