Older players who played for United that you wished we signed earlier

[eire-red]

What players have we signed in the past, either permanently or on loan, that you wished we had signed earlier in their careers?

In our current squad, there's Casemiro and Eriksen. I would have loved to have had both at United earlier in their careers. I still actually can't believe that Casemiro is here. And you can add Varane to that list too of the current crop.

Going further back, Henrik Larsson was only here for a short stint, but in his prime I think he would have been a perfect SAF-style striker. Any others that you can think of from any era?

 

[Member 125398]

Zlatan, Blanc. Wish we'd have got Cantona a year earlier.

 

[slored1]

Cavani. He was so good at the end of that first season, a definition of what a United player should be. Would be the perfect RVP replacement in 2014.

 

[Silky]

Schweinsteiger, van der sar, ibra

 

[ben38sufc]

Matic is always first to mind with this question. Varane I’m not sure on because of his injury issues before he came, but without them he is obviously outstanding

 

[Sunny Jim]

VDS

 

[kouroux]

Matic
Zlatan
Cavani

 

[El Zoido]

RVP

 

[Fr. Todd Unctious]

Van Der Sar

Think we could have won one or two more CL's if we'd gotten him when Schmichel left

 

[Raw]

Schweinsteiger

 

[Cloud7]

Ibra
Cavani
Matic
Schweinsteiger
Falcao (Pre injury)

 

[Dannn411]

Sheringham, Larsson, Casemiro, Schweinsteiger, Ibrahimovic, Van Persie.

 

[Big_Bro]

Steve Bruce and Van der sar

 

[wolvored]

feck me theres a load off the top of my head Ibra Cavani RVP Casemiro Eriksen Verane Schweinsteiger Blanc Falco Sanchez Matic my brains hurting now

 

[led_scholes]

Ronaldo (2013), Casemiro, Blanc, RVP.

 

[Tarrou]

would have loved it if we signed Zlatan after he left Juve

I reckon Fergie would've loved to have him too

 

[Remember the geese]

Van der Sar, Blanc, Varane, Casemiro, Matic, Schweinsteiger, Eriksen, Larsson, Zlatan, Cavani, Ronaldo. Possibly Van Persie and Falcao too.

 

[BazzaBear]

Van Der Sar is the biggest one for me. We suffered from deficient keeping for so long between Pete and him. I still remember the days of wincing every time a ball was played back to Bosnich, his kicking was so utterly terrible. It came to a point I'd rather our defenders just played it out for a corner. And Barthez always having a clown moment in him.

 

[Nytram Shakes]

Schweinsteiger & Larsson are the main two for me.

Larsson was a good short term fix but would have been amazing to see him here at the top of his game.

As for Schweinsteiger, we had been crying out for a player like him for years and years, but when we got him, he was out of shape, injury riddled and by many accounts acted unprofessionally. Having him in his prime would have been awesome though.

 

[Raoul]

Ibra is the main one. Should've been signed around the time Ronaldo left (right before he blew up at PSG)

 

[reddevilchennai]

Casemiro, Varane, Cavani, Ronaldo, RVP, Falcao, Eriksen, Sanchez, Ibra

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Schweinsteiger would have been one of the closest players we’ve had to Roy Keane if he signed 3-4 years earlier. But he was fecked and lacking in motivation by the time he arrived, Bayern got rid for a reason.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Ibra and Falcao stand out as the best choices (as far as realistic). We never would have gotten Casemiro, Varane, or Schwein from Madrid/Bayern.

 

[The Brown Bull]

Ibra with hesitation.
Van de Saar , Blanc, Falcao, Schweinsteiger, Cavani next.

 

[simplyared]

Definately Zlatan for me

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

preemptive Harry Kane topic

 

[norm87cro]

1) Larson
2) Vds
3) Ibra

 

[CallyRed]

Weghorst

 

[HookedOnAPhelan]

Larsson is the obvious choice for me (assuming a bit of realism), such a brilliant player. And Edwin.

 

[Red Royal]

Maguire (yes) if we brought him from Hull (for a lot cheaper) there wouldn't be all the fuss around him

 

[CloneMC16]

VDS. We messed around for years looking for the right keeper. The correct one was playing for Fulham the whole time.

 

[Dwight Corke]

Basically every ageing stopgap striker we've signed in the last few years.

Radamel Falcao circa 2012
Di maria when SAF was still manager.
Wilf Zaha
Louis Saha
Owen Hargreaves
Schweini
Cantona
RVP

 

[AlPistacho]

Casemiro
Varane (although 28 is still peak years for a CB) so I’m being fussy, but in an ideal world we’d have got him when he was 18 and groomed him to replace Rio.
I know the above two are current players, but no doubt in a few years they’ll get added.


Ronaldo second coming

Zlatan
RVP
VDS

 

[Jacob]

VdS
Zlatan
RvP

 

[Jacob]

1) Larson
2) Vds
3) Ibra

Delighted to see two Swedes out of three.

 

[Eli Zee]

Ronaldo, Ibrahimavic, Cavani, Casemiro

 

[harms]

Considering the most realistic ones, van der Sar should be on top. It’s not like we’ve had a chance to sign Schweiny/Ibra/Cavani/Falcão earlier…

 

[V.O.]

Cavani from Napoli would have been great, but we'd never have guessed that RVP would have been quite as finished quite as quickly as he was.

 

[galwayfa]

Just going on players not yet mentioned, an unpopular one maybe, Michael Owen.

 

[Pintu]

Zlatan around the time he left Milan for Paris... PSG wasn't a hot destination then (he made them that), we'd have attracted him and things would have been...