10 Biggest Dodged Bullets In Man Utd Transfer History

5. Thiago Alcantara

Last summer, Manchester United were chasing Thiago Alcantara but, as with the majority of transfer targets under the David Moyes administration, failed to land the then-Barcelona player, who was looking for a way out of the Nou Camp having been used sparingly by the Catalans. Instead, he ended up at Bayern Munich, who had just been crowned European champions. Unfortunately for him, Alcantara spent just as much time on the bench at the Allianz Arena in his debut season in Germany than he did in Spain, with injury problems meaning he managed only 16 Bundesliga appearances, of which he started half. Alcantara had a worrying knack for getting injured before he moved to Bayern, having suffered a persistent knee problem throughout the 2012 calendar year, and his chequered injury record flared up again when he strained ankle ligaments against Nurnberg on the 24th August. Though the midfielder undoubtedly has a bright future, and would have benefited United in the long run, he would not have been able to step in and solve their midfield crisis a year ago.