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Not many players in the world can afford to forego an opportunity to sign for one of the biggest clubs in the world – especially a club which has a profile like Manchester United. But even giants like United have been snubbed by some players in the not-too-distant past.
Some rejected the club for riches elsewhere, while some just couldn’t let go of the chance to join their boyhood club. We take a look at 10 such players who passed on the chance to play at the Theatre of Dreams in order to pursue their own dreams.
#10 Arjen Robben
The wily Dutch winger has been in United's crosshairs since his PSV Eindhoven days, when he was a young prodigy rising through the ranks in Dutch football. At that time, a deal was scuppered by United’s CEO Peter Kenyon, who dramatically moved to Chelsea and signed a lot of United’s potential targets for the Blues – including Arjen Robben.
Robben was on the shopping list of current Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal with whom he had a remarkable 2014 World Cup in Brazil. But he politely declined the chance of joining United, citing that he was very content at Bayern Munich.
He was quoted by an English daily saying: “I don’t want to join United. Even if United and Bayern are able to agree [to] a deal over a transfer fee I will not move to Manchester.”
This is as bold as it can get!
#9 Toni Kroos
Toni Kroos was David Moyes’ No. 1 target in his supposed second summer, which he didn’t last to see. He was considered by all the pundits and fans to be the ideal signing to solve Manchester United’s midfield muddles.
But somehow Louis van Gaal didn’t like his former prodigy in the red of Manchester. Kroos soon joined Real Madrid for a paltry £24million from Bayern Munich.
The German didn’t shy away from taking a dig at United after winning the FIFA Club World Cup with Real Madrid.
“I chose Real Madrid and now I'm so happy. I was right to sign for Madrid,” said Kroos. “Before coming here, I didn't know what to expect, but I made the decision. I was looking for something new and I was lucky that I signed for Real Madrid.”
It seems Van Gaal preferred Ander Herrera and Daley Blind over the Bavarian, who was projected as a marquee signing by both David Moyes and Ed Woodward the year before.
#8 Lucas Moura
Moura was desperately needed by the then Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. But the Brazilian chose the oil money from Qatar as he signed for Paris Saint-Germain.
Moura was considered by Sir Alex as the ideal replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo. Ferguson was ready to break the bank for him as he bid almost £30 million, but money from Qatar reigned supreme as Moura signed for PSG.
The former Sao Paolo man decided to snub the ‘boring’ Manchester United for the riches of Paris. But it seems that was a blessing in disguise for the Reds as Lucas has infamously flattered to deceive in Ligue 1.
Moura later joined Tottenham Hotspur and even scored twice against United at Old Trafford.
#7 Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema was one of the hottest properties in the 2008/09 season when he shone very brightly at French club Lyon. He was coveted by United for almost three seasons running – from 2008 to 2011 – but Benzema decided to live his Bernabeu dream by snubbing the Red Devils.
The French forward could have been the ideal partner to Wayne Rooney. However, it seemed he preferred the duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka to link up with instead of the Englishman. Benzema has openly accepted the fact that he snubbed a number of clubs including Manchester United to join Los Blancos.
Benzema said: “There were quite a few clubs that contacted me like Manchester (United), Inter Milan and Barcelona, but I decided to come here.
“Real Madrid are an excellent club. I’ve dreamt about playing here since I was 15 years old.”
#6 Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale and Manchester United have a long history of playing hide and seek. Bale was of interest to United back when he was an upcoming left-back at the famed Academy of Southampton, but the Red Devils decided not to sign him as they didn’t want to pay an exorbitant sum for a teenager.
Spurs came in and Bale gladly joined them, where he shone very brightly. The Welshman decided to leave Spurs and was again an object of interest for the Reds, as David Moyes made a world record bid for him.
But this time Bale snubbed Old Trafford club to join Real Madrid, as he wanted to play with his idol Cristiano Ronaldo at Santiago Bernabeu.
Rumour mills have since churned out extravagant reports of Bale’s mega-money move to Old Trafford. Will it be third time lucky for Manchester United? Only time will tell.
#5 Paul Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne was one of the best English forwards of his generation. He was greatly coveted by Sir Alex, but Gazza chose Spurs over United. And the rest, as they say, is history.
To this day Ferguson rues the fact that he could not sign Gascoigne. But the English striker accepted that it was a big mistake to snub Manchester United when he could have joined them.
“He always says one of his greatest regrets was not signing me, but I think it was the other way round, me not signing for the guy,” Gascoigne said.
“I've been watching some of his documentaries of what he's won and what he's achieved. There are only a couple of managers when I played who I would love to have been in the dressing room with and he's certainly one of them, to have seen what he would have been like.
“I know I would have had a lot more trophies in my cabinet if I went with him.”
#4 Patrick Kluivert
The Dutch forward was desperately wanted by Sir Alex and Manchester United in 1998, when Fergie was looking to bolster his attack to stop the resurgence of Arsenal under Arsene Wenger. Kluivert had a stellar World Cup with the Oranje in 1998 and was a hot property in the market that season.
But the Dutch forward gave the Old Trafford giants the cold shoulder in order to get a move to Barcelona. Ferguson is still very bitter about that and expressed his feelings in his autobiography.
“When Patrick Kluivert, the gifted young Dutch centre-forward, was so unimpressed by our approaches in 1998 that he wouldn’t even do us the courtesy of talking to us, I had no trouble believing that he was likely to be the bigger loser than we were,” wrote Ferguson in his autobiography.
United signed Dwight Yorke instead of Kluivert and they went on to win the historic treble that season.
#3 Eden Hazard
Eden Hazard is touted to be one of the best players in the world. He led the Premier League giants into a straight three-way battle as both the Manchester clubs along with Chelsea were in the race to sign him from Lille.
All the clubs had agreed terms with Lille and the club had left the decision to the player himself; the Belgian chose the London Blues over the Manchester giants. It was reported that United didn’t offer him a good enough contract whereas the player wasn’t interested in joining City despite being offered a very lucrative package.
There were also reports that he joined Chelsea due to their European glory in Munich that season. The reason for such reports coming to life was due to his tweet, which read, "I'm signing for the Champions League winner".
#2 Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer was the best English striker of his generation – without a shadow of a doubt. But how many of us would believe that he snubbed Manchester United not once but twice during his prime?
Doing something like that requires some serious balls, as United were the undisputed kings of England for most of Shearer’s playing days. But clearly, he had them.
First, he snubbed Manchester United for Blackburn Rovers and, later on, for his boyhood club Newcastle United.
The guy who managed to whisk him away from the jaws of United, Freddy Shepherd, then chief executive of the Toon, lifted the lid on his coup de grace.
“Do you know what happened with that transfer?” Shepherd explained. “We were up against Man U obviously. I had an agreement with Martin Edwards that neither club would go over £10m.
“Martin is a neighbour of mine in Mallorca. The agreement was always to let each other know. One day he rang me and said they’d decided to do it. Alan told us he’d met Man U, but he wanted to ‘come home’ as you would. He told us we had to speak to Jack (Walker).
“He spoke to him first and told him he definitely wanted to sign for Newcastle. Then he put the phone on to me to speak to Jack. Jack said, ‘It’s £25m to Man U but for you it’s £15m!’
“He wanted the deal done straight away and the money up front. And that’s how the deal was done.”
#1 Ronaldinho
‘The one that got away’ – that is how Manchester United fans would remember the Brazilian great Ronaldinho. Gaucho was almost signed by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2005, but the move collapsed in the 11th hour as the Brazilian chose Barcelona over United.
He shed light on this saga while speaking in an interview. The 34-year-old stated: “Everything happened very quickly. A good friend of mine who was running to be on the Barcelona board, Sandro Rosell, had asked me if I'd play for Barcelona when they won the election and I told him that I would.
“I was on the brink of joining Manchester United, there were just a few details to iron out, but Rosell called me at the last minute to tell me that they were going to win the election.
“That made everything happen very fast.”
Some fans say this failed signing doesn’t bother them as they unearthed a gem in Cristiano Ronaldo. However, deep down everyone sighs at this missed opportunity.
