http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A22558061very so often, posts about the players we MISSED out on (Ronaldinho, Robben, Essien, Batistuta, Salas etc) pop up.
To prove what a pointless exercise that is, here's a list of players we narrowly missed NOT signing:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (also wanted by Juve, Chelsea, Arsenal among others)
2. Wayne Rooney (wanted by Chelsea and Newcastle)
3. Michael Carrick (wanted by Arsenal, Everton)
4. Ryan Giggs (was on Man City's books as a youth)
5. Paul Scholes (could have ended up at any one of the other area teams' youth academies, including, *shudder*, Oldham!)
6. Nemanja Vidic (almost signed by Fiorentina)
7. Eric Cantona (could have remained at Leeds. Wanted by other teams)
8. Bryan Robson (coveted by top teams, including Liverpool, during his time at West Brom)
9. David Beckham (could have ended up at Tottenham's youth academy)
and the list could go on...
Hope you see the silliness of exercises like "What if [player] had signed for us?".