Transfers you were genuinely gutted we missed out on

No mention of Aguero? We were always linked with him when he was at Atletico
 
BenitoSTARR said:
He was brilliant for such a young age and had the arrogance needed that you felt he’s slot in well at United.

The only thing that softened it for me was the venom with which Rooney took the main man role.

Benzema for me would have been the perfect partner for Rooney as we then had Berbatov as the 2nd man.

Still can’t believe we lost Ronaldo and thought we’d be fine with Valencia, Owen, Diouf and Obertan.

That window really stung.
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Totally agree, he was an imperious sort of figure at such a young age. Good point about Rooney.

Man, the lies I told myself for comfort, in order to be ok with that window. My delusion about Obertan at the time, was born out of it.
 
Hazard, Sneijder, Bale, Modric, Kroos come to mind. I think in SAF's autobiography he spoke about having the chance to sign Zidane when he was at Bordeaux, but turned it down as we had Cantona. Think Cantona retired surprisingly like a season later.

Obvs never a close one and wasn't old enough so can't be devastated..but it would have been incredible to see Zizou in United red.
 
Essien was also one I was very wound up about at the time. Probably goes for most of the Kenyon stolen transfer targets, but Essien was a profile we sorely lacked.
 
After the 2010 WC I really wanted Aguero and Suarez. I don’t know if we were ever properly linked with either but it was gutting to see one go to City and the other to Liverpool a year later. What a strike force that could have been.

Obviously, benefit of hindsight- Suarez is a racist cannibal Cnut and we were better off without him, but just imagine!
 
Not exactly gutted but I think we're gonna regret not getting Trossard and letting a rival get him. Consistent 7-8/10 player
 
Slevs said:
Not exactly gutted but I think we're gonna regret not getting Trossard and letting a rival get him. Consistent 7-8/10 player
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We don't buy players just to stop a rival getting them, what would we want him for?

Take Rashford's place, stop Garnacho playing - I don't think so
 
Red in STL said:
We don't buy players just to stop a rival getting them, what would we want him for?

Take Rashford's place, stop Garnacho playing - I don't think so
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Think he can play both wings if I'm not mistaking him for someone else
 
Thiago in 2013
Herrera in 2013
Kroos in 2014
Sancho in 2020
And as someone mentioned few pages back - Eriksen when he was leaving Ajax in 2013. He went to Spurs for what was small fee even then.
 
RikRuud said:
Ronaldinho, cheers Peter Kenyon
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100% this. It has scarred me for life. I remember following the saga religiously on Teletext and being so sure that he was coming to us. It was heartbreaking and henceforth my hatred for Barca was born.

Other notable mentions: Arjen Robben (hijacked by Chelsea - what’s new?), Mahamadou Diarra (was delighted when he flopped at Real), Wesley Sneijder, Thiago (feck you Pep), Cicinho, Aaron Ramsey, Gareth Bale, Lucas Moura, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack, De Ligt (when he went to Juve), Maniche, Fabinho, Ricardo Carvalho, Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Manuel Neuer, Robert Lewandowski, Mario Gotze, Xavi, Toni Kroos (thanks LVG), Cesc Fabregas, Tchouameni, Camavinga, Mbappe, Bellingham and Haaland.

Yes, I have been gutted far too many times. :D
 
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FrankDrebin said:
Outside of Chile-Vision, I dont think there were any actual strong links to Vidal.

And SAF seemed to quickly come to the conclusion that Wesley Sneijder wasn't the type of profile he was looking for in a midfielder.
Didnt stop the media churning out rumour after rumour for months though.
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Fergie said in an interview last year that we were never in for Sneijder and he has no idea where the rumour came from.
 
Ronaldinho only

He turned Barca into the worlds biggest and most popular club. The most exciting crowd pleasing player since Maradona
 
Hazard to Chelsea. Instead we got Kagawa who didn’t accomplish anything. Fergie’s fault.

Haaland to Dortmund. Woodward’s fault.

Benzema. He and Rooney together would have been deadly.
 
A bit of a strange one and I'm sure most will disagree, but I think Jordan Henderson would've been a good purchase. Obviously the likes of Ronaldinho et al. are bigger misses, but Henderson could've at least helped our horrific midfield situation of the last decade.
 
For me
Sneijder, Moura, Hazard, Kroos, Herrera the first time round, Hummels, Griezmann, Fabinho, Sancho the first time round and FDJ
 
From those with whom we were heavily linked - Benzema, Hazard, Thiago

From those we weren't, but we absolutely should have been - Modric, Kante, Mahrez; Modric would have been extremely tough to get because of Levy, so I kind of understand it, but both Kante and Mahrez were there for the taking
 
Mudryk.

Honestly feel like this guy will be the best player in the league in 2-3 yrs time.
 
Traub said:
A bit of a strange one and I'm sure most will disagree, but I think Jordan Henderson would've been a good purchase. Obviously the likes of Ronaldinho et al. are bigger misses, but Henderson could've at least helped our horrific midfield situation of the last decade.
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SAF 'We looked at Jordan Henderson a lot, and Steve Bruce was unfailingly enthusiastic about him,' Ferguson wrote in his autobiography. 'But we noticed that Henderson runs from his knees, with a straight back. 'The modern footballer runs from his hips, and we thought this gait might cause him problems later in his career.
 
Ronaldinho & Robben are the ones I seem to recall being heavily linked with, wanting and not getting.
 
Traub said:
A bit of a strange one and I'm sure most will disagree, but I think Jordan Henderson would've been a good purchase. Obviously the likes of Ronaldinho et al. are bigger misses, but Henderson could've at least helped our horrific midfield situation of the last decade.
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Before he was bought by Liverpool he was shite though... And then he proved me and others on here wrong. Still a bit of a cnut, all things considered
 
Was always curious how Riquelme would have been for us. Probably a dud, but such a beautiful footballer.
 
Marcelo Salas.

Fergie travelled 14,000 miles to watch him, then baulked at the £15m asking price, offering a third. We signed Dwight Yorke for near £13m.
 
Sadio Mane,

Louis van Gaal recalls wanting to sign Liverpool legend Sadio Mane for Manchester United

The Dutchman had a brief, but memorable, stint in charge of Manchester United from 2012-14 and recalls wanting to sign the Senegalese star at the time.

‘I wanted him when I was the manager at Man Utd,’ said Van Gaal. ‘I chased him at the time. I am a fan of Mane. He can break open a match and I would say Senegal will really miss him.’
 
Ronaldinho, Hazard & Thiago were on a completely different scale to others. The latter two especially since it coincided with me being (or maybe still lurking?) on the caf, following the transfer threads & all.

Jim Beam said:
From those with whom we were heavily linked - Benzema, Hazard, Thiago

From those we weren't, but we absolutely should have been - Modric, Kante, Mahrez; Modric would have been extremely tough to get because of Levy, so I kind of understand it, but both Kante and Mahrez were there for the taking
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I'm pretty sure that Kanté only had eyes for Chelsea for whatever reason.
 
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