Top 10 football transfers that never happened

Besides the goals, the legends and the victories, the transfer deals have an equally special place in football folklore, and all of them have their own set of intriguing back-stories. So many times we see players coming close to signing for a football club and yet end up either taking a complete U-turn or signing for another club.So let’s have a look at the top ten football transfers that never happened.

#10 Wayne Rooney to Chelsea

Manchester United’s top goalscorer Wayne Rooney had handed in a transfer request to Manchester United in the 2013 transfer window after he was being looked down upon by the former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Jose Mourinho, who had been reinstated as Chelsea manager at the time, was on the lookout for a striker and made the unsettled Englishman his prime summer target.

As a result, he made two official bids for Rooney to United and was so close to securing the services of English skipper until the new United manager David Moyes stepped in to call off the move.

The Scotsman offered Rooney a lucrative £300,000-a-week contract and the liberty to play him in his preferred position which was enough for the England international to make up his mind and stay at United.

#9 Cristiano Ronaldo to Arsenal

In 2003, before Manchester United came into the picture, Arsenal were agonisingly close to signing Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese winger came for a trial at Arsenal’s training ground and was so impressive that Wenger gave him the Arsenal number 9 shirt with ‘Ronaldo’ printed on its back.

But when the Arsenal officials contacted Sporting Lisbon, the asking price was never met and the deal fell through. Wenger later admitted the same in 2008 when he was quoted on Arsenal.com as saying:

“I had Ronald at the training ground. I showed him around and I gave him a shirt. It had got his name on the back.

“But in the end, it was a question of the amount of transfer fee between the two clubs. Of course, he has proved to be a bargain [at £12.25 million]. But the price that we discussed was in fact much lower, it was divided by three.”

#8 Robert Lewandowski to Blackburn Rovers

In 2010, Robert Lewandowski was a relatively unknown player playing for the Polish club Lech Poznan. Blackburn Rovers, who were fighting relegation at that time and were in need of a striker, were led to believe that a fee of £4 million would be enough to secure the services of the promising Poland international.

Lewandowski was due to travel to England for a trial with the Lancashire club, but an ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland played spoilsport as it grounded all the flights in and out of UK.

“He got the invitation [from Blackburn], but due to the cancellation of the flights he could not go, and it makes no sense to drive,” said agent Cezary Kucharski

#7 Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Arsenal

Similar to Cristiano Ronaldo, Arsene Wenger called a 16-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the Arsenal’s training ground to see if the Swedish striker was good enough to play for the English giants or not.

Wenger asked Ibrahimovic to undergo a trial which was ruthlessly rejected by the young Swede who claimed: “Zlatan doesn't do auditions.”

Later, in 2012, when Wenger was asked if he regretted the decision of not signing Ibrahimovic at the time, the Frenchman was quoted saying:

“The story is true I wanted to see him. I did not know him, you cannot sign players you have not seen at all because it is not serious.

“He was 16. I asked him to have a little training session with the first team and he didn't want to do it. Do I regret it? No. I will continue to do that unless our scouts have seen the player and says, 'Look he is absolutely 100 per cent'. I trust them.”

#6 Ronaldinho to Manchester United

When Manchester United sold David Beckham to Real Madrid in 2003, they wanted to replace the talismanic winger by signing the Brazilian youngster Ronaldinho who was playing for PSG at that time.

“We are just about there but we don't know for sure. We are very close,” said Sir Alex Ferguson of his proposed £20 million transfer of Ronaldinho.

However, it didn’t turn out close enough as Barcelona outbid United and signed the Brazilian shortly afterwards.

#5 Paul Gascoigne to Manchester United

In the 1987/88 season, Paul Gascoigne won the PFA player of the year award for his stellar performances with Newcastle United and clubs were looking to sign one of England’s finest talents. Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur took notice of England international’s performances and were both interested in securing the services of the talented player.

Sir Alex Ferguson had the deal almost done when he spoke to Gazza before going on his holiday and was assured by the player that he would be moving to the Old Trafford club.

This was until Tottenham came in and swung the deal by buying Gazza’s parents a house and his sister a tanning bed. It ultimately led to the Englishman joining the north London club instead.

#4 Steven Gerrard to Chelsea

It is almost unimaginable to even think that Mr. Liverpool and the captain fantastic, Steven Gerrard, could have ever come close to playing for Chelsea. But in 2004, this almost became a reality.

During the 2004 European Championships, it was believed that Gerrard had agreed to terms with Chelsea who were signing all sorts of players after being bought by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich the previous summer.

But the deal was called off at the eleventh hour due to pressure from the Liverpool fans who threatened to take his life and also threatened his family. Gerrard would win the Champions League the next season as Liverpool captain and he stayed at Anfield till 2015.

#3 Zinedine Zidane to Blackburn Rovers

The France legend could have been plying his trade in England had he signed for the Lancashire club back in 1995. Blackburn Rovers were on the look out of a fresh talent after they had just won their first (and only) Premier League title.

The club manager and the coaches suggested 23-year-old Zinedine Zidane who was playing at Bordeaux at the time. However, club chairman Jack Walker famously replied: “Why do you want to sign Zidane when we've got Tim Sherwood?”

Epic fail, to say the least!

#2 Alfredo di Stefano to Barcelona

Alfredo di Stefano is a Real Madrid legend in every sense and is still worshipped at the Bernabeu even today. And yet he could have signed for Barcelona had fate not intervened.

Back in the 1950s, Spain was under General Franco’s regime and he was a Real Madrid fan. In 1953, both Barcelona and Real Madrid claimed to have signed Di Stefano. In order to resolve the confusion, FIFA intervened and it was decided that both Barcelona and Real Madrid had to share the player in alternate seasons.

However, Barcelona’s Franco-imposed president backed down after a few appearances as Barcelona’s side claimed. But Real say Barcelona’s decision was voluntary and Di Stéfano moved definitively to Madrid.

He then went on to win five successive European cups with Real Madrid and Barcelona were left to wonder what might have been.

#1 Diego Maradona to Sheffield United

The legend has it that the Blades manager, Harry Haslam, in 1978 spotted the young Diego Maradona at Argentine Juniors during one of his scouting trips. It was understood that the Argentine club was ready to sell off their youngster to Sheffield United at a price of £200,000 pounds.

However, Sheffield’s board members were reluctant to pay that fee for a relatively unknown player and instead bought Maradona’s countryman Alex Sabella for £160,000. The move was not good enough to prevent the Blades from dropping down to the fourth tier of English football.

Epic fail once again!