Much has been made of Manchester United missing out on Erling Haaland, who of course ended up at local rivals Manchester City, but Jack Grealish actually took a similar path.
Back in 2020, when Grealish was still lighting up things for boyhood club Aston Villa, the Red Devils made little secret of their interest and were once viewed as the favourites to pry the attacking midfielder away from Villa Park. At that time, City were regarded as outsiders in the race to land the England international.
However, United baulked at Villa's asking price of £80million. Co-owner Nassef Sawiris was adamant that if Grealish was going to leave the club, it was not going to be for less than that figure.