5 Ballon d'Or winners who almost joined the Premier League

Premier League is one of the biggest sporting leagues in the world. Right now, there are some clubs and managers in England that any player would absolutely love to play for.

Even, in the days that have gone by, the glory and attraction of clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool was hard to overlook.

So, naturally some of the very big names in the game had found themselves linked with a move to England at some point in their careers, but sadly such transfer deals never materialized.

We are by no means trying to say that big players haven't played in the league, Henry, Gerrard, Rooney, Bergkamp, Schmeichel were all exceptional players back in the day.

But none of them could claim the coveted Ballon d'Or during their careers. It is one of the biggest individual awards out there and as fans, we would've loved to see more winners of the Golden Ball featuring in the Premier League.

Well, if managers would've had their way some of these prizewinners could've become Premier League legends as well.

So, sit back and find out below who are the 5 Ballon d'Or winners who almost signed for Premier League clubs:

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#1 Rivaldo

Rivaldo's spell at Barcelona made him a world-class striker

Rivaldo is fondly remembered by fans across the globe for his time at Camp Nou. He was one of the most elegant strikers to ever step out on the pitch.

His exceptional performances with Barcelona and Brazil were rewarded with a Ballon d'Or in 1999 when the player ended as LaLiga's second highest goalscorer in Barça's title-winning run in the 1998 season.

But what most people don't know is that this prolific goalscorer came very close to making a shock move to the Premier League with Bolton Wanderers of all clubs in 2004.

So how did a Barcelona superstar became linked with Bolton Wanderers just two years after winning the World Cup with Brazil?

After Louis Van Gaal returned as Barcelona manager in 2002, the player left the club for AC Milan, where though he won the UEFA Champions League, but failed to impress otherwise.

When he was going to be available for free in 2004, Sam Allardyce, the then Bolton coach launched an audacious bid to land the player. Even Rivaldo was said to be ready for the move, who wanted to end his career in England.

Eventually, due to his huge wage demands, the club pulled the plug and Premier League missed out on this talented striker.

#2 Zinedine Zidane

Zinedine Zidane could have joined Premier League as a 23-year old.

Zinedine Zidane is one of the few players in the world who do not need an introduction.

Regarded by many as one of the best midfielders of all time, he went on to win everything there is to claim at the club level, for his country and as an individual as well.

Like him, the famous incident involving 1994-95 Premier League champions Blackburn Rovers letting the chance to snap up this budding star slip through their hands is also very well known.

After their title-winning season in 1995, Rovers coach Kenny Dalglish had his eyes set on the Zidane and the player even visited the club's training grounds on the advice of his agent.

But, all hopes of this future Ballon d'Or winner playing in the league were quashed by the club's influential owner Jack Walker, who famously said:

“Why would we want Zidane? We’ve got Tim Sherwood”.

#3 Kaka

Kaka was offered a lucrative deal at Manchester City

Kaka, who was the last player to win the Ballon d'Or before the Ronaldo-Messi era, was subject to a world record transfer offer by a Premier League club, he revealed.

Kaka was an unstoppable force in the midfield, especially at AC Milan, where he became a superstar and claimed the prestigious Ballon d'Or in 2007. Andrea Pirlo said this about the midfield maestro:

‘I remember how badly we took it as a team when Kaka left Milan. For two or three years he was the best player in the world. There was a point when teams just had no idea how to stop him.’

Kaka revealed that the negotiations for securing his move to England were almost in the final stages, with AC Milan ready to accept the bid from Manchester City back in 2009.

But recall here that in 2009 AC Milan was one of the biggest clubs in Europe and Kaka who was their talisman, was in his prime at that moment. City had been infused with money from their rich owners and made a ridiculous £100 million bid for the Brazilian.

So, the player chose to stay at his club but eventually left Milan for Real Madrid just six months later.

#2 Luis Figo

Luis Figo of Barcelona leaves Guti of Real Madrid in his wake

Luis Figo, a player who probably made the most controversial transfer move in history was highly regarded by former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

He won the Ballon d'Or in 2000 with Real Madrid, but it was his performances with bitter rivals Barcelona in the previous season that earned him the accolade.

In his book The Boss: The Many Sides of Alex Ferguson Michael Carrick mentions that Ferguson seriously pursued the Portuguese, met with him in secret and was even willing to pay £37 million to Barcelona for securing his services.

But the audacious transfer deal never materialized, with the legendary manager blaming his club's financial fragility as the main reason for him missing out on the player in 2000.

The Irish Times quoted him saying:

"The only way Manchester United can improve the team is by buying the Zidanes and Figos of this world, in which case it is out of our financial reach."

Interestingly, 5 years later when his contract with Los Blancos was about to expire, he was again heavily linked with a move to Premier League, this time Liverpool were the interested party.

But his huge wage demands meant that the winger never got to show his skills in England.

He even regrets that he never played with Anfield legend, Steven Gerrard. Liverpool Echo quoted him saying:

“It's a pity because everyone wants to play with the best players and Gerrard has shown in his career that he was one of the best football players in his position."

#1 Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho was a wanted man in 2002 when he still with PSG

Ronaldinho emerged as one of the most exciting prospects in Europe in 2002 when he won the World Cup with Brazil at the age of 22. He had already established himself as a skilful attacker with PSG at the club level.

The player who won the Ballon d'Or in 2005 with Barcelona, was earmarked by Sir Alex Ferguson as the best possible replacement for the departing Beckham in 2003.

And the Scot was left baffled when he learnt that Barcelona had pipped him in landing the Brazilian, he was quoted saying:

"I thought we'd clinched the deal (for Ronaldinho), but when I flew to Paris to speak with him, the goalposts seemed to have moved somehow."

In a recent interview, he revealed that he almost became a Manchester United player, before Barcelona quickly swooped in to change his mind and he decided to move to Spain. This is what he said about the transfer deal in the interview:

"It almost happened. It was a matter of 48 hours but Sandro Rosell had told me way before I got the offer: "If I become Barca president, will you come?" I said yes"

"It was only a matter of details with United when Rosell called to say he was going to win the elections there. And I had promised to him that I'd play for Barca. It was a quick negotiation."