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The ones that got away

Re: The One that got away

We were very close to signing Hagi and I do recall us being linked to CRonaldo as a loan about 6 months before he went to Man U.
 
Re: The One that got away

Many already mentioned, but ones that stick in my mind (roughly chronologically):

- Bobby Moore crying when West Ham cancelled his move to us
- Releasing Des Walker
- Us agreeing to cancelled the Le Tissier deal
- Opting for Armstrong over Bergkamp
- Guardiola when he left Barca was reportedly close, and then Effenburg
- Eto'o dedicating his goal against England to us in expectation of his forthcoming move to us
- Losing out last minute on Petit
- Arshavin and Suarez (though we wouldn't have had vdV if we'd had either of these, so that worked out ok)
- All of Oscar, Hazard, Courtois and Willian, who Chelsea apparently pipped us to at the last minute
- Faffing on Moutinho
- United gazumping us on Coentrao and van Gaal
 
Re: The One that got away

Ancellotti.
Moped round London for most of the year after he was sacked by Chelsea.
Levy supposedly had him lined up to replace Redknapp whenever there was a good time except we were suddenly playing great stuff.
 
Re: The One that got away

In recent memory, I'd have to say Hazard. Had we kept up and taken 3rd in that year when we were heavily linked with him, he may well have joined us. Modric in turn may have stayed, Bale would have just been entering his early Galactico form and Sandro would have mopped up beautifully.

Also, how about Aguerro just before that? How close did we get with that one?

Finally, Moutinho. I think AVB would've really got us into the ECL last season if he had got this guy in.
 
Re: The One that got away

I think you'd have to go for someone around the time when the ££££ started flowing into the PLCL - **** and Man U made a massive step up then and started making a fortune from the CL

I'd therefore probably go for Bergkamp as well. Were we ever linked for Shearer when he went to Blackburn? If he was, then him. He was a CF designed for the PL
 
Re: The One that got away

The first name that springs to mind when threads like this appear is the 'Carlos Kickabout' that is Dennis Bergkamp, I can only imagine how he'd have loved being coached by his boyhood hero Glenn Hoddle.

I don't know enough about our defenders during the 1960s to judge how much of a difference the signing of Bobby Moore could've made but it gives me another reason to hate Wet Spam when I think of how their refusal to release him quite possibly denied Bill Nicholson the opportunity to win multiple First Division titles like his peers Shankly and Busby, back in an era when even the likes of Wolves and Portsmouth managed to win back-to-back championships.

The last days of Bobby Moore | Sport | The Observer
...Moore left West Ham on bad terms and was never again fully welcome at the club. The dispute went back to 1966 when he had sought a move to Tottenham; he believed that, with Spurs, he would have a better chance of winning the title. West Ham refused to sell - as the club was entitled to do in the era before freedom of contract - and Moore's determination to go almost prevented him from playing in the World Cup.

When his contract expired on 30 June, he was not only unattached to a club, but unaffiliated to the FA and ineligible to play for the national team. Alf Ramsey had to summon Moore and the West Ham manager, Ron Greenwood, to the England squad's base at Hendon before the two sides agreed to resolve their differences.

The dispute simmered on and, when Greenwood vetoed another transfer to Spurs four years later - which Moore, then 29, saw as his last chance of a big move - the relationship between the two deteriorated further. Finally, Moore was told he could leave on a personally lucrative free transfer at the end of the 1973-74 season.

West Ham reneged even on that promise and sold him to Fulham for £25,000. Although he still held the affection of the fans, Moore never went back to Upton Park, except for work.
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A question of loyalty - ESPN FC
...In the era before ‘freedom of contract', and well before Jean-Marc Bosman, Bobby Moore himself was a contract rebel. Only Alf Ramsey stepping in between Moore and West Ham allowed him to captain England at the 1966 World Cup. A one-month contract made Moore eligible again.

West Ham always prevented Moore joining anyone else when he might have liked to. Last week, Leeds legend John Giles spoke of how he often found Moore to be "bored" when playing for West Ham, a team that often struggled after a mid-1960s heyday.
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Re: The One that got away

The Portuguese wonderkid called Ronaldo - it looked like a two way battle between us and Saudi Sportswashing Machine at one point!
 
Re: The One that got away

Rob said:
The Portuguese wonderkid called Ronaldo - it looked like a two way battle between us and Saudi Sportswashing Machine at one point!
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Why do I not remember this? I seem to remember it was between Man Utd and Arsenal.
 
Re: The One that got away

Suarez in recent times. Just because he would have been the right player at the right time (under 'Arry) to really step us up.
 
Re: The One that got away

Rob said:
The Portuguese wonderkid called Ronaldo - it looked like a two way battle between us and Saudi Sportswashing Machine at one point!
Click to expand...

Nah - we went for the more highly rated one instead - Postiga.

Ronaldo had terrible end product.
 
Re: The One that got away

Superted said:
Who was the player we were heavily linked to that you think would have turned things around for us considerably?

I'm going to go with Van Bommel. I think we've been devoid of leaders for a long time who would just demand respect and I think MVB could have played that Roy Keane type role.
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Only one winner here, The Sock!
 
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