BBC Sport looks back at high-profile transfer targets that clubs pursued but ultimately failed to sign, contrasting how those players' careers unfolded afterwards. The piece opens with Tottenham's failed 2023 move for Nigerian striker Gift Orban, illustrating how such near-misses can go on to have very different trajectories, some fading and others flourishing elsewhere.

Orban, then 21 and prolific for Gent, was touted as a replacement for Harry Kane, but Spurs balked at a £25m fee and the deal collapsed; he has since had four clubs and struggled to rediscover his best form. The article also revisits Manchester City's stunning £108m offer for Kaka in January 2009, rejected by the Brazilian, who later joined Real Madrid for £56m, and Bolton Wanderers' 2004 approach for World Cup winner Rivaldo under Sam Allardyce, showing how missed signings can end in decline, glory elsewhere, or deals that never materialised at all.