Atletico Madrid have always had to battle with Real Madrid and Barcelona to enter into the select group of elite clubs in Spain, and this has also been the case in the transfer market, with several footballing legends almost signing for Los Rojiblancos.
As the team with the third most trophies won in Spain, Atletico have had some great players in their ranks, especially in attack, whether that be Diego Forlan, Fernando Torres, Diego Costa or Sergio Aguero.
They were also able to secure Paulo Futre in the 1990s, as well as Roberto Ayala, Jose Eulogio Garate, Enrique Collar and Joaquin Peiro over the course of the last century.
However, there are several other names who could have been added to that list if certain deals had been able to be pushed over the line.
Atletico identified a lot of players before they became superstars, but often they were unable to close the deal because clubs with a bigger economic might swooped in.
MARCA have done a brief review of those players who could have represented Los Colchoneros but never did.
Ronaldo Nazario
Jurgen Klinsmann
Eric Cantona
Hristo Stoichov
Patrick Kluivert
Samuel Eto’o
Nicolas Anelka
https://www.marca.com/en/football/spanish-football/2020/04/16/5e983c42e2704e1e0d8b461a.html