Manchester United have failed to recapture their form from the end of last season as Erik ten Hag is currently suffering from second-season syndrome, and he will need to get his act together swiftly, otherwise he could be out of a job.
Having won their first trophy in six years by claiming the EFL Cup last season while finishing third in the Premier League, it looked as though United were heading in the right direction and that Ten Hag was the true successor to Sir Alex Ferguson.
Just five wins from 11 matches this season, however, has slowed their ascendency down slightly and while the Dutchman managed to lure the likes of Andre Onana, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund to the project he is currently building in Manchester, he did miss out on some transfer targets, namely Harry Kane.
He isn’t the first United manager this has happened to, and he won't be the last, even 'Fergie' missed out on players who then shone elsewhere.
The Red Devils could’ve had Alan Shearer leading their line during the 1990s, yet he turned down the club to move to Newcastle United. They even had a chance to sign Frank Lampard before his move to Chelsea, think how good Fergie’s midfield could have been with the former England international starring for him?
Ferguson also failed to lure another future Chelsea icon to United when they were going through a barren spell, as Didier Drogba ended up moving to London instead of Manchester and there is no doubt he could’ve significantly bolstered his squad at the time.
Did Man Utd nearly sign Didier Drogba?
In the summer of 2004, Jose Mourinho was announced as the new Chelsea manager and with that, United’s era of domination ended.
With the club securing just the FA Cup during the 2003/04 season while witnessing Arsenal’s unbeaten Premier League campaign firsthand, Ferguson turned to the transfer window in order to strengthen, with Drogba on his list of potential new signings.
He said: “We went to check him out [at Marseille] but the club wanted £25million and Chelsea moved in for the kill before we had made up our minds.”
United went and signed Wayne Rooney towards the end of that summer instead and that move obviously worked out extremely well, yet Drogba would’ve been a great signing.
What happened to Didier Drogba?
Mourinho was smitten with Drogba and shelled out £24m to sign one of his top transfer targets as he aimed to lead the Blues to their first league title since 1955.
The Ivorian scored 16 goals during his maiden campaign in London to help the Blues win the Premier League, while he also starred in the League Cup final too and the £24m was certainly proving to be quite the bargain.
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Another 27 goal contributions followed the season after as the Stamford Bridge side retained their title, and it looked as though the next few years were going to be all about Chelsea and Mourinho was the mastermind behind the success.
Despite a League Cup and FA Cup double during 2006/07, a poor start to the following season ensured Mourinho was sacked after a fractious relationship with chairman Romain Abramovich and Drogba went through a series of managers during his remaining few years at the club.
He did win another league title in 2009/10, netting 29 goals in just 32 matches, yet it was the 2011/12 season where he enjoyed his greatest success.
Abramovich had spent big since taking over the club in 2003 and Champions League glory was his only prerequisite. They lost the 2008 final to United in a rain-soaked Moscow but having defeated Barcelona in the semifinals, they faced Bayern Munich, in Munich, to see who would claim the title in 2012.
Knowing this was his final game for the club (during his first spell), Drogba certainly lived up to his reputation of being a big game player and against Bayern, this was no different.
Heading into the dying embers of the tie, Chelsea were down 1-0 and defeat looked certain. Drogba, however, powered home a header to send the tie to extra time.
He did concede a penalty, yet this was missed by Arjen Robben and the final was to be decided by the dreaded shootout. The Ivorian went on to write his name in Chelsea folklore, scoring the winning penalty and wheeling away in jubilation.
How many goals did Didier Drogba score for Chelsea?
The one-time Guingamp marksman returned to Chelsea during the 2014/15 season and won yet another Premier League title before eventually retiring in 2018. He ended up scoring 164 goals across 381 games for the Blues and this type of record would’ve made him a huge success in Manchester, absolutely no doubt about it.
He drew praise from ex-teammate Frank Lampard a few years ago, who said: “I always say Didier Drogba and John Terry [were my favourite to play alongside], for different reasons so it’s like a double-headed answer really.
“Didier for me was amazing, to have him in your team in a final, you felt Didier in the dressing room before a big game that it was a different Didier, he was like an animal.
“His preparation, the intensity in his eyes and then he always produced.”
Imagine this type of striker leading the line under Ferguson at United, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney providing chance after chance for the player.
It could have been a dream attacking triumvirate, yet it clearly wasn’t to be for the future Chelsea “legend” – as so dubbed by their summer arrival Nicolas Jackson – as he forged his own glorious story in England with a different club.
Ferguson’s mistakes in the transfer market were few and far between, yet during his final decade or so in charge, he began to let some excellent players slip through his grasp who may have enabled him to secure more silverware.
Drogba was one of those names and if he had joined United instead of Chelsea in 2004, might they have returned to the summit of English football sooner than they did?
Who knows, but the now-retired ace would have been outstanding in the red of United, and he remains one of the Premier League's finest-ever strikers.