10 Failed Transfers That Would Have Changed English Football

7. Michael Laudrup To Liverpool

Picture the scene: it's the early 1980's, and Liverpool are a colossus that bestride the game both at home and abroad. You're a young, talented Danish midfielder who has made waves on the domestic scene with KB and Brondby. Bob Paisley's Liverpool are interested and make a bid for your services, You agree a three year contract and move is all set to go ahead, but then, at the last minute, the club request a small change - can the contract be four years instead of three? Absolutely not. You'll stay for three years, but four? Outrageous. You turn down the move, and join Juventus instead for a Danish record transfer fee. It might sound outlandish, but Michael Laudrup really did turn down Paisley's Liverpool over a length of contract dispute. Liverpool won the European Cup in 1984 while Laudrup watched on from Italy, where he was on loan at Lazio from Juventus. Laudrup did eventually lift the European crown with Barcelona in 1992, but he could have got his hands on it sooner had he agreed to bring his elegant passing to the Liverpool midfield.