5 players who ‘said yes’ to Man Utd but never joined: Lewandowski, Kroos…
Plenty of star players have been aimlessly linked to Manchester United through the years, but a select few actually agreed to join the club – so why didn’t they?
While not the behemoth they once were, the lure of playing for an institution like United is still an offer most would snap your hand off for. The gossip column links just about every player they can to the Red Devils in the name of clicks, but there has been some truth in some rumour over the years.
The following five players have been all but confirmed to have said ‘yes’ to joining the club before a deal failed to materialise.
Robert Lewandowski
A man who has – inevitably – been linked to United to no end throughout his career, Lewandowski confirmed to Rio Ferdinand in a new interview that he had a phone call with Sir Alex Ferguson in 2012 and agreed to join the club.
On his new ‘Rio Meets’ podcast, the Polish forward explained to Ferdinand: “I remember that conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson, it was in 2012 and I decided to join Manchester United.
He added: “Yes, I want to join Manchester United, yes! I remember the conversation with the president of Dortmund. He told me that they needed me. That they were not going to sell me to Manchester United because I was very important for them and it was not the right time.”
Turns out the Polish forward really could have ended up in Manchester if not for the move being blocked by Broussard Dortmund. Wild.
Toni Kroos
One that we’re more familiar with, but equally one that is still just as shocking, Kroos had agreed to join United in 2014 after a conversation with David Moyes, before signing for Real Madrid later that summer.
Moyes told TalkSPORT in 2018 that he had met Kroos and his wife in Germany when he was still at Bayern Munich, before his sacking scuppered the deal. Kroos confirmed the story himself with SPORT1 in 2024: “In 2014, before I signed with Real Madrid, I had already agreed with Manchester United.
“That would have been a move from Bayern to United. But then they kicked out David Moyes, who I was still sitting on my couch with in Munich and hired Louis van Gaal. Then we both declined with thanks.”
A call from Carlo Ancelotti as the deal went cold was all it took for Real Madrid to hijack the transfer.
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Cesc Fabregas
The summer before the Kroos saga, a fresh-faced Moyes tried to navigate his first and only summer transfer window as Manchester United boss by going big with his targets.
He told the Stick to Football podcast that he held discussions with Fabregas, who at the time had doubts about his future at Barcelona. According to Moyes, Fabregas had agreed to join United in 2013 on one condition – if he didn’t start the opening game of the season for Barcelona.
Alas, he did start and the move collapsed, leaving the Red Devils without their main midfield target.
Jean-Clair Todibo
A much more recent incident, United were keen to bolster their defence in the summer of 2024 and identified Nice defender Todibo as the man to do so.
He was keen to join the club and spent the summer of 2024 waiting for the move to go through, however it ended up being blocked as rules and regulations meant that swapping Nice for United – two clubs owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe – would’ve presented a conflict of interest.
The French defender eventually joined West Ham instead, with his move to United blocked.
Ivan Perisic
The Croatian was the subject of concrete interest from United in the summer of 2017, with Jose Mourinho keen to further put his stamp on the team.
United’s chase of Perisic was tiresome, with the club ultimately not coughing up enough money to meet Inter’s valuation and the deal falling through as a result. The winger lifted the lid on the move in 2019, per Football Italia: “It was fantastic for me when José called me. It was hard to say no to him.
“I really wanted to go to him and play with United.”