Manchester United and astute transfer dealings are two things that don't appear to belong in the same sentence, with the Red Devils having erratically splashed the cash over the last decade or so.
With Erik ten Hag currently in charge of the most expensively assembled squad in Europe – totalling almost £1bn – the Old Trafford outfit look little closer to closing the gap on treble-winning rivals, Manchester City, with it now ten years since the club last tasted Premier League title glory.
What has perhaps been even more frustrating than the scattergun nature of United's transfer business is the fact that there also a number of figures who the club's hierarchy passed up the chance to sign, only to be forced to watch them blossom elsewhere.
The most blatant example of that fact was the failure to land Erling Haaland for a fee of just £4m during his time at Molde, with the Norwegian powerhouse now spearheading Pep Guardiola's City side to devastating effect, after hitting 52 goals in his debut season last time out.
Those woes were also laid bare with regard to fellow striker, Benjamin Sesko, with United having reportedly deemed the Slovenian's £2.5m fee as 'excessive' back in 2019, albeit with the 20-year-old having only recently sealed a £55m move to RB Leipzig.
Those two cases will likely have supporters tearing their hair out, although perhaps the most infuriating example of a player who got away is World Cup-winning superstar, Kylian Mbappe, with the Red Devils having failed to strike while the iron was out in the recent past.
Did Man United want to sign Kylian Mbappe?
While some reports may at times need to be taken with a pinch of salt, in the case of the dazzling Frenchman it would appear that there was genuine interest from those at the Theatre of Dreams, amid his promising career beginning at AS Monaco.
According to club legend Ryan Giggs, the Welshman had seemingly recommended that United make a move for the the-teenager – as well as current Arsenal man Gabriel Jesus – with the pair likely to have cost just £5m apiece at the time.
As per the Times, the 13-time title winner revealed: "I watched Mbappe play. I was watching him and Gabriel Jesus with the chief scout and it was a no-brainer. It was just like, Get them. It would have cost £5million or something – get them, loan them back and that's where the recruitment could have been better.
"I know what a Manchester United player looks like."
At a time when United notably splashed out an initial £36m on Anthony Martial from the Ligue 1 outfit back in 2016, to have fluffed the potential opportunity to sign the striker's compatriot is a blunder that the Premier League giants will likely never be able to recover from.
Why didn't Man United sign Mbappe?
United's failure to get snap up the promising forward for such a lowly fee was made even more apparent in the summer of 2017, with The Guardian reporting at the time that Jose Mourinho and co had launched a £72m bid in an attempt to prise the then-18-year-old from Stade Louis II.
That ultimately unsuccessful offer had coming following a breakthrough 2016/17 campaign which saw the Paris native score 15 times and register 11 assists in just 29 Ligue 1 outings as Monaco claimed the title.
It was on the European stage that a young Mbappe truly announced himself, however, after scoring six goals in just nine appearances in that season's Champions League, memorably running Man City ragged with a goal both home and away against Guardiola's men in the last-16 stage.
That lightning start to his senior career had ensured that Monaco were able to easily fend off the £72m approach from those in Manchester, with the selling club having been holding out for more than £100m at the time.
As it proved, the fleet-footed speedster did eventually depart in that same window on an initial loan move, joining rivals Paris Saint-Germain on a deal that included an option to make the switch permanent for an eyewatering £165m fee – blowing any rival interest out of the water.
What is Mbappe worth now?
What has followed since that move to the Parc des Princes has been glittering success for the 24-year-old, with the seemingly "unstoppable" talent – as described by compatriot Rio Mavuba – now boasting a haul of 219 goals and 98 assists in just 264 games for his current side.
Arguably the "best player in the world" when in full flow, according to Mavuba, the 5 foot 10 whiz has been a dominant force both domestically and on the international front, despite still longing for that elusive Champions League crown.
2015/16
1
5
2016/17
15
5
2017/18
13
7
2018/19
33
10
2019/20
18
17
2020/21
27
11
2021/22
28
4
2022/23
29
17
2023/24*
7
1
Total
171
77
Now the captain of his country despite his relative youth, the one-time Bondy youth asset already has 40 goals in just 71 appearances for Les Bleus to date, having previously been integral to his nation reaching the final of the last two World Cups.
In 2018 in Russia, the explosive wideman became the youngest player to net in the tournament's showpiece since Brazilian great, Pele back in 1958, memorably scoring in the 4-2 thrashing of Croatia.
The PSG talisman then hit even bigger heights in Qatar last year after scoring eight times in the competition in total, including a breathtaking hat-trick in the final against Lionel Messi's Argentina side to help take the game to extra-time.
While it was ultimately the South American outfit who emerged victorious during the subsequent penalty shoot-out, Mbappe yet again illustrated why he is a possible successor to the likes of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at football's top table.
Such a talent is thus worthy of a sizeable valuation, with the player having only recently been the subject of a £259m offer from Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal – a stunning increase of 5080% in relation the reported £5m fee that United could have signed him for years prior.
While Ten Hag's side may still have lingering hopes of snapping up the £1.1m-per-week asset next summer when his current contract reaches its expiry, a move to Real Madrid looks to be the most obvious scenario, ensuring that Mbappe is likely to remain 'one that got away' for the Red Devils.
