Ibrahimovic at Arsenal? Zidane at Blackburn? Here we look several blockbuster moves that came so close<\/p>\n
The Premier League has been home to some of football’s greatest talents, but at one point there could have been even more iconic names.<\/p>\n
Below we have selected 15 of the biggest Premier League transfers that almost happened and we want your vote for the deal you wish had gone through.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Roy Keane to Blackburn Rovers (1993)<\/p>\n
Roy Keane<\/a> is a Manchester United<\/a> legend, winning seven Premier League titles with the Red Devils and four of them as captain.<\/p>\n The Irishman moved to Old Trafford from Nottingham Forest<\/a> in 1993 \u2013 but only after he had already agreed to join a different north west club, Blackburn Rovers.<\/p>\n Speaking on The Overlap in 2023, Keane said: \u201cI did shake hands (with then Blackburn manager Sir Kenny Dalglish) and I said, \u201cListen, I\u2019ll come\u201d. I think the contract was basically agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cI went back to Ireland and got a phone call from United. The mistake I made was saying I would sign. Obviously, I have no regrets about signing for United.\u201d<\/p>\n Zinedine Zidane to Blackburn Rovers (1995)<\/p>\n After winning the Premier League in 1994\/95, Dalglish wanted to bolster Blackburn\u2019s squad ahead of their title defence with the signing of a young French midfielder \u2013 Zinedine Zidane.<\/p>\n Along with his Bordeaux team-mate Christophe Dugarry, Zidane visited Blackburn\u2019s training ground, only for club owner Jack Walker to veto the deal.<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw them at the training ground and they were speaking to Jack Walker about joining the club,\u201d Tim Sherwood<\/a>, who was then Blackburn\u2019s captain, recalled to talkSPORT in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it never materialised. It\u2019s embarrassing for me now because Jack Walker\u2019s famous quote is, \u2018Why do you want to sign Zidane when we have Tim Sherwood?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Three years later, Zidane won the FIFA World Cup and Ballon d\u2019Or.<\/p>\n Alan Shearer to Manchester United (1996)<\/p>\n Alan Shearer<\/a> is the Premier League\u2019s all-time leading scorer with 260 goals.<\/p>\n He netted 148 of those for his boyhood club Newcastle United<\/a>, who he famously joined from Blackburn for a then world record fee of \u00a315 million in 1996.<\/p>\n It could, though, have been a very different story, as Shearer held talks with Sir Alex Ferguson about joining Man Utd, while also speaking to Newcastle United<\/a> boss Kevin Keegan.<\/p>\n \u201cI sat down with both Kevin Keegan and Sir Alex on the same day,\u201d Shearer told BBC Sport in 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cAt one point I was going to go to Manchester United. I was 90 per cent certain I was going to go there.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I got another call off Kevin a day or two later and I thought, \u2018I\u2019m going to go back to Newcastle\u2019.”<\/p>\n Andriy Shevchenko to West Ham (1999)<\/p>\n Andriy Shevchenko<\/a> played in the Premier League for Chelsea from 2006 to 2009.<\/p>\n But the Ukrainian striker \u2013 who won the Ballon d\u2019Or in 2004 \u2013 almost moved to London more than a decade earlier after having a trial with West Ham United.<\/p>\n \u201cWe fixed up a game with Barnet reserves and Shevchenko got two goals,\u201d Harry Redknapp, who was then the Hammers boss, told Sky Sports in 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cWe liked him but he was like \u00a31 million. I remember talking to Frank Lampard Snr. (assistant manager) after and saying, \u2018That is too much money\u2019. He was only 17 at the time, so we didn\u2019t take him.\u201d<\/p>\n Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Arsenal (2000)<\/p>\n Zlatan Ibrahimovic<\/a> was a 17-year-old starting out with his hometown team Malmo when he travelled to London for transfer talks with Arsenal<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Swedish striker looked set to sign for the Gunners, even posing for photos wearing a No 9 shirt with his name printed on the back.<\/p>\n However, Ibrahimovic ended up rejecting the chance to join Arsenal after the club\u2019s then manager, Arsene Wenger, insisted he first had a trial.<\/p>\n \u201cArsene gave me the famous red and white jersey – the No 9 shirt with Ibrahimovic on it and I was so pleased I even posed for a picture wearing it,\u201d Ibrahimovic said in 2012.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he never actually made me a serious offer. It was more, \u2018I want to see how good you are, what kind of player you are. Have a trial.’<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn’t believe it. I was like, \u2018No way, Zlatan doesn’t do auditions\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Ibrahimovic ended up coming to the Premier League 16 years later when he signed for Man Utd.<\/p>\n Yaya Toure to Arsenal (2003)<\/p>\n Another player who pulled on an Arsenal shirt before he officially signed was Yaya Toure<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Ivorian midfielder was a 20-year-old with Belgian club Beveren when he was offered a trial with the Gunners, playing in a pre-season friendly against Barnet in July 2003.<\/p>\n Arsenal boss Wenger was keen to sign Toure, but the player grew impatient waiting for his work permit and joined Metalurh Donetsk in Ukraine instead.<\/p>\n \u201cYaya Toure had an agreement with us \u2013 and it’s not because we did not want to sign him that he went to Ukraine,\u201d said Wenger in 2014.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s just the fact that he preferred to go to Metalurh Donetsk. He could go there without any passport.\u201d<\/p>\n Toure went on to win three Premier League titles with Manchester City<\/a>, who he played for from 2010 to 2018.<\/p>\n Cristiano Ronaldo to Arsenal (2003)<\/p>\n Wenger has previously claimed the biggest regret of his time in charge of Arsenal was missing out on Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2003, the then Gunners boss hosted a 17-year-old Ronaldo and his mother for lunch at the club\u2019s training ground as he looked to sign the forward from Sporting Libson.<\/p>\n However, the Portuguese player ended up joining Arsenal\u2019s rivals Man Utd that summer, winning three Premier League titles with the Red Devils, and going on to claim the Ballon d\u2019Or five times.<\/p>\n \u201cI had Ronaldo at the training ground, I showed him around and I gave him a shirt,\u201d Wenger said in 2008. \u201cIt has got his name on the back.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was here with his mother and we were very close. But in the end it was a question of the amount of transfer fee to be paid.\u201d<\/p>\n Ronaldinho to Man Utd (2003)<\/p>\n When Ronaldinho announced he wanted to leave Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the 2002\/03 campaign, his next destination looked appeared to Old Trafford.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are just about there but we don’t know for sure,\u201d said then Man Utd boss Ferguson. \u201cWe are very close.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Man Utd were ultimately beaten to the 23-year-old Brazilian playmaker by Barcelona.<\/p>\n \u201cIt almost happened with United,\u201d Ronaldinho said in 2018. \u201cIt was a matter of 48 hours, but Sandro Rosell told me, \u2018If I become Barca president, will you come?\u2019 and I said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n Ronaldinho won the Ballon d\u2019Or in 2005 and helped Barcelona lift the UEFA Champions League a year later.<\/p>\n Rivaldo to Bolton Wanderers (2004)<\/p>\n Two years after winning the World Cup with Brazil, Rivaldo was on the brink of a sensational switch to Sam Allardyce\u2019s Bolton Wanderers.<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve got a fax in my pocket which arrived this morning saying he wants to come to us,\u201d said then Bolton chairman Phil Gartside following a win at Everton in May 2004.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve offered him a deal which he’s accepted financially and it’s just a case of getting together with him to put pen to paper.\u201d<\/p>\n Ballon d\u2019Or winner Rivaldo, who was then 32 and a free agent, also said in an interview at the time: \u201cI want the challenge of trying to get Bolton into Europe for the first time in their history. It is an exciting time.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the deal failed to materialise, and Rivaldo ended up signing for Greek giants Olympiacos and never playing in the Premier League.<\/p>\n Steven Gerrard to Chelsea (2005)<\/p>\n Steven Gerrard<\/a> had just led Liverpool to Champions League glory when he came close to leaving his boyhood club and joining one of their Premier League rivals.<\/p>\n Jose Mourinho was then the manager of Chelsea and he was desperate to sign the England midfielder.<\/p>\n \u201cI was dreaming of (Claude) Makelele, Gerrard and (Frank) Lampard in midfield,\u201d Mourinho recalled in 2015.<\/p>\n Mourinho\u2019s pursuit of Gerrard looked set to be successful when the Liverpool<\/a> captain handed in a transfer request in July 2005.<\/p>\n \u201cI was thinking, \u2018I\u2019d love to play for Jose Mourinho\u2019,\u201d Gerrard later wrote in his autobiography. \u201cJose turned my head.\u201d<\/p>\n But following talks with his family, Gerrard ultimately decided to stay loyal to Liverpool, signing a new four-year deal with the club, where he stayed for another 10 years.<\/p>\n Aaron Ramsey to Man Utd (2008)<\/p>\n Aaron Ramsey<\/a> was so close to joining Man Utd that the club announced on their website that they had agreed a transfer fee with Cardiff City.<\/p>\n In the statement, the Red Devils described the 17-year-old Welsh midfielder as \u201cone of his country\u2019s brightest prospects in recent years\u201d.<\/p>\n However, just 10 days after the article was published, Ramsey signed for Wenger\u2019s Arsenal, going on to spend 11 years with the Gunners and winning the FA Cup three times.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt like he [Wenger] really wanted me,\u201d Ramsey said on Sky Sports in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was doing the Euros at the time, and they flew me over there when he had a few hours off. We had lunch and it was everything about him and his vision and his plans.\u201d<\/p>\n Robert Lewandowski to Blackburn Rovers (2010)<\/p>\n Robert Lewandowski is the third top goalscorer in Champions League history, one of only three players to have scored more than 100 times for three different clubs this century.<\/p>\n However, were it not for a volcano eruption in 2010, the prolific Polish striker might have plundered goals in the Premier League for Blackburn.<\/p>\n Rovers had a proposal in place to sign Lewandowski following successful talks with the player and his then club Lech Poznan.<\/p>\n Lewandowski was due to travel to England to seal the deal, only for all flights to be cancelled due to the ash cloud that spread across Europe due to the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland.<\/p>\n \u201cI could not fly to Blackburn because of the volcano,\u201d said Lewandowski in 2017. \u201cMaybe if I went there and saw the club, the stadium and everything, it would have become my first choice\u201d.<\/p>\n Lewandowski instead signed for Borussia Dortmund, before moving to Bayern Munich and then Barcelona.<\/p>\n Kylian Mbappe to Arsenal (2016) and Liverpool (2017)<\/p>\n Before Kylian Mbappe became the superstar we see today, two legendary Premier League managers did everything they could to sign him.<\/p>\n In 2016, when a 17-year-old Mbappe had not yet signed his first professional contract with Monaco, then Arsenal boss Wenger travelled to meet the French forward and his family.<\/p>\n \u201cI took a plane to fly down to the south of France,\u201d Wenger told the BBC. \u201cI was at his home with his parents. I tried to convince him to come to Arsenal.\u201d<\/p>\n A year later, Jurgen Klopp also tried to sign Mbappe for Liverpool, even holding talks with the players and his family on a private jet.<\/p>\n \u201cLiverpool really pulled out all the stops,\u201d Klopp told Magenta TV. \u201cWe just flew in circles, talked with the family, and had a delicious meal.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Mbappe decided to join Paris Saint-Germain, where he stayed for six years \u2013 during which time he won the World Cup with France \u2013 before moving to Real Madrid.<\/p>\n Erling Haaland to Man Utd (2019)<\/p>\n Erling Haaland<\/a> has won two Premier League titles and three Golden Boots with Man City.
But the superstar striker’s Premier League career could easily have begun on the other side of Manchester.<\/p>\n