Jadon Sancho to Arsenal and Virgil van Dijk to Chelsea – 13 big transfers that never were

The transfer market often throws up a saga that lasts several weeks and months, or years in the case of Kylian Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid. It also generates its fair share of bizarre transfers that, to the ordinary football fan, would be completely bizarre.

It’s difficult to imagine some players playing for another club, let alone one of their rivals. But stranger things have happened, with Sol Campbell swapping one side of north London for the other in joining Arsenal from Tottenham. Then there was Luis Figo leaving Barcelona to join Madrid’s Galacticos’ in 2000 and being rewarded with a pig’s head thrown at him.

So, in football, it’s the best to live by the rule that you truly can never say never. Players make odd moves all the time and that includes the best players to grace the game, even in the Premier League. Here, Express Sport looks at 13 huge transfers that never happened, but very nearly did.

Jadon Sancho to Arsenal

The England international emerged as one of the world’s most exciting young players after swapping Manchester City for Borussia Dortmund in 2017 when he was just 17 years of age. But his career could’ve taken a different trajectory if he had listened to Arsene Wenger.

The Arsenal boss was keen on taking him to the academy at London Colney when he was struggling to make the breakthrough in Manchester. However, City refused to sell to a Premier League rival and let him join the Bundesliga outfit for just £8m.

Four years and 50 Dortmund goals later, he joined Manchester United for £73m in 2021 and will line up against the Gunners this season.

Virgil van Dijk to Chelsea

Where would Chelsea be right now if Roman Abramovich caved to Antonio Conte’s demands for expensive signings?

Romelu Lukaku and Virgil van Dijk were at the top of the Italian’s list, but he ended up getting neither, despite both deals being “very, very close” by Conte’s own admission. Lukaku joined Manchester United for £74m and Liverpool captured Van Dijk in a £75m transfer.

The pair would experience mixed fortunes, with Lukaku struggling to settle at Old Trafford and leaving for Inter Milan. But Van Dijk became a mainstay at Anfield and remains a key figure for the Reds.

Chelsea went on to sign Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid and missed out on Kalidou Koulibaly too. Ironically, the Blues would have Lukaku and Koulibaly back at Stamford Bridge in 2021 and 2022 respectively, only for the pair to endure a torrid time in west London – and Van Dijk may be happy to have dodged that bullet.

Cristiano Ronaldo to Liverpool

With two spells at Old Trafford, Ronaldo’s name is synonymous with Manchester United. But things could’ve turned out differently if Liverpool hadn’t hesitated in negotiations with the former Sporting Lisbon star.

Back in 2003, scouts in England were fully aware of the teenager’s performances and Gerard Houllier’s Liverpool agreed a £4m fee for the winger. However, Reds icon Phil Thompson revealed how they learned United had beaten them to the punch while eating lunch and watching Sky Sports News.

“It came up on the yellow strap on Sky Sports, ‘Manchester United have signed Cristiano Ronaldo for £12.2 million’,” Thompson said. “Gerard and myself almost choked on our food. I can remember Gerard jumping up and saying, ‘What the hell has gone on there?’”

Ronaldo went on to become a Red Devils icon in his two spells spanning a total seven years, before joining Real Madrid for a world-record £80m fee where he bagged 450 goals in 438 games.

Lionel Messi to Manchester City

It looked for all the world that Messi would be a one-club man due to his affection for Barcelona, before the club’s financial issues astonishingly forced them to renege on a five-year contract to the Argentinian in 2021.

City, who had already tried to bring Messi to the Etihad Stadium in 2016 when Pep Guardiola was hired, submitted a lucrative offer to the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Despite appreciating the opportunity to move to the Premier League, PSG’s eye-watering £94m offer over three years was enough to convince the then-34-year-old to move to Parc des Princes and try and help them win the Champions League.

But not even Messi could inspire the Parisians to glory, while City claimed a famous treble in 2022-23. With Messi now contracted to MLS outfit Inter Miami, it’s fair to say City are better off.

Kylian Mbappe to Arsenal

Wenger had a series of transfer tales armed and loaded, documenting all the times he missed out on a certain player. But perhaps the most damaging was missing out on Mbappe, who himself admitted he was swayed by the legendary French coach.

“I met with Arsene Wenger, who is a great coach,” Mbappe said. “He has a great reputation here in France, he’s well-respected and knows how to develop young players. This was a real option for me.”

Talks were held but the cost was astronomical to sign him from AS Monaco, who wanted over £150m for their prime talent.

The only club willing to pay that fee were PSG in a complex loan deal, but with a record of 256 goals in 308 games, the French champions will feel their investment was worth every penny. Arsenal fans, meanwhile, can only live to regret the club’s reluctance to spend such a fee.

Kaka to Manchester City

Some 16 years ago, shortly after UAE billionaire Sheikh Mansour had completed his takeover of Manchester City from Thaksin Shinawatra, he only wanted to bring the best footballers in the world to the Etihad Stadium.

The obvious candidate was AC Milan midfielder Kaka, who was keen for a big-money move away from the San Siro, and City placed chief executive Garry Cook in charge of negotiations.

Unfortunately, Cook is no Ferran Soriano and he failed to convince the Ballon d’Or winner to make the move to the Premier League, despite agreeing a £90m fee with Milan.

Kaka waited another month to decide his future before signing for Real Madrid in a £56m transfer, although the Brazilian struggled to reach his best level in Spain and rejoined Milan in 2013 on a free transfer.

Steven Gerrard to Chelsea

A dramatic transfer saga that nearly changed the very fabric of Liverpool Football Club, Steven Gerrard toiled with the temptation of abandoning his boyhood club to taste success with Chelsea.

Jose Mourinho was a massive fan of the England international and made it clear he was desperate to sign him in the summer of 2004. With only a year left on his contract, Liverpool were left stranded in a no-win situation – before Gerrard slapped in a transfer request.

Liverpool fans burned their shirts and sent abuse to the midfielder, while some took the more conventional route of begging him to stay. Only a week later, however, he performed a massive U-turn and signed a new deal.

While he never won a Premier League title, he did experience success in the Champions League and achieved iconic status as one of the club’s most revered players, vindicating his decision to stay at Anfield.

Alan Shearer to Manchester United

He remains on his own at the top of the Premier League’s all-time goalscoring charts, but Alan Shearer could have easily ended up in Manchester playing for Sir Alex Ferguson.

The man who now has a statue outside St James’ Park for his 260 Premier League goals came close to signing for the Red Devils in 1996 after deciding to leave Blackburn Rovers.

Shearer had even been to Ferguson’s house to verbally complete a deal, but Blackburn owner Jack Walker was reluctant to sell him to a direct Premier League title rival and sold him in a £15m deal to Newcastle.

As a boyhood Magpies fan, Shearer agreed to move to the Toon where he became a club legend. United, meanwhile, bought Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from Molde, showing how everything worked out for the best.

Ronaldinho to Blackburn

In January 2011, Blackburn Rovers had made an audacious bid to sign World Cup winner Ronaldinho from AC Milan following the takeover by Indian poultry company Venky’s.

Remarkably, the Brazilian appeared to be open to a move after he was given permission by Milan to find a new club. His brother and agent, Roberto de Assis, revealed that Blackburn and another unnamed Premier League club held talks about signing the Brazilian playmaker.

“Blackburn have contacted us. There is also other interest in England but this is confidential,” said De Assis.

Rovers offered Ronaldinho a £130,000-per-week contract and even offered to pay a fee to Milan for the final six months of his deal. However, he elected to return to his native Brazil with Flamengo.

Luis Suarez to Arsenal

Liverpool owner John W. Henry once uttered the famous line: “What do you think they’re smoking over there at the Emirates?” after Arsenal began their pursuit to audaciously take Luis Suarez to the Emirates Stadium.

The only problem was that their intelligence on the Uruguayan’s contract was wrong, leaving the north London looking red-faced when dealing with their Premier League rivals.

In the summer of 2013, Arsenal made a £40,000,001 bid for Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. Yes, that extra pound is a not a typo. Unsurprisingly, Liverpool rejected the bid immediately.

It was a baffling bid, but one that had a purpose; Arsenal had misunderstood a contract clause which said offers of £40m and above would allow Suarez to speak to other clubs. However, it did not trigger a release clause.

Suarez stayed until the summer of 2014, whereby he forced through a move to Barcelona by going on strike. After scoring 198 goals for the La Liga giants, Arsenal perhaps should’ve dipped into their savings for a few extra pound coins.

Nabil Fekir to Liverpool

Six years ago in 2018, Lyon had agreed a fee with Liverpool to sell their prized asset Nabil Fekir.

Everything was done, from the contract to the club media interview. All that the £52m deal was lacking was a transfer announcement, but as the hours ticked down, the silence became more deafening.

Reports in France suggested Fekir had failed a medical due to an underlying knee problem – a story the Frenchman denied. But Liverpool did pull out of the deal and Fekir never got his move to Anfield.

“I went to Clairefontaine [France’s football centre near Paris], and they did all the proof [medical] and the knee was fine,” Fekir said in 2021. “I had a problem with my agent, my adviser. It was the agent [who was] responsible for the deal not going through.”

Fekir went on to sign for Real Betis in a £35m deal, but the playmaker never rediscovered his best form that propelled him to stardom in France.

Toni Kroos to Manchester United

Football fans could only marvel at Kroos when he announced his retirement from football this summer following Germany’s exit from Euro 2024. But for United supporters, it finally ended a decade of reminders about what could have been theirs.

David Moyes had engineered a deal to bring Kroos to Old Trafford in 2014 as a much-needed marquee signing to bolster his midfield. But when the Scot was sacked by the Red Devils, Kroos caught wind that Real Madrid wanted him and he quickly sealed a £25m switch from Bayern Munich to the Santiago Bernabeu.

By the time Louis van Gaal was brought in, the German had already moved. Some 465 appearances, six Champions League winners’ medals and four La Liga titles later, and there is no question he made the right choice.

David de Gea to Real Madrid

Imagine having your dream move scuppered because of failing technology. Well, David de Gea doesn’t have to.

A slow fax machine was the sole reason behind the Spaniard’s aborted move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2015. He had been frozen out of the team under Louis van Gaal and sat in Spain waiting for his deal to go through, but it never materialised due to a faulty fax machine.

He stayed at Old Trafford and even signed a new £375,000-a-week contract when it became clear he was indispensable. It was also about that time De Gea experienced a sharp decline and after 12 years at the club, he left in 2023 as a free agent.

He’s still without a club over a year since leaving United at the end of his contract, leading him to perhaps ponder whether he would still be at Madrid now if that deal had gone through.