Man United have struggled so far in the 2022 transfer window.
The ongoing pursuits of Ajax winger Antony and Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong are yet to near conclusion. Fans are beginning to get frustrated.
But this isn’t anything new to Man United supporters. Over the years, there have been many transfer sagas that have dragged on and ultimately never came to fruition. The name Wesley Sneijder often springs to mind when thinking of such a scenario.
The 2022 transfer window reminds us of these drawn-out sagas, and here are our five most memorable.
Wesley Sneijder
Man United’s pursuit of Dutch hero Wesley Sneijder is well documented. In 2011, Sneijder was linked with a move to Old Trafford seemingly every day. The Dutch midfielder even admitted that he had conducted “unofficial talks” with the club and the move looked certain to happen.
However, the transfer broke down, and after two years of links with the Reds, the Dutchman joined Turkish giants Galatasaray in January 2013. Since this saga, Sir Alex Ferguson has commented on the Sneijder links, stating on the official UTD Podcast: “The boy Sneijder, that’s come up a lot of times, but we were never interested in Sneijder. I don’t know where that came from, but you get a lot of them [rumours].”
Ronaldinho
In the summer of 2003, Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho came agonisingly close to joining Man United. The Reds had just sold David Beckham to Real Madrid for £25 million and planned to reinvest the money into the talented 23-year-old, who played for Paris Saint-Germain at the time.
It later transpired that due to Ronaldinho’s brother being his agent and United’s chief executive at the time, Peter Kenyon, failing to act fast enough, Barcelona swooped in. The Brazilian moved to the Camp Nou for £25 million and became one of the greatest players of all time.
Nicolas Gaitan
Former Benfica winger Nicolas Gaitan is another name which crops up regularly when discussing lengthy transfer sagas. The Argentine was linked with United for several years in every transfer window. But in 2015, he came extremely close to making that move a reality.
The Daily Express reported that United and Benfica had agreed on a fee of £28 million for the then 27-year-old, as boss Louis van Gaal sought a replacement for Angel di Maria, who had just moved to PSG.
However, Gaitan’s move wasn’t to be, as citizenship issues led to the transfer falling through. This saga, like many others, failed to reignite and fizzled into nothing.
Toni Kroos
Toni Kroos has accumulated an incredible four Champions League trophies at Real Madrid since arriving at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2014, adding to the one he won with Bayern Munich. But the German’s career could have been very different had he joined United instead.
The midfielder almost joined the Reds in 2014, but when David Moyes was sacked in the April of that year, Kroos changed his mind. The German had verbally agreed to his transfer with Moyes, but when the Scot was dismissed, Kroos opted to join Real Madrid instead.
Alan Shearer
Premier League record goalscorer Alan Shearer could have joined the Reds in 1992 and 1996. In 1992 the iconic striker opted to join a resurgent Blackburn Rovers, who had the financial backing of Jack Walker. In 1996, Shearer was certain to leave Blackburn, and Sir Alex Ferguson tried his luck again.
Despite lengthy negotiations with the England international, Sir Alex could not persuade Shearer to turn down the allure of returning to his boyhood club, Newcastle. Shearer has said since that while he would have won more trophies at Old Trafford, he would make the same decision if presented with the choice again today.
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