Manchester United’s record in the transfer market in the ten years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired has been rather underwhelming, with the expensive flops far outweighing any decent signing they have made in that time period.
Spending vast sums on players such as Paul Pogba (£93.2m), Romelu Lukaku (£75m) and Ángel Di María (£59.7m) who ended up turning into expensive duds, didn’t exactly help the cause of either Jose Mourinho and Louis Van Gaal as they looked to return the club to the summit of English football.
Even Erik ten Hag has been guilty of perhaps overspending on several players, with Antony costing the Red Devils a staggering £86m and it remains to be seen whether he will turn into a player who can deliver consistent performances that justify his massive transfer fee.
It hasn’t just been the players they have signed which has counted towards their lacklustre efforts in the transfer market, it is also who they have missed out on. This hasn’t just been a problem for the managers following Ferguson’s retirement, with the great man also failing to sign a few world-class players who would have certainly improved his team.
Alan Shearer is probably the biggest name who he failed to lure to Manchester, with the Englishman preferring to join Newcastle United, his hometown side, in the summer of 1996.
Another one who slipped through Fergie’s grasp may have altered the course of European football of the previous two decades, as Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho was close to moving to England and linking up with the Red Devils.
Did Manchester United nearly sign Ronaldinho?
David Beckham was on the move during the summer of 2003, eventually joining Real Madrid, despite Barcelona showing some interest and this meant Fergie needed to sign another midfielder for his team.
Ronaldinho was the man earmarked as a new arrival and despite agreeing personal terms, the move didn’t materialise, yet the player himself has stated it came extremely close to going through.
He said: “It almost happened with United. It was a matter of 48 hours, but Rosell had told me way before I got the offer: 'If I become Barca president, will you come?' I said yes.
"It was only a matter of details with United when Rosell called to say he was going to win the election there. And I had promised to him that I’d play for Barca.”
Fine margins indeed and Old Trafford could have been his playground as opposed to the Camp Nou and this may have allowed the Red Devils to continue their dominance of domestic football in the country rather than Arsenal or Chelsea emerging as threats to their crown.
Signing Ronaldinho would have given the wily Scot a chance to rejuvenate his squad and add another wonderful attacking talent to his already stacked squad, and could he perhaps have been better than Ryan Giggs?
What happened to Ronaldinho?
Giggs had proven to be one of the finest wingers in Europe throughout the previous decade, adding an extra goalscoring option for Ferguson, yet from the 2003/04 season, his numbers would start to decline.
Indeed, he scored just seven league goals during that campaign and over the course of the following four seasons – the time Ronaldinho spent at Barcelona – Giggs netted only 22 times.
In comparison, the former PSG starlet revitalised a Barcelona side who had failed to win the league title since 1999 and although they finished the 2003/04 season trophyless, the second half of the campaign saw the club secure a wonderful second place finish.
The Brazilian was a sensation, registering 33 goal contributions – 22 goals and 11 assists – and he wouldn’t let up over the next few seasons either, spurning the club on to winning two La Liga titles and a Champions League crown.
From his second season until the 2007/08 campaign, he recorded a staggering 72 goals and 59 assists and these displays meant he was a worthy winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year Award, winning the prestigious award twice.
He was without a shadow of a doubt, the finest player in the world between 2003 and 2006, and Ferguson certainly missed a trick by failing to lure him to England.
Giggs was a consistent performer, but he didn’t quite have the same creativity as the Brazilian, nor his thirst for goals, and United may have added to their Premier League tally between 2003 and 2006 had the latter been playing in red.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, his former teammate at AC Milan, showered Ronaldinho with praise when discussing his ability, saying: "Ronaldinho was phenomenal. He made his opponents look like children.”
He wasn’t the only icon to laud him either, with Zinedine Zidane also praising his fellow rival, saying: "Ronaldinho is total class – a very, very great player. He is quick, powerful, and has extraordinary technical qualities," he said. "He is a dribbler but is also a player who can make the play for his teammates."
“He’s not really a no.10, a true organiser. He’s more a second attacker who can score goals and has the vision to make them.”
Imagine him starring in a team alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and Roy Keane? He would have been an unstoppable force in the Premier League had he turned down the advances of Barcelona and accepted Fergie’s offer.
It certainly remains a massive case of what if and although United eventually returned to prominence as Ferguson built his third great side at the Red Devils, and they eventually went to on win more league titles and another European crown.
Having Ronaldinho dazzle the Old Trafford crowd would have been something different however and could have given the team a totally different attacking threat while being an upgrade on Giggs on the process.
It proves that the great man also had his fair share of transfer howlers, yet he went and made up for them by going on to sign someone else who would have a positive impact at the club, and that is perhaps what separates him from the series of managers which have tried to emulate him over the previous decade.
