Manchester United have signed some great players, but they have missed out on some even greater ones.
If they had bought every player on this list, they would probably have won the title and the Champions League every year, and that’s not an over exaggeration.
These are the 90 best players that got away – and a few they probably didn ‘ t even want …
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Put ‘Nicolas Gaitan’ and ‘Manchester United’ into Google and you get 250, results. There are football reporters in the North West who, to this day, break out in a cold sweat when the Argentine winger’s name is mentioned.
Gaitan was linked to United for years and years. The closest he came to moving to Old Trafford was in and a mooted £ 26 m deal.
Work permit problems meant the deal was never completed and he stayed at Benfica before joining Atletico Madrid four years later.
. Leighton Baines
David Moyes knew he needed to make signings when he became Manchester United manager in . United had just won the title in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season and Moyes wanted to strengthen from a position of strength.
Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara were on his shopping list and so were two players Moyes knew well from his time at Everton – Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines.
Joint bids went in, including one for £ 37 m. When Everton rejected them United started making separate offers.
Fellaini eventually moved late on deadline day for £ 35 m but Everton held firm over Baines and the player didn ‘t agitate for a move.
“I sat on the fence and saw how the thing played out,” Baines later said. “Maybe it was just how I was brought up.”
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