'Thanks Man Utd!' How City Avoided Eight Transfer Bullets

In a different universe, Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish are gearing up for the upcoming Manchester derby. Haaland followed his former coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from Molde to Manchester United, while Grealish made the move from Aston Villa to the Red Devils in 2020.

Meanwhile, City defenders Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, dressed in light blue tracksuits, are strategizing on how to stop Haaland and Grealish and preparing for the criticism they will face from the Stretford End. Maguire joined City in 2019 alongside Brazilian winger Antony, while Lindelof arrived at the Etihad Stadium two years prior. Raphael Varane, who has recovered from a minor injury, is on the bench for City, along with veteran Alexis Sanchez.

In the alternate universe, Paul Pogba made a controversial move from the red half of Manchester to the blue half in 2022 as a free agent. He would have been joined by Bruno Fernandes, who chose City over United in 2019.

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But let's return to reality, although it's tempting to imagine what could have been. If not for disagreements between directors, chairmen, and agents, many of the players who will be facing each other in Sunday's Manchester Derby at Old Trafford could have been on opposite sides.

City, who are on track to win their fourth consecutive Premier League title and still basking in the glory of their treble win, may have been relieved that they didn't sign some of the players who ended up struggling at United. Let's take a look at all the players who were close to joining City but ended up at United and had a less successful time as a result, according to Betimate.

Alexis Sanchez

In January 2018, with just a few months left on his contract at Arsenal, Sanchez had to choose between two of the best coaches in the world. He could either reunite with Pep Guardiola, who signed him for Barcelona and has been like a father figure to him, or join Jose Mourinho, who seemed to be leading United back to the top.

Mourinho, who was already struggling to keep up with his arch-rival in the title race, was desperate to prevent City from strengthening even more and personally appealed to Sanchez.

Sanchez revealed in an interview with La Tercera earlier this year that he was about to join City, but then Mourinho called him and offered him the number seven shirt. The Chilean was torn between keeping his word to Guardiola and the opportunity to become the first Chilean player to represent Manchester United.

However, his time at United was a nightmare for both himself and the team. He later admitted that after his first training session with United, he wanted to rip up his contract and go back to Arsenal.

Sanchez, who was reportedly earning £400,000-per-week, was unable to replicate his form from Arsenal at United. When United made a poor start to the following season, he became the target of criticism.

After a miserable 18 months at United, Sanchez left for Inter, where he scored only five goals in 45 appearances and looked nothing like the player he once was.

Harry Maguire

After an impressive performance at the 2018 World Cup, Maguire was considered one of the best center-backs in Europe, and both City and United showed interest in signing him the following summer. Guardiola was a fan and the club was ready to match United's bid of £70m ($85m) for him, but Leicester raised their asking price to £80m ($97m) when they saw the competition between the two clubs.

"We were interested, but we couldn't afford him. United could," Guardiola later admitted. Maguire had a great debut for United, scoring in a 4-0 win over Chelsea, but things quickly went downhill for him. He regained his form and helped United secure consecutive top-four finishes, but when the team started to struggle under Solskjaer, he was blamed for their poor results, including a humiliating 5-0 loss to Liverpool at home.

Maguire only made eight appearances in the league last season under manager Erik ten Hag, who wanted to sell him to West Ham for just £30m ($36m) in the summer. However, Maguire refused to leave.

He is currently recovering from a rough period of criticism and has helped United win three games in a row, including scoring the only goal against Copenhagen. City, who signed Ruben Dias for £64m ($77m) in 2020, must be relieved that they didn't sign Maguire.

Paul Pogba

Pogba's second stint at Manchester United was a long and painful saga that finally came to an end when his lucrative six-year contract expired in June 2022.

Despite his recurring injuries and inability to truly shine under Mourinho, Solskjaer, or Rangnick, City were interested in signing him as a free agent. This was not the first time that Pogba was linked with City, as Guardiola revealed that he was offered the chance to sign the Frenchman in 2018 when he fell out with Mourinho, despite agent Mino Raiola calling the City boss "a coward" and "a dog".

Pogba, fearing a backlash from United fans, chose to return to Juventus instead. However, his second stint in Turin has been a nightmare, with two serious injuries, a blackmail attempt, and failing a drug test due to high levels of testosterone. City must be relieved that they didn't sign Pogba.

Cristiano Ronaldo

After his time at Juventus came to an end in the summer of 2021, Ronaldo was considering his next move, and City was one of the few clubs that could afford him. When news spread that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was in talks with City, key figures at United, especially Sir Alex Ferguson, began to panic.

"It was very close [to moving to City]. They talked a lot and Guardiola recently said that they tried really hard to sign me," Ronaldo revealed during his infamous interview with Piers Morgan in December 2022. "Sir Alex Ferguson was the key. I spoke to him... and he told me that it was impossible for me to join Manchester City. I said, 'OK, Boss'."

Ronaldo had a fantastic start to his second stint at United, scoring two goals in his debut against Newcastle and saving the team in victories against Villarreal and Atalanta. However, it was clear that United were a weaker team with him, as he slowed down their play and forced them to change their style of play from the past three years to suit his needs. Although Ronaldo ended the season as the top scorer for the team, United had their worst points total in the Premier League in 30 years, and his ability to pull off miracles slowly diminished.

His self-centered attitude also had a negative impact on the team, and in his second season, he caused controversy by leaving a friendly match against Rayo Vallecano at half-time and refusing to come on as a substitute against Tottenham, resulting in a brief suspension. His unauthorized interview with Morgan further embarrassed United, and it was clear that his contract would have to be terminated.

Meanwhile, City won another title without a striker and then welcomed Erling Haaland, who led them to a treble. It seems like City dodged another bullet by not signing Ronaldo.

Fred

Fred was often in the spotlight for the wrong reasons during his five years at United. He was not necessarily a scapegoat, but more of a joke, often making spectators laugh with his unusual running style and apparent lack of ability.

The joke was even funnier for rival fans considering that United paid £50m ($60m) for him in 2018. However, United was not the only club willing to pay a high price for the midfielder, as he was on the verge of joining City in January 2018.

His agent, Fabio Mello, revealed that he had arranged a deal with Guardiola's side, but it was blocked by Shakhtar Donetsk as they had reached the knockout stages of the Champions League and Fred was crucial to their success. Mello said that they "held up" the deal with City until the summer transfer window, when United showed interest and eventually completed the transfer. Fred left for Fenerbahce in the summer for just £8m, resulting in a loss of over £40m for United with very few positive memories.

Antony

The Brazilian winger is United's biggest transfer mistake of the Ten Hag era and one of the biggest flops in the club's history. He was purchased for a staggering £85m ($103m), making him United's second-most expensive signing ever after Pogba. However, he didn't have the same reputation or market value as the Frenchman, and it's clear that United paid far too much for him.

Antony is at best a one-trick pony, only capable of cutting in from the right wing and scoring shots into the far top corner with his left foot. However, even his ability to pull off this trick is fading, and he had a terrible second season, failing to score or assist any goals.

Not only that, he caused significant reputational damage to the club after being accused of assault by three women in September, resulting in him being removed from the squad for three weeks. However, he could have been a problem for City instead of United.

According to The Telegraph, Antony caught City's attention in 2019 when he had just broken into the Sao Paulo first team. He was offered the opportunity to join City permanently, but instead, he moved to Sporting CP on loan. At the time, the winger was only 19 years old and did not feel ready to make the move to Europe, so he waited another year before joining Ajax and working under Ten Hag.

Victor Lindelof

United had been eyeing the Swede for some time before finally signing him for £30m ($36m) in the summer of 2017, after trying to acquire him during the previous January transfer window. Benfica refused to sell him mid-season, and there were reports that City was hoping to hijack the move later in the year.

Lindelof did eventually join United, who were looking successful under Mourinho at the time while Guardiola had a trophy-less debut season with City. However, since Lindelof's arrival in Manchester, City has been the dominant force in the city, and the Swede has not exactly been performing well.

Jadon Sancho

Sancho belongs in a slightly different category from the others as he did join City, spending two years in their academy before moving to Borussia Dortmund. As he developed into one of the most exciting wingers in Europe while in Germany and his value skyrocketed, it seemed like City had made a huge mistake by letting him go for only £8m ($10m).

However, now that his United career is in jeopardy due to a fallout with Ten Hag and two seasons of underwhelming performances, City has been proven right. The club was aware of some of the negative aspects of Sancho's character that later became apparent to United, such as his issues with punctuality and his tendency to sulk when things don't go his way.

After being left out of City's pre-season tour in 2017 and being upset that his teammate Phil Foden had been selected, Sancho refused to attend training with the youth team. The winger's attitude had also been called into question by the England team, but United did not pay attention to the warnings and now seem to have made another mistake, with the £74m ($90m) player set to leave in January for a reduced price.

At least Varane worked out...

City showed interest in signing Varane in 2020 as they searched for a new center-back, although they may have been discouraged by his two costly mistakes for Real Madrid that led to Guardiola's side winning in the Champions League last-16 second leg.

City ended up signing Dias instead that summer, although reports suggest they were still interested in Varane the following year when he only had 12 months left on his contract with Madrid. However, United eventually signed the Frenchman for £50m ($60m), and he has been a reliable purchase, even though injuries have interrupted his time at Old Trafford.

City likely doesn't regret missing out on him, with Dias proving to be a consistent performer and the success of players like Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake.

And Fernandes has been a roaring success

The one player United can boast of beating their rivals to is Fernandes. The Portugal midfielder was heavily linked with a move to City in the summer of 2019, with Fabrizio Romano reporting that sporting director Txiki Begiristain discussed a deal with Sporting CP and offered players to the Portuguese side in order to lower their price.

However, Guardiola has denied that City were ever close to signing Fernandes, and that same summer, they bought Rodri from Atletico Madrid. United had also shown interest in Fernandes that summer, but it wasn't until the following January that they finally met Sporting's asking price.

Fernandes has proven to be United's best signing of the last decade and has stepped up his game in derby matches against City, including scoring a highly-controversial goal last season.

And then there's Ryan Giggs

Even with all the regrets United may have about players they signed ahead of City, perhaps it was worth it for the way they took Ryan Giggs from the blue half of Manchester many years ago.

Giggs, then known as Ryan Wilson, was gaining a reputation as the best teenager in the region but was at City's Centre of Excellence. “We always had a few scouts who claimed they were the one who discovered Giggsy,” Ferguson recalled. “They probably did, but they never acted on what they saw. It was actually a steward who first told me it was a disgrace that this Manchester United fan was training down the road at City.”

Ferguson went to Giggs' house on the player's 14th birthday to sign him for United as a schoolboy, and the Salford lad went on to become the club's longest-serving and most decorated player, feared by the Blues and loved by the Reds.

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