{"id":1083393,"date":"2019-04-10T13:46:39","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T12:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1083393"},"modified":"2019-04-10T13:49:43","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T12:49:43","slug":"man-utd-players-who-rejected-nearly-joined-barcelona-transfer","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/man-utd-players-who-rejected-nearly-joined-barcelona-transfer\/","title":{"rendered":"Current Man Utd players who rejected or nearly joined Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even after six years without a league title, few clubs in world football can go toe-to-toe with Manchester United in the transfer market.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In recent years, we’ve seen Nemanja Matic and Alexis Sanchez jump ship from London rivals to move to Old Trafford and while the Red Devils did have to surrender Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid back in 2009, they have fended off reported interest from Los Blancos in David de Gea for a number of years.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7227287-barcelona-will-rely-on-their-jon-snow-to-deal-with-any-man-utd-counter-attack<\/p>\n

But what about Barcelona? Surely a European giant whose motto is ‘more than a club’, who have won seven La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues within the last decade, can oust little old United, who haven’t even appeared in Europe’s elite final since 2011, when Barca themselves defeated the 20-time Premier League champions.<\/p>\n

You’d be surprised at what United’s long-standing reputation can achieve, though. Below, we’ve listed six current Manchester United players that almost signed for Barcelona in a set of career-defining decisions.<\/p>\n

Those scouted or considered…<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1. Juan Mata<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Major honours with Man Utd: <\/strong>2016 FA Cup, 2017 League Cup, 2017 Europa League<\/p>\n

According to reports, Barcelona are looking to bring in Juan Mata on a free transfer at the end of the season to bolster their creative options and thicken out their squad.<\/p>\n

But this is not the first time the Spanish champions have been linked with the little magician, with a number of sources claiming he was on the verge of a move back in 2010, while was still a Valencia player.<\/p>\n

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(Photo credit JOSE JORDAN\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

While at Spain’s successful 2010 World Cup campaign, Mata denied knowledge of the rumour and remained at Valencia for one more season before moving to Chelsea in 2011 and, later, United in 2014.<\/p>\n

But recently Pep Guardiola, now managing Manchester City, confirmed that Barcelona considered signing\u00a0 Mata on multiple occasions. “We took an eye to try to bring him to Barcelona, but the problem was we had a lot of midfield players,” Guardiola admitted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mata, now 30, has won a raft of honours during his time in English football and now, with his playing years ticking down, may finally take the plunge and give it a shot at the Nou Camp this summer.<\/p>\n

2. Diogo Dalot<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Major honours with Man Utd: <\/strong>N\/A<\/p>\n

Slowly but surely, Diogo Dalot is starting to make his way at Man United. Whether as a functional right-winger, or in his preferred right-back spot, the Portuguese is giving Solskjaer something to think about in the summer window.<\/p>\n

Reports suggest the Red Devils may move for Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka to replace the ageing Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia, but they may not even need to if Dalot continues his development.<\/p>\n

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Of course, it all could have been very different, as Dalot himself admitted he was aware of interest from both Real Madrid and Barcelona, before brushing it to the side and knuckling down on life in Manchester.<\/p>\n

“I do not want to think about it but being watched by Real Madrid and Barcelona [makes me] proud and gives me motivation,” the Portuguese told Diario Record.<\/a><\/p>\n

“[Training with the Porto first-team] made me grow because that’s the top and is where I want to be.”<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hRKU-piMHX4<\/p>\n

Subscribe to Squawka\u2019s Youtube channel here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

…and those who rejected Barca<\/strong><\/h2>\n

3. Paul Pogba<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Major honours with Man Utd:<\/strong> 2017 League Cup, 2017 Europa League<\/p>\n

What sort of planet are we living on where \u00a389m seems like quite a small sum to pay for a player of Paul Pogba’s quality? In any case, that quality is finally showing in a Man Utd shirt.<\/p>\n

Within just two years of Pogba becoming the world’s most expensive footballer, he had been ousted by Ousmane Dembele (\u00a397m) to Barca, Cristiano Ronaldo (\u00a3105.3) to Juventus, Philippe Coutinho (\u00a3106m) to Barca, Kylian Mbappe (\u00a3158m) to PSG and, of course, Neymar (\u00a3198m) from Barca to PSG.<\/p>\n

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Before all of that happened, though, the Blaugrana showed a real interest in Pogba, with club president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, recently revealing that United managed to price them out of a move for the Frenchman.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the summer of 2015 Paul Pogba was playing in Turin and we simply told Juve that, if one day they decide to sell the player, we would be interested,\u201d Bartomeu said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they sold the player, they told us what the offer would have to be and we couldn\u2019t afford that amount of money at the time. So he went to United and he\u2019s making them better as a team because he\u2019s one of the stars of the world of football right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if Barca had stumped up the cash, it would seem like Pogba had his heart set on an Old Trafford return all along.<\/p>\n

“It is a big challenge. I could have gone to a club like Barcelona or Real Madrid, who were interested,” he told SFR Sport in January 2017.<\/p>\n

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When @ManUtd<\/a> announced #Pogback<\/a> \u26a1\ufe0f#PLMoment<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/rShCZc5tVk<\/a><\/p>\n

— Premier League (@premierleague) November 2, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n