The ones that got away: When Premier League clubs let stars slip through their fingers

On the latest episode of The Overlap, Paul Scholes let slip something that United fans might rather not dwell on, a hint that Carlos Tevez’s exit from Old Trafford had as much to do with Dimitar Berbatov’s arrival as anything else.

One man’s spot taken, another rival’s dynasty quietly accelerated. It’s a tale as old as the Premier League itself: a club can’t see what it has, and someone else is more than happy to find out.

Here are five Premier League clubs that let stars slip through their fingers.

Carlos Tevez – Manchester United to Manchester City (2009)

Dimitar Berbatov had signed in the summer and Tevez’s starting place became less and less guaranteed. For a player of Tevez’s ferocious drive and self-belief, that was never going to end quietly, and as hinted by Scholes on the latest episode of Fan Debate on The Overlap.

City, backed by new owners, had no qualms about the wage demands that gave Fergie pause, and plastered his face across a Deansgate billboard reading “Welcome to Manchester”. What could have been a dynasty-prolonging signing became the founding moment of a rival empire.

Tevez scored 74 goals in 148 appearances for City, won the FA Cup and was a key part of their first Premier League title in 44 years, the one ripped from United’s hands on goal difference on that extraordinary final day.

Robin van Persie – Arsenal to Manchester United (2012)

Only a few years after Tevez, Manchester United flipped the playbook. Arsenal under Arsene Wenger in the early 2010s were on the downlow. They were not challenging for the Premier League and had hit a stagnant spot. As a result, their biggest star was simply not happy.

Van Persie’s only trophy at the Gunners had come in his debut season, an FA Cup win in 2005, with a nine-year silverware drought following it. Arsenal never offered him a new deal, and with ambition burning, he went to Old Trafford, in a move that still stings in North London.

The impact at Old Trafford was instant and devastating. He won the Premier League, rightaway, and his second Golden Boot. His title-clinching hat-trick against Aston Villa is legend. And Arsenal, who had nurtured him, had to settle for giving him a guard of honour.

Daniel Sturridge – Chelsea to Liverpool (2013)

After spending his early years as a squad player at Manchester City and then Chelsea, Liverpool paid £12 million to bring Sturridge to Anfield in 2013. The impact was startling becoming the first Reds player since 1974 to score in each of his first 3 appearances.

The following season he scored 21 Premier League goals as Liverpool narrowly missed the title, forming one of the most electric partnerships the league had seen in years alongside Luis Suarez.

Chelsea, who had won the Champions League with him on the bench, sold a man who, given the stage, was simply unstoppable. He would end up winning the Champions League, again, this time with Liverpool, and enjoyed a fantastic spell at Anfield despite the injuries.

Raheem Sterling – Liverpool to Manchester City (2015)

Liverpool didn’t exactly let Sterling go, he forced their hand. Sterling made clear his desire to leave, stating it was “never about money” but about winning trophies, an implicit verdict on Liverpool’s ambitions at the time.

However, upon a closer look, Sterling was being wasted at Anfield under Brendan Rodgers. The tricky winger was forced to play as a fullback in his final few months for Liverpool, and only a short while after his exit, the Reds got their hands on Jurgen Klopp. What could’ve been, huh?

City paid the highest fee ever paid for an English player at the time, and the impact was immediate. Within two years, Sterling was one of the most devastating attackers in Europe. He recorded more than 200 goals and assists in 339 appearances, lifting four PL titles.

Cole Palmer – Manchester City to Chelsea (2023)

The most recent and arguably most stinging example. Palmer signed for Chelsea for a reported £40 million and enjoyed a breakout debut season, earning PFA Fans’ Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year.

He scored four goals in one game against Manchester United, became the youngest player to score consecutive Premier League hat-tricks, and then won the Conference League and Club World Cup, named man of the match in both finals.

City, who had him as a treble winner but couldn’t guarantee him minutes, had let a generational talent walk out the door for a relative bargain. Sometimes the ones you cannot afford to keep turn out to be the ones you could least afford to lose.