Sport
Manchester United missed signings | Top 5
It has been a summer of frustration for Manchester United off the field once more, with a lack of major signings to bolster a squad that finished third in the Premier League last season. Despite pursuing him for most of the summer, Jadon Sancho is looking likely to join an increasing list of Manchester United missed signings in recent years.
United have struggled to complete big deals since the retirement of Alex Ferguson back in 2013. With no Premier League title since then, United have not even really come close, they are not the same draw for the world’s best players that they once were.
Before Bruno Fernandes arrived in January to make a transformative impact on the Red Devils, their last world-class signing was probably Paul Pogba in 2016. Even that deal was righting a wrong of a few years earlier, when Pogba had been allowed to join Juventus on the cheap.
So which high profile Manchester United transfer targets did they miss out on over the years?
Manchester United missing signings – top 5
Cesc Fabregas – 2013
Under Ferguson’s replacement David Moyes, United found it hard to revamp a weakening squad, with their midfield an obvious area of concern. However, they were unable to bring in Cesc Fabregas despite the Spain midfielder being given the chance to leave Barcelona for a cut-price fee.
Former Arsenal star Fabregas rejected Manchester United and, instead, returned to London by signing for Chelsea, where he won a brace of Premier League titles in 2014–15, 2016–17, as well as the FA Cup in 2018.
“I had Manchester City, United [interested] and then I spoke to Mourinho – which I didn’t think would ever happen,” Fabregas later said. “To be honest, after I left the room with [Jose] Mourinho I said, ‘that’s it, I don’t need to talk to anyone else, I’m going to Chelsea.”
Mourinho or Moyes – it was not too hard a call to make back then.
Toni Kroos – 2014
Having only added Marouane Fellaini in the summer of 2013, United started trying to put together a deal for Germany international Toni Kroos. Liverpool were also interested but, with the World Cup on the horizon, it was Real Madrid who swooped in to sign Kroos from Bundesliga titans Bayern Munich.
Kroos went on to win the Champions League three years in a row, making him one of the Manchester United missed signings that they probably regret the most. The midfielder explained it was the sacking of Moyes that scuppered a potential switch to Old Trafford.
“David Moyes had come to see me and the contract had basically been done but then Moyes was fired and Louis van Gaal came in, which complicated matters,” Kroos told The Athletic.
“Louis wanted time to build his own project. I didn’t hear anything from United for a while and started having doubts. Then the World Cup started and Carlo Ancelotti called. And that was it.”
Antoine Griezmann – 2017
Heavily linked with United in 2017, Antoine Griezmann , who had a €100 million release clause, ranked his own chances of moving to Old Trafford from Atletico Madrid at six out of 10.
United had just finished sixth in the Premier League under Jose Mourinho and were in search of firepower, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s long-term injury hastening their need for more goals. Many considered Griezmann to be the third-best player in the world at the time, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, but United could not get the deal over the line.
Atletico’s transfer ban meant they would be unable to sign a replacement for the France forward and Griezmann opted to stay put before joining Barcelona, where he has struggled to settle.
Matthijs de Ligt – 2019
Netherlands star Matthijs de Ligt was on United’s radar in 2019 after he shone in captaining Ajax to the semi-finals of the Champions League, dumping out Real Madrid along the way.
De Ligt was being chased by most of Europe’s top teams with United having been keeping a close eye on him since his youth career but it was Juventus who sealed his signature.
The Dutch defender suggested a previous trip to Turin with his girlfriend, when he won the Golden Boy award, was among the reasons he chose Juventus over a move to United. Of all the recent Manchester United missed signings, they will probably rue this one the most with their defence currently lacking quality.
Erling Haaland – 2020
The emergence of Mason Greenwood means United now have a homegrown superstar on which to pin their hopes but they were still one of the elite clubs that were in for Erling Haaland.
Having come to the world’s attention with a stunning run of form for Austrian side Salzburg as a teenager, Haaland was the name on football fans’ lips all over the planet. United would have loved to bring him in but he became another of the players to turn down Manchester United and went to Borussia Dortmund instead, linking up with fellow Red Devils target Sancho and developing his huge talent rapidly.
Norway striker Haaland had worked with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the start of his career at Molde, but despite the compatriots’ rapport Haaland turned down the chance to join United.
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