8 Players You Didn't Know Newcastle United Almost Signed

3. Luka Modric

Mirroring the strategy used to sign Yohan Cabaye in 2011, Newcastle had identified Modric as a potential signing early in 2008 with the intention of signing the highly-rated Croatia international before the European Championships kicked off in Lisbon that summer, wary that his price could significantly inflate should he impress at the tournament. A £12 million fee had been agreed with Dinamo Zagreb and the then 22-year-old had even been given a tour of the club's training facilities.

Yet there was one tiny snag and his name was Keegan. Apparently our ex-manager didn't want to sacrifice a chunk of his reputed £50 million transfer budget on Modric, who also had Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Barcelona sniffing around, despite his obvious potential. Instead he signed Danny Guthrie and Jonas Gutierrez before Dennis Wise lumbered him with Nacho Gonzalez on deadline day.

Modric joined Tottenham for £16.5 million and is now a regular for Real Madrid, Keegan quit and Newcastle were relegated. Some would call that a lucky escape!