8 Players You Didn't Know Newcastle United Almost Signed

4. Bastian Schweinsteiger

The failure to sign Schweinsteiger is widely regarded as the straw that broke the camel's back for Keegan in his second spell at the club. After being irked by the sale of James Milner under his nose and Mike Ashley's flat-out rejection of his suggestion of the German international as a replacement, instead sanctioning the loan signing of Ignacio Gonzalez and blowing £5.7 million on the useless Xisco, Keegan quit his post.

At the time Schweinsteiger was free to leave Bayern Munich for a bargain £3 million and would eventually go on to be remodelled as a holding midfielder by Louis Van Gaal after spending the majority of his career to date as a winger.

However, although he's developed into one of the best central pivots in Europe, it's unlikely even a player of Schweinsteiger's quality would have been enough to save us in a season that is best left unmentioned.