Top 5 crazy transfers that almost happened

From Pep Guardiola to Andres Iniesta, and from Michael Essien to Zinedine Zidane... The fact that they were all fantastic footballers is not the only thing they share in common. Each one of them was once extremely close to securing a move, which now sounds absolutely bizarre. These supposed transfers are beyond crazy and would make you forget about Wesley Sneijder's move to Galatasaray, or Ruben Neves' to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

After all, it is somewhat difficult to picture Iniesta not wearing the Blaugrana colours, and instead donning the white and blue of Rangers from Scotland. While we are glad these transfers did not actually take place, we cannot help but wonder what would've happened to the careers of such legendary players otherwise. Perhaps, Celtic wouldn't be at the summit of Scottish football. Leaving the speculation aside, let us take a look at five such unbelievable transfers which nearly happened.

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#5 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to West Bromwich Albion (2011)

Aubameyang is now one of the world's finest strikers.

It is rather weird that Arsenal's record signing at €63.75 million could once have been a West Brom player for a paltry €2 million. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has represented some of Europe's biggest clubs, including AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal. However, life could have turned out very different for the Gabonese had West Bromwich Albion listened to one of their scouts.

Stuart White, a former scout for the Baggies, watched Aubameyang represent Saint Etienne against Auxerre in 2011 and was blown over by his performance. Aubameyang was then contracted to AC Milan and was heavily out of favour back in Italy. As a result, West Brom could have bagged him for almost nothing. However, they decided not to as they were unconvinced by the African.

Then, as we all know, Aubameyang went to Borussia Dortmund and became a superstar. The fee Arsenal paid to acquire his services can be viewed as a pretty modest one. We know how the officials at the Hawthorns feel about this one...

#4 Robert Lewandowski to Blackburn Rovers (2010)

Lewandowski might never have become a world-beater if not for a volcano!

Having proven his ability to score goals for fun at his native Poland, a 22-year-old Robert Lewandowski was looking for a new, and harder, challenge. As we all know, he moved to Germany, where he played for two of the biggest clubs in the land - Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, and broke many a record in terms of goalscoring.

However, if not for something as strange as a volcano, Lewandowski could've been completing his eighth year in English football this season. The Polish forward was destined to at least visit Blackburn Rovers, to check their facilities and stadium. As luck would have it, though, ash clouds from the volcano Eyjafjallajokull (good luck) made air travel to England inaccessible at that point of time, and that proved to be a roadblock to Lewandowski's move to Ewood Park. Having said that, Robert himself claims that Borussia was always his first choice.

What could've been!

#3 Rivaldo to Bolton Wanderers (2004)

Rivaldo was a Champions League winner with Milan.

It's tough to believe that a 32-year-old Rivaldo, two years after winning the World Cup, and five years after winning the Ballon d'Or, was as close to joining Bolton Wanderers out of all clubs. As crazy as it does sound today, it was somewhat believable fourteen years back. Sam Allardyce was doing bits with Bolton, led by the wonderful Jay-Jay Okocha, and were knocking on the doors of European football.

Bolton's good run interested Rivaldo, as did the money English football had to offer. However, there wasn't enough of the latter to interest Rivaldo enough, and he ended up joining Olympiacos. Fair play to the Brazilian, as we went on to score 43 goals in 81 games for the Greek giants, and became a cult hero.

#2 Diego Maradona to Sheffield United (1978)

Imagine not signing Maradona for one-fifth of a million.

If you went to scout young footballing talent in Argentina back in 1978, it is unlikely you would not be informed about a 17-year-old baller named Diego. Sure enough, then Sheffield manager Harry Haslam came across the footballing prodigy too. Of course, Diego did not fail to blow Haslam's mind, who wanted to sign him at all costs.

However, the Sheffield board were a little sceptical on that matter and decided that Maradona was a little too expensive. Instead, they went for another Argentine Alejandro Sabella for £160,000 who you might remember from his managerial stint with the Argentine national team in the 2014 World Cup. Sabella wasn't a flop by any means, but let's not compare him with perhaps the greatest footballer of all time. Similarly, the Sheffield board might have made a handy profit on Sabella too, but let's not compare that with perhaps the biggest boardroom blunder of all time.

#1 Zinedine Zidane to Blackburn Rovers (1995)

Zizou has conquered football as dominantly as one could.

For a transfer blooper to outdo one involving Diego Maradona, it has got to be downright crazy. This one fits the bill. Over two decades back, Zinedine Zidane was making headlines as a young boy for Bordeaux. It is no surprise that Blackburn's manager Kenny Dalglish demanded the Frenchman's signing, looking to strengthen the squad, fresh off a Premier League title win in 1995. Of course, as we all know, that move never happened. The sole reason behind this was Blackburn's owner Jack Walker. It's perhaps his explanation for rejecting Zidane which helps this potential transfer topple that of Maradona's :

"Why do you want to sign Zinedine Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?"

Comparing a random French bloke to a Premier League winning captain? Are you serious, Kenny?

Since then, Zidane has won the Ballon d'Or, the World Cup, and the Champions League both as a player and a manager. As for Blackburn, they lost 4-1 to Bristol City last Sunday and sit 13th in the Championship table.