10 Players You Didn't Know Nearly Signed For Inter Milan

10. Gary Breen

One thing should be said for Gary Breen - he was an example of how one fine tournament can be used as a platform to drum up interest of bizarre proportions. It has been seen before, with Real Madrid and Barcelona engaging in a tug-of-war over Liverpool bench-warmer Milan Baros following his Euro 2004 exploits, and half of Europe keen to get in on the bidding war for Russia€™s talismanic Andrei Arshavin four years later, and Breen€™s summer of 2002 certainly falls into that category. A Football League journeyman, which would span ten clubs over a 20 year career, nobody on the continent really knew who the Coventry City centre-half was when Ireland impressively battled through to a last 16 penalty shoot-out against Spain in the World Cup. Having produced some impressive performances against Cameroon, Germany and bagging a goal against Saudi Arabia, the likes of Barcelona and Inter Milan began to take an interest in the 30 year old. The former Maidstone United defender has since revealed that he was all set to put pen to paper on a deal at the San Siro, only for the move to be scuppered by at the last minute due to a failed medical. Just as the fervent Irish support had bellowed throughout their World Cup journey, it was the Nerazzurri who were left to €˜dream of a team of Gary Breens€™.