Sneijder to Man Utd, Draxler to Arsenal: The Transfer Rumour XI that never materialised

Transfer silly season never truly dies down, even outside of the summer and winter windows.

The rumour mill ticks over and over without fail every year. And while plenty of the speculation that appears dies off as quickly as it came around, and other rumours turn into completed deals, there’s always been a grey area between those two outcomes.

Yeah, you know the one. Transfer no man’s land. It’s a vicious cycle. One that often results in a player being linked to a certain club year after year, despite everyone knowing that with each passing season, the speculation becomes more and more unlikely. We still have to read the headline over and over, though.

Unfortunately, this one tends to affect ‘bigger’ clubs more often than not. Those at the top of the food chain who pull in the most attention online are typically used to write a story. And what better way to create some interest than by using a top club and a trending player, and sticking them both together? Long-term storytelling that the WWE would be proud of, except there often isn’t an outcome. Or much of a story to tell in the first place…

With that in mind, GIVEMESPORT has put together a starting XI of the most famed transfer rumours that dragged on for years, which never actually happened.

Okay, so this one would have gone through if it wasn’t for a slow fax machine. De Gea was closing in on his move to Real Madrid in 2015, following a solid three seasons of speculation linking him with the move at every point possible. It even dragged on for a short while after the move fell apart, too.

Warning: Manchester United feature in this list a lot. And that’s after trying desperately to make sure they don’t. In their never ending pursuit of fixing their right back