Man Utd have already missed out on five brilliant Ronaldo replacements

Cristiano Ronaldo's Man Utd contract terminated

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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has already confirmed the club are looking to replace Cristiano Ronaldo as the January transfer window creeps closer. And he’ll be hoping the Red Devils do far better than when the veteran quit for Real Madrid in 2009, where Gabriel Obertan, Michael Owen and Antonio Valencia arrived. Express Sport will now wind the clock back and look at five brilliant players United eyed – but ultimately missed out on.

Karim Benzema

Back in 2009, Karim Benzema was rising to prominence at Lyon – having scored 23 goals from 47 appearances across all competitions.

And Rio Ferdinand revealed last year that Sir Alex Ferguson wanted the France international to replace Ronaldo, saying: “The first time I played against him, Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to sign him.”

Owen, who arrived instead, also said: “I only came to United because he chose Real Madrid instead of United.

“The first time I got a call from Sir Alex Ferguson, he said ‘We want to sign Benzema, if we don’t get him we’re getting you.’”

Benzema would move to Real Madrid, however, and he’s since propelled the La Liga giants to five Champions League titles – with the most recent coming earlier this year, where Los Blancos beat Liverpool in the final.

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Samuel Eto’o

Samuel Eto’o showed United his brilliance in the 2009 Champions League final, scoring the opener as Barcelona won the trophy in Rome that year.

And the Red Devils eyed the Cameroon international in the aftermath, yet were ultimately unable to bring him to Old Trafford.

Eto’o was used by Barcelona in a swap deal for the mercurial Zlatan Ibrahimovic, meaning the African striker would head to Inter Milan – where he’d win the treble in his first season.

He would later play in the Premier League with Everton and Chelsea.

And he scored against United for the latter, bagging a hat-trick as the Blues won 3-1 in January 2014.

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Franck Ribery

United were linked with Franck Ribery back in the summer transfer window of 2007, when it was clear he would be leaving Marseille behind.

But with the Red Devils prioritising Carlos Tevez at the time, it paved the way for the forward to move to Germany with Bayern Munich instead.

Two years later, United again eyed Ribery – who was operating at the peak of his powers for Bayern Munich at the time.

Alas, it was to be a similar story.

Bayern had no plans to let Ribery go and he’d proceed to become a legend at the Allianz Arena, propelling the German giants to nine Bundesliga titles before joining Fiorentina in 2019.

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David Silva

David Silva became a legend for Manchester City upon moving in 2011.

But Ferguson revealed he had been watching the Spain international a few years prior to his move to the Etihad. Namely in 2009, when Ronaldo jumped ship.

The Scot recalled in 2015: “We watched Silva a lot when he was at Valencia. And the other player they had, the same type, years before it, played in that No. 10 role.

“My problem with that was you have to be very, very good to play in that position, because there’s no defensive duties for them.”

And he wasn’t the only Valencia icon United missed out on that year, either…

David Villa

David Villa was one of the best strikers in world football back in 2009, scoring 31 goals from 43 matches across all competitions in the 2008/2009 season.

And the Red Devils had him on their radar at the time of Ronaldo’s departure to Real Madrid.

However, Villa was reluctant to leave Spain at that stage of his career and would stay at Valencia before jumping ship to Barcelona the following year as a replacement for Ibrahimovic.

He didn’t do too badly at the Nou Camp, either, scoring as Barcelona beat United 3-1 in the 2011 Champions League final.

Villa would proceed to move to Atletico Madrid, too, before retiring at Vissel Kobe in 2019.

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