Ricardo Quaresma, I spent weeks telling my mates how great he was and even said we’d signed the wrong Portuguese lad when we signed Ronaldo.
Players you really wanted here but failed when they joined other clubs
- Thread starter sp_107
- Start date
Surprised nobody has said Mustafi, hilariously. He was a World Cup winner and had a decent reputation at Valencia - good on the ball, and we needed a CB. I was very keen at the time.
He hasn't really been a let down though
Ibrahim Afellay from PSV Eindhoven circa 2011. Joined Barcelona instead.
Mamadou Diarra from Lyon circa 2006. Joined Madrid instead.
Alen Halilović from Dinamo Zagreb circa 2012. Joined Barcelona instead.
James Rodríguez from Porto and then Monaco. Joined Madrid from the latter and didn't live up to his potential obviously.
Yoann Gourcuff from Rennes circa 2006 and then 2009-ish from Bordeaux when we were looking to consolidate. Joined Milan/Lyon instead.
Random off-topic mention: Ander Iturraspe from Athletic Club circa 2015. Thought he could be budget Busquets under Van Gaal and a natural successor to Carrick — didn't develop as well as I'd hoped/thought he would, and recently joined Espanyol!
Mamadou Diarra from Lyon circa 2006. Joined Madrid instead.
Alen Halilović from Dinamo Zagreb circa 2012. Joined Barcelona instead.
James Rodríguez from Porto and then Monaco. Joined Madrid from the latter and didn't live up to his potential obviously.
Yoann Gourcuff from Rennes circa 2006 and then 2009-ish from Bordeaux when we were looking to consolidate. Joined Milan/Lyon instead.
Random off-topic mention: Ander Iturraspe from Athletic Club circa 2015. Thought he could be budget Busquets under Van Gaal and a natural successor to Carrick — didn't develop as well as I'd hoped/thought he would, and recently joined Espanyol!
That goal is absolute fecking filth.
I was gutted we didn’t sign Marcelo Salas when we were non stop linked with him as I thought he was going to be one of the best strikers in the world but he never really hit those heights and was constantly injured in Serie A, another I loved as a young kid was Darko Pancev at Red Star Belgrade but his career went nowhere pretty much as soon as he left there.
Morata is a good option too. Was all for bringing him in this summer and was excited with his potential at Madrid. Never worked for him at Chelsea, despite starting there well.
Florent Malouda.
I don’t think you understand how this game works
Read the title of the thread for a clue
Can we say Nicolas Pepe? I was obsessed with him at Lille.
For me it would be Marcelo Salas when he was at Lazio, we were heavily linked with him and what a striker he was, however he ended up at Juventus and that really didn't happen for him and ended up with his tail between his legs back to South America
Thinking about Noureddine Naybet too, he stuck it out too long at Deportivo and ended up at Spurs which would probably class as underwhelming mainly due to being old.
Thinking about Noureddine Naybet too, he stuck it out too long at Deportivo and ended up at Spurs which would probably class as underwhelming mainly due to being old.
I wanted Morata instead of Lukaku, Ricardo Rodriguez as a left-back couple years ago when he went to Milan, Michael Keane instead of Lindelöf.. Yeah, my scouting isn't the best it seems.
Kevin Hofland
Klass-Jan Huntelaar
Mark Van Bommel
Alfred Finnbogason
Aleksander Dragovic
Lucas (one that went to Real Madrid)
Klass-Jan Huntelaar
Mark Van Bommel
Alfred Finnbogason
Aleksander Dragovic
Lucas (one that went to Real Madrid)
Michael Essien. Gutted. He was a beast too.
Edit: after reading the rules ...Andrei Schevshenko and James Rodriguez the main ones.
And I remember being convinced David Bentley would do well at Spurs.
Edit: after reading the rules ...Andrei Schevshenko and James Rodriguez the main ones.
And I remember being convinced David Bentley would do well at Spurs.
Last edited:
I remember when we were super desperate for a centre back (isn't that every year?!) when LVG was around and I even wanted Thomas Vermaelen probably out of sheer desperation more than anything. I think it was his injuries that hampered him at Barcelona but I recall thinking that we dodged a bullet there.
James Rodriguez after the world cup, really fell of a cliff since then.
I was certain Ganso was going to be a top player. Turned out to be a upper-midtable squad player in Spain.
Yarmolenko would go straight into our first eleven and improve it instantly. A third of the season at West Ham was coming off the bench.
Yarmolenko would go straight into our first eleven and improve it instantly. A third of the season at West Ham was coming off the bench.
Gutted that Glenn Hysen went to Liverpool after being nailed on for United in 89', started like a house on fire which made it worse then fell off a cliff, which was nice.
Can't remember any link to him, but Gourcuff is a great shout. For a year or so he looked like he could become a cross between Zizou and Riquelme. Shame it didn't work out, he was great.
Remember Steven Defour and Fabio Coentrao being linked for a number of seasons.
From what I seen of Defour ,when he finally made it to the prem with Burnley, he was bang average and Coentrao was so hit or miss at Real(mainly miss, rarely hit). He continued in that vain after leaving Real.
From what I seen of Defour ,when he finally made it to the prem with Burnley, he was bang average and Coentrao was so hit or miss at Real(mainly miss, rarely hit). He continued in that vain after leaving Real.
I thought the ''failed'' part was meant to be the fan's failed desire to see X player at the club. My bad
Clearly I didn't as some pointed outI don’t think you understand how this game works
Read the title of the thread for a clue
Don't know if he's already been mentioned, but Falcao when he joined us. At a certain point in his career he was regarded as the best central forward in the world, top 3 with Messi and Ronaldo. His Porto and Atleti says make for some of the greatest highlight clips on YouTube there is, so I always wanted to see him wearing the United red and wanted him to succeed badly when we loaned him.
Sadlu, we all know how that went.
Sadlu, we all know how that went.
SAF was crazy about Joe Cole when he was a teen sensation at West Ham. Their are legendary stories of him calling Harry Redknapp every month to ask about his development and when he would be allowed to sign him.
He has a very good career at Chelsea but I think SAF would have made him even better.
The winner of the thread had to be Paul Gascoigne. Who knows his his life story would have turned out under SAFs tutelage.
Lastly I think we’d have won 5 or 6 CLs by now if Shearer has also joined around that time.
I would have also loved Jay Rodriguez around that time too.
I really wanted Jose Bosingwa after we had used Wes Brown all season at right back and Gary Neville getting more injury prone and older. RB was a place we could have improved with someone who was as good as Evra on the left... but he joined Chelsea.
But he was relatively unspectacular from memory. All I remember about him was his unibrow.
But he was relatively unspectacular from memory. All I remember about him was his unibrow.
This thread is what you get when fifa/fm projections are not matched by reality
At various points I thought the following would have been good additions
Theo Walcott (when he was at Southampton)
Danny Drinkwater (after the title winning season)
Morten Gamst Pederson (Back when we were eternally linked with him)
Jay Rodriguez (when he first came on the scene)
Theo Walcott (when he was at Southampton)
Danny Drinkwater (after the title winning season)
Morten Gamst Pederson (Back when we were eternally linked with him)
Jay Rodriguez (when he first came on the scene)
Mesut Ozil. I remember being absolutely gutted when Arsenal got him and we ended up signing Fellaini that same night. Especially after how badly stung we were after missing out on Thiago not that long. Glad we didn’t get him in the end. Would have just been another Alexis Sanchez - here for the money and nothing else. Plus he can’t make the bench, never mind starting eleven for a very poor Arsenal team which says it all.
Serge Aurier. I remember us being constantly linked with the guy and watching various YouTube highlight videos of him, I was desperately wanting us to sign him as he looked absolutely excellent in those clips. Looks like he’s proven to be an absolute liability & one that I’m certainly happy we missed out on.
Serge Aurier. I remember us being constantly linked with the guy and watching various YouTube highlight videos of him, I was desperately wanting us to sign him as he looked absolutely excellent in those clips. Looks like he’s proven to be an absolute liability & one that I’m certainly happy we missed out on.
Last edited:
Gaitan
Might be a bit early, Arsenal were a mess this season. Let’s see how he does
Sahin
I was pretty disappointed when Joe Cole went to Liverpool in 2010. He ended up not doing much there.
Sahin is a great shout. Remember he was with getting his medical and the guy was like “you’re at a big club now lad” having just got him on loan from Madrid ffs!
Sahin is a great shout. Remember he was with getting his medical and the guy was like “you’re at a big club now lad” having just got him on loan from Madrid ffs!
This is not. Where did they fail after you wanted to sign them?
Why are so many not getting it?
Well this City fan reckons that Otamendi had one outstanding season (17/18) but has been a cardiac kid the rest of the time.
Partially explained by our tactics of committing so many players upfield and putting the remaining defenders under great pressure should the attack break down.
Ota is too prone to panicking and diving in rather than staying with his man and awaiting their mistake or help from colleagues.
Not a total flop but the fact that a raw 19 year old is now preferred tells its own story.
Also Gourcuff. Sadly injuries really impacted him. He’s still only 34! I miss living in Bordeaux, and for all its...flaws I guess Chaban-Delmas. Fond memories.
Coutinho.
Shouldn't/wouldn't/couldn't after playing for Liverpool but he's now a nomad looking for a place to play.
Always been a fan of that type of player.
Shouldn't/wouldn't/couldn't after playing for Liverpool but he's now a nomad looking for a place to play.
Always been a fan of that type of player.
All clubs do including United.We can maybe add Mangala to that, too.
Let's be fair, other clubs have bought some right shit, haven't they?!
Maybe not a failure, and did not even change clubs, but i was really keen on us signing Muniain after we played them in EL.
Van Persie for me, fully expected him to go to City and then Fergie sealed the deal and he won us the title.
Am I doing this right
Am I doing this right