After Lokomotiv Moscow revealed they could have signed Neymar in 2008 for €10 million, Goal looks at other failed bids to sign budding superstars
Getty ImagesFranco Baresi (Inter)
All Franco Baresi wanted to do was follow in his brother's footsteps. However, when he had a trial with Giuseppe's club, Inter, he was rejected for being too small.
"They said, 'Well, come back next year.' But my coach took me to Milan, and there I was accepted, although it took a couple of trials.
"They were worried about my size, that I wouldn't grow much, or toughen up. I was only 14 at the time."
Milan nonetheless decided to sign Baresi and they were rewarded for doing so.
He both grew up and toughened up as he developed into arguably the most ruthless and intelligent defender the game has ever seen, the cornerstone of the great Milan side of Arrigo Sacchi.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesGianluigi Buffon (AC Milan)
Just months after deciding to try his luck in goal, the 13-year-old Gianluigi Buffon was being courted by three Serie A sides: Bologna, AC Milan and Parma.
All three invited the Carrara native for a trial. Bologna were unconvinced despite taking two separate looks at him. Milan, meanwhile, had no doubts and even sent Buffon's parents a contract to sign.
However, after visiting the Rossoneri's academy accommodation, they decided against sending their son so far away from home.
As a result, when Parma goalkeeping coach Ermes Fulgoni immediately pushed the club to sign Buffon, his parents were only too happy to allow him to move to the Tardini, where he would break into the first team at just 17.
His first opponents as a professional? Milan, of course. Buffon kept a clean sheet, denying Roberto Baggio & Co. with one spectacular save after another. A star had been born.
Getty ImagesDidier Drogba (Arsenal)
No list of missed opportunities in the transfer market would be complete without Arsene Wenger, who has claimed to have pursued nearly every top player over the past two decades.
From Lionel Messi to Kylian Mbappe — the Arsenal boss had a look at them all. Wenger's biggest regret, though, is probably Didier Drogba, for three reasons.
Firstly, the Frenchman had a clear run at the powerful Ivorian attacker. Secondly, he could have signed him for a pittance.
"We watched Drogba very carefully when he was at Le Mans and his value was just £100,000," the Gunners manager explained.
"But we felt at the time he might not be completely ready. Looking back now, of course it was a mistake."
A colossal one at that, because the third reason why Drogba ranks as Wenger's biggest regret is that the striker went on to spend a significant chunk of his time at Chelsea tormenting one Arsenal centre-half after another.
Getty ImagesPaul Gascoigne (Manchester United)
While every other entry in our list left the club wondering about what might have been, in the case of Paul Gascoigne, it was the player who was left racked by regret.
The gifted English midfielder had agreed to leave his beloved Newcastle for Manchester United in the summer of 1988 and Alex Ferguson went off on holiday to Malta a happy manager, only for Tottenham to change everything by offering to buy his parents a house.
"What are you waiting for?!" his dad exclaimed. Then, his sister requested a sunbed before his father asked for a car to go in his new home's garage.
Spurs ceded to all of the family's demands and 'Gazza' ended up at White Hart Lane rather than Old Trafford.
"I think it was a bad mistake," Alex Ferguson later mused, "and Paul admits it. We had a structure of players who could have helped him and it could have given him some discipline."
Instead, Gascoigne achieved a level of fame at Italia 90 which he never managed to deal with, leading to a career and life blighted by behavioural and alcohol problems.