With the World Cup well under way, there has been a lack of transfer activity taking place. Therefore in order to make up for that, we thought we should highlight a number of transfers that so nearly went through. Here are the Top 10:
1. Ronaldinho to Manchester United
This transfer was about to happen when Ronaldinho was still playing for the French club PSG. At that time, the Red Devils sold David Beckham and wanted to replace him with the Brazilian legend. However things did not proceed as they wished as they were outbid by Spanish giant Barcelona where the famed dribbler became a massive hit for the club.
2. Radamel Falcao to Aston Villa 
The Colombian striker nearly joined the Villains in January 2008, when they decided to bid for him whilst he was still playing for former club, River Plate. They made an initial bid of £5M which was rejected. They did not up their bid for the Colombian striker and he later became one of the world’s most expensive players and is currently playing for AS Monaco.
3. Yaya Toure to Arsenal 
One of the best midfielders in the Premier League right now, Yaya Toure could have been a Gunner in 2003. He had a trial with the North London club and a deal around £1.3M was arranged but the transfer did not happened as the Ivorian midfield powerhouse could not get a work permit in order to play in England.
4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Arsenal 
Another big miss for the Gunners as Arsene Wenger offered a trial to the Swedish striker but he refused and said “Zlatan doesn’t do auditions”. The skilful striker preferred instead to sign for Ajax and did not take up Wenger’s offer of a trial. He later became one of the world’s best strikers and now currently plays for French side PSG.
5. Cristiano Ronaldo to Liverpool 
Former Reds boss Gerard Houiller was on the verge of signing the Portuguese in 2005 before the transfer fell through. The Liverpool board could not agree on the wage demand for him and did not go through with the transfer. Ronaldo was then bought by rivals Manchester United and became a massive hit for the club before moving to Real Madrid for a then record fee.
6. Zinedine Zidane to Newcastle 
The former Juventus man was offered to the Magpies in 1996 for a fee of £1.6M from Bordeaux. However they could not recognise his talent and turned down the opportunity to sign the French superstar. He was signed by Juventus where he proved his worth before moving to Real Madrid.
7. Gareth Bale to Manchester United 
In 2007, the Red Devils were very interested in former Southampton player, Gareth Bale. However they could not find an agreement over the fee for the player, hence the transfer therefore broke down. The Welsh wizard was later transferred to Tottenham for a fee of £10M. He did superbly well for the Spurs with a number of match-winning performances, before he was sold for a fee of 100M Euros to Real Madrid last summer.
8. Didier Drogba to Arsenal 
Another opportunity missed by the Gunners, after Arsene Wenger revealed that the Ivorian superstar could have been bought by Arsenal for a fee of £100k but did not take the risk as he was not sure whether Drogba could cope with English football. He must have got some regret when Chelsea bought him for £24M from Marseille and the lethal target-man did superbly well in the Premier League and became a Chelsea legend.
9. Michael Essien to Burnley
In 1999, Burnley missed the opportunity to sign Essien for free. This could not happen as one of the club’s rules stipulated that a youth player could not be on a wage higher than £60 a week. In 2005, Essien joined Chelsea from Lyon for a fee of £26M and went on to win the league with them.
10. Robert Lewandowski to Blackburn Rovers
This transfer was bound to happen in 2010 when Robert Lewandowski was still an unknown footballer. Blackburn Rovers were on the verge of completing the transfer before a volcano eruption in Iceland created a huge cloud and all flights was cancelled including that of Lewandowski to England. The transfer therefore broke down and Lewandowski was signed by Dortmund where he became one of the most prolific strikers in Europe.
Written by Nadeem – @nadz_robbani // @100percentAFC
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