English Premier League

Top 10 Players Manchester United Missed Out On: Best analysis

Published

3 years ago

June 22, 2022

When it comes to signing players to a club, Manchester United can be called the most unlucky. They are known for having eyes on good players but have little ability to convert them to Old Trafford.

In this article, we shall be bringing to you the top players Manchester United missed out on. Recently, they lost out of the race of signing Benfica striker Darwin Nunez after they keen interest in the Uruguayan for months. 90minsoccer looks back at some more players who were on the Red Devils’ radar but never joined the club.

Missing out on Darwin Nunez’s transfer is United’s recent loss for a transfer target. Manchester United have been in search of a top striker this summer and losing out on Nunez is a huge blow and could have been avoided. United’s new manager Erik ten Hag now has no other option but to consider other alternatives in the transfer market.

Although Erik ten Hag is not the only United boss to taste disappointment in the market, Sir Alex Ferguson repeatedly failed to land key players he believed will join the club and ease his struggle but was disappointed in the end.

Having this in mind, We have decided to bring you the top 10 world-class players who Manchester United wanted at Old Trafford but never succeeded in landing at the club…

Read Also:

players Manchester United missed out on alan

Table of Contents

1. Alan Shearer

In the 90s, the first renowned player that slipped off the hands of Sir Alex Ferguson is Alan Shearer.

The then all-conquering Manchester United could have been much better with Shearer joining their attacking line but unfortunately, Ferguson lost out twice in signing the Premier League all-time scorer.

The epileptic attacking line of Ferguson’s side saw Blackburn Rovers beat them to the Premier League title in 1995.

After United’s woe in the 1995 Premier League campaign, everyone thought their bid for Shearer in 1996 as a step to solve their attacking problem will turn out good but they were disappointed at the latter end.

Despite having Eric Cantona upfront and a misfiring Andy Cole, the Red Devils still managed to reach the Champions League semi-finals but were only good enough to end their campaign in the Semi-finals as they wasted a quantum of good chances against Borussia Dortmund as they exit the competition.

No doubt, if only Alan Shearer was part of the team, it could have been a different story by now.

2. Sadio Mane

Another past Manchester United manager that has suffered a failure in signing a key player is Louis van Gaal. Van Gaal has a lot of stories to say about the club’s failure to deliver in the transfer market. During his tenure, his main target was Sadio Mane, Van Gaal’s keen interest in the Senegalese led him to bid for the energetic forward, but unfortunately, Ed Woodward missed out on the Dutchman’s target.

Manchester United’s interest in Mane came in 2015 and was more or less a surprise move and everyone believed it was going to pull through. Mane was then playing for Southampton and has made an impressive performance at St. Mary’s. Who could have thought he would turn down the English champions?

The following year, Sadio Mane joined Liverpool for £34m, and only a handful of football lovers expected him to fit into the club and live up to expectations but he later did even beyond our imaginations.

Mane has completed a move to Bayern Munich this year after a splendid trophy-filled six-year stay at Anfield. Mane had a spectacular career at the Mersey side winning all the available trophies for the club winning six trophies in six years while Man United have barely won any in the past six years.

3. John Barnes

Alex Ferguson was also faced with another disappointment when he failed to outclass Liverpool FC for the signature of John Barned in 1987 when the ace player left his current team and joined the Merseyside club despite keen interest from the Alex Ferguson’s side.

Although the Man United manager was a huge fan of the England winger, Ferguson thought the team was complete having Jesper Olsen fit-in in place of Barnes.

Unfortunately, Olsen failed to perform as expected at Old Trafford, the aftermath of which saw him exit the club earlier than expected.

Meanwhile, Barnes on the other hand won four titles at Liverpool (two league titles and two FA Cups), in 1988, Olsen was named PFA Player of the Year, and twice won the Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year award, in 1988 and 1990.

4. Toni Kroos

The Real Madrid and Germany legend Toni Kroos was not left out of Manchester United transfer flattery. The star player was one of those ace midfielders former Man United manager David Moyes tried to land at Old Trafford but unluckily missed out during his 8-month reign as the club’s manager in charge of the English club.

Kroos who was a Bayern Munich player then was approached by Moyes in a quest to bring the ace German to Old Trafford but the deal never saw the limelight.

Unfortunately for Moyes his stay at United was short-lived after the Red Devils missed out on the Champions League spot and consequently led to the termination of his contract with the club.

During the second transfer window of his reign as Manchester united manager, Moyes had his eyes fixed on three ace midfielders- Toni Kroos, Thiago Alcantara, and Cesc Fabregas. After losing out to Toni, all efforts to land the other two alternatives also proved abortive.

5. Peter Beardsley

In the 1987 summer transfer window, we saw Alex Ferguson making a £3m bid to Newcastle for the signing of Peter Beardsley as a move to rebuild the club.

However, the Red Devils were once again unlucky as the England international chose to join Liverpool instead of Manchester United for £1.9m far lesser than the amount Manchester United were offering him.

Although his move to Anfield could be the dream of any football player as he was part of Kenny Dalglish’s unstoppable squad that won the league title title-winners the following season.

6. Jordan Henderson

Alex Ferguson once admits his likeness to Jordan Henderson while at Sunderland and hopes the England international will be a good fit for his squad at Old Trafford.

While Ferguson was keen on landing the young English boy at United, he was however cautioned by the medical team of the club over Henderson’s style of play which they feared may lead to a series of injury worries if he arrives at the club.

In one of Ferguson’s recent interviews, he has this to say about Jordan Henderson “We loved him as a player and he has proved that now, he has been fantastic and all the stories I am being told, it tells me I missed out on a really good person,”.

Henderson who is currently the captain of a formidable Liverpool team has lifted all six trophies in recent years at Liverpool including four major trophies and two domestic titles.

7. Mick Harford

Before United signed Eric Cantona, and before the twice-failed pursuit of Alan Shearer, Manchester United had suffered heartbreak in their quest to sign Mick Harford from Luton Town in 1992. The veteran striker was 33 years at then, and one could have thought won’t be a good option for any coach but instead, Alex Ferguson saw potential beyond his age.

Though Manchester United had a keen interest in the forward, Ferguson however never made a formal bid to sign Harford – a decision the management of the club came to regret.

Ferguson believed Harford could be the solution to the club’s misfiring attacking force as they keep struggling for goals as the season was gradually coming to an end with arch-rivals Leeds United threatening hard to win the title.

Harford would have been a match to Lee Chapman, the free-scoring striker of title rivals Leeds, who were on the verge of being crowned champions.

8. Erling Haaland

As if Manchester United have not missed enough finest talent enough, they are now going to sit back and watch Erling Haaland lead the attacking line of fellow Manchester team in the next couple of seasons.

Back in the 2019 winter, the Red Devils were in a fierce hunt for the Molde striker. Football lovers thought the Norwegian will be joined United considering the advantage of having Ole Gunner Solkjear, a Norwegian as a manager at that time. Ole was not only a legend in Norway but was also Haaland’s mentor and role model at Molde.

The chance of being reunited at Old Trafford was surely too good to resist and too feasible than infeasible.

Shockingly, Haaland joined Dortmund for a fee of £18m, such an amount that United will be able and are willing to pay far beyond but his decision has been made and an agreement reached.

In recent times, United didn’t show interest in Erling Haaland especially after re-signing former legend Cristiano Ronaldo last year, little did they know that their fellow Manchester rivals were preparing a shocking move for the veteran striker.

Either way, the Red Devils have missed out on a young and absolute goal machine.

9. Luis Dias

Down to 2021 Manchester United kept suffering the same kind of predicament in the transfer market. The struggling English champions picked interest in the FC Porto winger to help boost their epileptic attacking force in the january transfers but were disappointed on the long-run.

The Colombian winger was on top of his game at Porto scoring 14 goals in 50 appearance and winning 2 domestic titles in his first year at the Portuguese club.

Who would ever thought Diaz would join Liverpool who are blessed with a number of options in the attacking line, but it happens as the Colombia international chose to join Liverpool over Manchester United.

10. Karim Benzema

In 2009 Alex Ferguson was faced with the huge task of letting Cristiano Ronaldo go, to which he reluctantly agreed considering his status as the World’s Best Player.

The Man United Manager had the plan of filling the vacuum created by the young world best with another talent and Karim Benzema was the plan.

The only problem that obstruct this fantastic plan of his was the fat account of Real Madrid. While Real Madrid were bidding for Cristiano Ronaldo for a world-record of £80m, they still had enough fund to still pay the £25m required to sign Benzema from Lyon.

While we say Ronaldo has done well for his football career by joining Madrid, he is however back to Manchester United with the hope of reviving the squad to their days of glory. Benzema however has just helped Madrid to lift their 14th European Cup and is the favorite to win the 2022 Ballon d’Or.

Up Next

Top 10 Most Expensive Flops in Soccer in 2022

Don't Miss

Sadio Mane Transfer Update: Liverpool Agreed to Personal Terms with Bayern Munich

6 Comments

English Premier League

Talking Soccer Florida : Best Reviews and all you need to know

Published

3 years ago

October 23, 2022

90minsoccer

Talking Soccer Florida is a discussion platform where users are free to signup to become members and contribute meaningfully to any topic of interest. At first, the platform began as a soccer discussion forum but later became a big arena where every other discussion could be treated.

The interesting thing about this platform is, creating a topic of discussion is not the duty of the admin alone, registered members of the forum are also free to create topics of discussion.

How to join Talking Soccer Florida

It is natural for individuals to discuss and share ideas on pressing issues as this singular act has saved a lot of persons from all sorts of depression. Hence, joining this discussion forum is quite easy and straightforward. The steps are enumerated below:

step 1: Visit their Official website

Step 2: Locate the top right corner of the website’s home page and click on “Login or Sign up”, it is a single button

Step 3: Click on Sign up in the bottom right corner of the drop-down login bar.

Step 4: Fill in all the required details in the fields provided.

Step 5: Click ” Complete Sign Up”

Features of Talking Soccer Florida

This amazing platform has some remarkable features that help users/members navigate and interact on the website. Some of these features are:

1. Forum: This is a page where all discussions take place. Here, members select their topics of interest and comment on same. Under the forum there are a few other features as listed below:

Topics: This houses all the topics treated so far and there is also a provision for members to create new topics of discussion.
Latest Activity: This allows members to see the recent happenings in the group, like the recent topic created, the recent comment made, and so on.
My Subscription: This also allows members to view their list of subscribed posts
Photos: It shows the photo gallery of all pictures posted in the forum since inception.

2. Blogs: This shows the blog posts made that is meant to educate members and reader on a given topic. Here it is left for members to leave a comment after reading the post if they so wish but it is not a topic of discussion.

3. Articles: This feature houses all articles written with well-researched facts, findings, and references meant for the user’s reading pleasure.

4. Groups: On this platform, members are free to create and join various groups of their choice for smaller, concise and straightforward discussions.

5. Today’s Post: This shows the list of all topics posted today and their respective comments by members of the platform.

6. Members List: It shows the list of all registered members on the platform.

Talking Soccer Ma (Massachusetts)

Talking Soccer Ma is yet another platform that brings together soccer fans in the city of Massachusetts to discuss the latest happenings in the world of soccer. Interestingly, this platform also gives room for discussions on other topics aside from soccer.

English Premier League

Liverpool vs Man City Preview: All you need to know

Published

3 years ago

October 15, 2022

90minsoccer

Here we bring you a detailed preview of the Liverpool vs Man City match, insightful analysis, the latest team news, and the best predictions ahead of the clash at Anfield.

Liverpool has found themselves struggling in the Premier League since the commencement of the season in August. The Reds will welcome an in-formed Manchester City in the Week 12 match of the English Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

Both teams were arc-rivals in recent times when it comes to winning the Premier League title as they have both finished in the first and second positions thrice in the previous four EPL seasons.

However, Jurgen Klopp’s men are currently 13 points behind second-placed Man City who are yet to lose any game in the league this season. Liverpool are now 10th on the EPL table and will be looking for a miracle to defeat the visitors on Sunday. Manchester City are just one point behind Arsenal and will do anything possible to ensure they unsit Mikel Arteta’s men off the top of the Premier League table.

It can be recalled that the last defeat Manchester City suffered was in the hands of Liverpool during the Community Shield match at the beginning of the season. Could this mean that Liverpool has the secret to defeating Man City?? Perhaps when we get to their head-to-head in this article, we will know better.

Below are all the detailed previews and analysis you need to know ahead of the Liverpool vs Man City match:

Table of Contents

Where is Liverpool vs Man City playing?

If you have been wondering where will the Liverpool vs Man City match take place, find below the venue, date, and time of the match including details of core officials that will ensure the smooth running of the match.

Location: Liverpool, England
Stadium: Anfield
Date: Sunday 16 October
Kick-off Time: 16:30 BST
VAR: Darren England
Referee: Anthony Taylor

Where to watch Liverpool vs Man City in UK?

If you reside in the United Kingdom and are looking for where to comfortably watch the most intriguing fixture in the Premier League in recent times worry no more. Below are some credible channels and live streaming channels to watch the match in your comfort zone.

Channel: Sky Sports Main Event
Channel: Sky Sports Premier League
Channel: Sky Ultra HD
Streaming Service: NOW TV
Streaming Service: Sky Go
Broadcast Time: 16:00 (BST)

Where to watch Liverpool vs Man City in USA?

To all Americans seeking where to watch the Liverpool vs Man City match, we have put together a compilation of various channels you can use to watch the match easily on the go. No hassles, visit the following channels and enjoy the game.

Channel: NBC Universo
Streaming Service: NBC Sports
Streaming Service: Peacock Premium
Broadcast Time EST: 11:30
Broadcast Time PST: 08:30

Where to watch Liverpool vs Man City in Canada?

If you are in Canada and wish to watch the game between Liverpool and Man City, it is still possible, however we can only guarantee you of one streaming service. visit Fubotv and enjoy the breathtaking game at Anfield on Sunday.

Streaming Service: fuboTV
Broadcast Time (EST): 11:30

Where can you watch Liverpool vs Man City Highlights?

In case you missed this must-watched game, don’t worry we get you covered. You can visit any of the following channels to watch the highlights of the match and enjoy all the actions you have missed.

Channel: Sky Sports Football
Channel: BBC Match of the Day 2
Stream: Sky Sports Football YouTube channel

Liverpool vs Man City H2H Results (Last Five Games)

Considering their overall head-to-head in the Premier League, Manchester City has the upper hand against Liverpool. Both teams have met a total of 27 times with Man City winning 11, drawing 9, and Losing 7. However, in their last five outing in all competitions, Liverpool won 2, Man City won 1 and they drew 2.

Statistics	Liverpool	Man City
Total matches played	27	27
Total Wins	7	11
Total Draws	9	9
Total Losses	11	7
Yellow Cards	27	20
Total Goals scored	43	44
Red Cards	0	0

Liverpool vs Man City Head-to-Head table

Liverpool vs Man City Last 5 matches

Date	Home	Score	Away
16/04/2022	Man City	2-3	Liverpool
10/04/2022	Man City	2-2	Liverpool
03/10/2022	Liverpool	2-3	Man City
07/02/2021	Liverpool	1-4	Man City
08/11/2020	Man City	1-1	Liverpool

Liverpool Last 5 Matches

Date	Home	Score	Away
12/10/2022	Rangers	1-7	Liverpool
09/10/2022	Arsenal	3-2	Liverpool
04/10/2022	Liverpool	2-0	Rangers
01/10/2022	Liverpool	3-3	Brighton
13/09/2022	Liverpool	2-1	Ajax

Man City Last 5 Matches

Date	Home	Score	Away
11/10/2022	Copenhagen	0-0	Man City
05/10/2022	Man City	5-0	Copenhagen
02/10/2022	Man City	6-3	Man United
17/09/2022	Wolves	0-3	Man City
14/09/2022	Man City	2-1	B.Dortmund

Current Form (Last Five Games)

Liverpool: WDWLW
Man City: WWWWD

Liverpool team news

Liverpool started their 2022 Premier League campaign with lots of injury problems having about 10 players out injured. As they managed their way through, they are yet faced with a new phase of injuries worries. Prolific winger Luis Diaz sustained a knee injury during their encounter against Arsenal and has been ruled out until December.

Also, first-choice defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip were also substituted at Emirates stadium as they are suspected to have picked various degrees of injuries. According to a press released by Jurgen Klopp, Arnold has sustained an ankle injury while Matip has sustained a calf injury and both players will be out for two to three weeks.

Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are yet to return to the squad as both player are nursing hamstring injuries. Arthur Melo also picked a muscle injury this week and will be out of the squad to welcome Man City on Sunday.

However, Curtis Jones will start the game from the bench as the midfielder has returned to training and may likely feature in the game on Sunday. Aside from these injury worries, Liverpool will be in good shape to slug it out with the defending champions.

Liverpool predicted lineup vs Man City

Liverpool Starting 11 (4-2-3-1):

Alisson
Gomez
Konate
Van Dijk
Robertson
Fabinho
Thiago
Salah
Firmino
Jota
Nunez
Substitutes: Adrian, Kelleher, Carvalho, Milner, Elliott, Tsimikas, Bajcetic, Jones, Phillips.

You can read more about Liverpool’s predicted lineup vs Man City here.

Man City team news

Manchester City Boss Pep Guardiola has few injury worries compared to his counterpart Jurgen Klopp, Man City only have three players out injured. John Stone is currently nursing a hamstring injury and will not be available to feature in the game while Kalvin Phillips will also be out with a shoulder injury and Kyle Walker sustained a groin injury and will probably be out until full recovery is inevitable.

Erling Haaland is fit and ready to continue his consistent performance in the Premier League, the Norwegian was rested in their Champions League draw at Copenhagen but will be available to travel to Anfield.

Man City predicted lineup vs Liverpool

Man City Starting 11 (4-3-3):

Ederson
Akanji
Dias
Ake
Cancelo
De Bruyne
Rodri
Bernardo
Foden
Haaland
Grealish
Substitutes: Ortega, Laporte, Palmer, Alvarez, Mahrez,Gomez, Lewis, Gundogan, Wilson-Esbrand.

You can read more about Man City’s predicted lineup vs Liverpool here.

Liverpool vs Man City prediction

This is quite a difficult game to predict, one may say Liverpool are not in good form but the Reds have not lost any of their previous four matches against Manchester City in all competitions (W2 D2). However, Man City have not lost any game since the beginning of the season, and do not look like they are ready to lose this one.

Yes, the citizens lost to Liverpool in the 2022 Community Shield but you will;l agree with me that Man City is the most dreaded team to play against in the Premier League right now.

After a 7-1 victory against Rangers in the Midweek, Liverpool will be heading into the Sunday encounter shoulder-high with the hope of giving the visitors the shock of their lives. But if the Reds put up their porous defense line as usual, then Man City will be partying around Anfield on Sunday.

Our team of Expert punters have predicted the game as a match full of goals, hence it is safe to play it GG, over 2.5 and risk takers can consider Man City to win at the end of 90 minutes.

Prediction: Liverpool 2-2 Man City

English Premier League

Aston Villa vs Chelsea Prediction, H2H and Best Lineup

Published

3 years ago

October 14, 2022

90minsoccer

Here we go again as we bring you Aston villa vs Chelsea prediction, Head-to-head, possible lineup, team news and all you need to know about the match on Sunday.

Aston Villa will slug it out with Graham Potter’s men at Villa Park on Afternoon. The host would have wished for another opponent if they can, considering the present form of the Blues.

Steven Gerrard’s side drew against Nottingham Forest in their last Premier League fixture, although they have done well to maintain four-match unbeaten record but they have only won one and drew three consecutively. The team is currently struggling and will have done anything possible to avoid any top-tier club at the moment.

Chelsea has gradually adapted to situations under the management of new manager Graham Potter, they will be traveling to Villa Park after picking four consecutive wins and maintaining three clean sheets with second-choice goalkeeper Kepa Arizzabalaga.

Below are a detailed preview of the match.

Table of Contents

Where is Aston Villa vs Chelsea match taking place?

Location: Birmingham, England
Stadium: Villa Park
Date: Sunday 16 October
Kick-off Time: 14:00 BST
VAR: Stuart Attwell
Referee: Robert Jones

Where to watch Aston Villa vs Chelsea in the United Kingdom?

Channel: Sky Sports Main Event
Channel: Sky Sports Premier League
Channel: Sky Ultra HD
Streaming Service: NOW TV
Streaming Service: Sky Go
Broadcast Time: 13:00 (BST)

Where to Aston Villa vs Chelsea in the United States?

Channel: NBC Universo
Streaming Service: NBC Sports
Streaming Service: Peacock Premium
Broadcast Time EST: 09:00
Broadcast Time PST: 06:00

Where can you watch Aston Villa vs Chelsea in Canada?

Streaming Service: fuboTV
Broadcast Time (EST): 09:00

Where can you watch Aston Villa vs Chelsea Highlights?

Channel: Sky Sports Football
Channel: BBC Match of the Day 2
Stream: Sky Football YouTube channel

Aston Villa vs Chelsea H2H Results (Last Five Games)

Aston Villa: 1 Win
Chelsea: 3 Wins
Draws: 1

Current Form (Last Five Games)

Aston Villa: LDWDD
Chelsea: DWWWW

Aston Villa team news

Aston Villa are coping with a series of injury worries in their starting XI. The claret and blue will be hosting Chelsea without their two natural left-backs. Lucas Digne has been out with a heel injury while Ludwig Augustinsson has been nursing a hamstring injury.

Also missing from the starting lineup is Boubacar Kamara (knee) and Diego Carlos (Achilles) who will be out as they are in the early stage of recovering from their various injuries. Featuring Leon Bailey into the squad ahead of Sunday’s clash is a huge probability as he had picked a knock in their previous match.

Aston Villa predicted lineup vs Chelsea

Aston Villa Starting 11 (4-3-2-1):

Martinez
Cash
Konsa
Mings
Young
McGinn
Luiz
Ramsey
Buendia
Coutinho
Watkins
Bench: Olsen, Sanson, Nakamba,Chambers, Bednarek, Archer, Dendoncker, Bogarde, Ings.

Chelsea team news

Chelsea were not left out of the injury worries as they have a number of players out with various degrees of injuries. Reece James picked up a knee injury in their midweek encounter at San Siro as limped off the pitch. The injury did not look severe but his appearance in the squad on Sunday remains a doubt.

Wesley Fofana is also out on injury and could make a return before the World Cup, he will not be available for the Sunday fixture at Villa Park. Hakim Ziyech is expected to make a return to the squad after missing the Champions League fixture against AC Milan due to a sore throat.

N’Golo Kante who has been out with a thigh injury suffered a huge blow in recovery as he suffered another injury during recuperating training.

Chelsea predicted lineup vs Aston Villa

Chelsea Starting 11 (4-2-3-1):

Arrizabalaga
Azpilicueta
Chalobah
Koulibaly
Cucurella
Loftus-Cheek
Jorginho
Mount
Sterling
Pulisic

Aubameyang
Bench: Mendy, Bettinelli, Broja, Kovacic, Harvertz, Chilwell, Gallagher, Ziyech, Chukwuemeka.

Read more about Chelsea’s predicted lineup here

Aston Villa vs Chelsea score prediction

Graham Potter is now enjoying life at Chelsea and is expected to pick up all three points at Villa Park on Sunday. Although the villains will not like to take a defeat in front of their home fans the visitors will do all that is needed to take home all three points.

Despite the difficulty of the game, our expert punters have put together a series of options to make good returns on your stakes. There will not be many goals in the game, as such, it is safe to play it under 3.5, Chelsea wins or draw and under 4.5 or if you are a risk taker, Away to win is a good option and Under 2.5 is not bad at all.

Although it’s going to be a tough game at Villa Park we see Chelsea coming out victorious at the end of 90 minutes.

Prediction: Aston Villa 0-1 Chelsea