Ward? As in Mark, of West Ham? Distant memory...
What could have beens.....but weren't
- Thread starter MoBeats
- Start date
The next Messi 
Think we were linked to Morten Gamst Pedersen quite a bit, Giggs still outlasted him
Sheffield Wednesday and it was Herd
Vidal is the best midfielder in the world in my opinion. I was absolutely gutted we didn't get him.
Fernando Torres from the early to mid noughties - when we were constantly linked with him:
The prospect of this version of Torres in the early to mid 2000s:
Or this one after his move from Atlético (Ballon D'Or 3rd in 2008):
Dovetailing with Ronaldo and Rooney would've sent shivers down the spines of a lot of top teams, and maybe propelled us to an additional European Cup.
link
The prospect of this version of Torres in the early to mid 2000s:
Or this one after his move from Atlético (Ballon D'Or 3rd in 2008):
Dovetailing with Ronaldo and Rooney would've sent shivers down the spines of a lot of top teams, and maybe propelled us to an additional European Cup.
Poaching Cruyf when he was linked with Leicester City. Could really have developed a profile at a time when few outside Salford had heard of Manchester United.
Also, Kaká from before he joined Milan, or even when when he was at Milan and just starting to establish himself.
Ahah, that's muppetastic!
Same shtick as Torres - pace, and transcendental ability as an attacker at his peak, plus the prospect of linking up with Ronaldo and Rooney. And because he was older and developed faster than the other two, he would've fast-tracked our growth in the mid 2000s, instead we got the wrong Brazilian in Kleberson for a similar fee.
http://www.thehardtackle.com/2012/manchester-united-transfer-misses-ronaldinho-robben-and-others/
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/united-linked-with-kaka.26996/Please let it be true.
Ahah, that's muppetastic!
Same shtick as Torres - pace, and transcendental ability as an attacker at his peak, plus the prospect of linking up with Ronaldo and Rooney. And because he was older and developed faster than the other two, he would've fast-tracked our growth in the mid 2000s, instead we got the wrong Brazilian in Kleberson for a similar fee.
I think we came close to signing Marcos Senna from Villerael but opted out and went for Carrick instead iirc which obviously turned out for the better.
Hirst?
That's him.
Fergie not retiring and us re-signing Ronaldo. Evra had said in an interview that Fergie had told him that it was 99% done.
Fat Ronaldo. Fergie said we couldn't sort out a work permit for him so he went to PSV instead. Imagine him spearheading our attack during the 90s.
Neymar.
But we got Fellaini instead.
But we got Fellaini instead.
Manuel Neuer, Fergie said he wanted him before turning onto De Gea. Think of all the mini heart-attacks we would have had with him. I think there was quite a lot of talk about Ochoa coming in as well?
Also, Mikel
Also, Mikel
Well isn't this a treat of a thread :'(
Neuer - Had we signed him then we wouldnt have Dave
Kluivert - Would not have signed Dwight Yorke if we signed Patrick Kluivert
I think Damien Duff was linked to us at one stage too before Chelsea signed him
Kluivert - Would not have signed Dwight Yorke if we signed Patrick Kluivert
I think Damien Duff was linked to us at one stage too before Chelsea signed him
Fabregas/Thiago, Baines (2013)
Vidal (2014)
Pedro, Hummels (2015)
Pedro, especially. I still don't know why he would choose a Mourinho team with competition for his place over a van Gaal team crying out for a right winger-cum-finisher like him. Terrible decision for all three parties.
Vidal (2014)
Pedro, Hummels (2015)
Pedro, especially. I still don't know why he would choose a Mourinho team with competition for his place over a van Gaal team crying out for a right winger-cum-finisher like him. Terrible decision for all three parties.
Toni Kroos, I was convinced Moyes was going to sign him! Tured out OK though as we probably would't have gone in for Fellaini and can you imagine how boring this place would be without that fella!
Yeah SAF said his corner kicks were worth £10m alone.
To be fair, he was having a good season, but the hype by the media was so intense. As it is every season for at least 1 season. Last season was Mahrez, Vardy and Payet. This season looks like it's being Gabriel Jesus'
I think the plan was to sign both. But Ferguson said Kluivert wouldn't even speak to him to listen to an offer. I guess he didn't want to play in England or more likely he heard United had a wage cap at the time.
I read somewhere that Kluivert preferred Arsenal over us
Yeah you're right i remember that now, until Barcelona came onto the scene then he preferred them. I guess it was more Manchester than England that he didn't fancy.
In recent years the moura one hurt. The sneijder saga over all those years too
Ezequiel Garay
Not particularly close but if I remember correctly we were interested in Brazilian Ronaldo, Puskas and Xavi.
In recent years, missing out on Thiago was quite disappointing. And of course, Ronaldinho...
In recent years, missing out on Thiago was quite disappointing. And of course, Ronaldinho...
This would be better in an Arsenal forum
Zidane, Xavi, and of course best of all, Henderson.
We did eventually get Vd Sar, but then it could have been much much earlier.
We did eventually get Vd Sar, but then it could have been much much earlier.
Henning Berg.Celio Silva http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2012/02/15/celio-silva-the-manchester-united-signing-who-never-was/
Who am I again?
We signed the mighty Henning Berg instead.
Yeah, I do wish I was bit more Jason Statham and a bit less bald, camp Alan Shearer
You don't see as much Norwegians in the Prem as you used to see back in the 90s.
Henning Berg.
You don't see as much Norwegians in the Prem as you used to see back in the 90s.
You don't see much of their national team at tournaments either, there has clearly been a steady decline of the Scandinavian countries over the last decade.
I remember an interview with Eric Steele just before we signed DDG saying we were looking very closely at Skelenberg and that Steele wanted him rather than DDG.
I believe we were also very close to signing Darren Anderton just before Beckham came through.
I believe we were also very close to signing Darren Anderton just before Beckham came through.
Remember Cicinho? Papers were talking like that was a done deal at one point.
Stanley Matthews
Colin Todd
Jimmy Armfield
Eric Caldow
Mick Mills
Malcolm McDonald
Liam Brady
Gerry Francis
Terry Butcher
Gary Lineker
Alan Ball
Paul Gascoigne
Charlie Nicholas...
Amongst many others...
Colin Todd
Jimmy Armfield
Eric Caldow
Mick Mills
Malcolm McDonald
Liam Brady
Gerry Francis
Terry Butcher
Gary Lineker
Alan Ball
Paul Gascoigne
Charlie Nicholas...
Amongst many others...
We should have beaten Southampton in 1976 to win the FA cup. Instead we beat the dippers a year later and deprived them of the treble. Better result but I'm looking forward to laying the ghost of 1976 to rest in a Fortnight.
I guess that's the one that stands out in all of this for me, although not for footballing reasons. Things may have been very different had Sir Alex got his hands on him. Not a given, though. He couldn't do anything with Ravel Morrison so maybe taming Gazza would have been beyond him too.
Gazza will always be the one for me, if only fergie had got his hands on him things could off been so different.
biggest fuss made over transfer that didn't happen then the Sniejder one..... bloody hell that was an annoying summer!
biggest fuss made over transfer that didn't happen then the Sniejder one..... bloody hell that was an annoying summer!
No one will probably remember this but in the summer of 97 - when we tried to sign Babbel and Laudrup - we were also linked with Ibrahima Bakayoko (ended up at Everton a few years later) and a young Ukrainian by the name of Andrey Shevchenko.
Also remember a time we were heavily linked with Thuram, 2001 I think, before he went from Parma to Juventus.
Not so many tears about not getting Ortega on loan in the middle of 97/98... Don't think it would have worked out.
Also remember a time we were heavily linked with Thuram, 2001 I think, before he went from Parma to Juventus.
Not so many tears about not getting Ortega on loan in the middle of 97/98... Don't think it would have worked out.
From my time, i remember the Shearer done deal and the constant Le Tissier roumours that would never go away.
But the one that sticks in the craw is the peter kenyon trio of
Essien
Robin
Ronaldinho
All were coming, kenyon fecks of to the plastics and they all amazingly fall through. With 2 of them going with him. Oh do i hate that man!
But the one that sticks in the craw is the peter kenyon trio of
Essien
Robin
Ronaldinho
All were coming, kenyon fecks of to the plastics and they all amazingly fall through. With 2 of them going with him. Oh do i hate that man!
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