Bastian Schweinsteiger is a Bayern Munich legend, but this would not be the case if Kevin Keegan had got his way.
The former Germany midfielder went down as an all-time great in Bavaria, lifting 18 major trophies, including eight Bundesliga titles and the Champions League during an illustrious 13 years at the club.
However, Schweinsteiger’s career with Bayern would not have reached anywhere near these heights had Newcastle manager Keegan succeeded in his attempts to sign him.
Back in 2008, the then Magpies boss had lined up the German World Cup winner as a replacement for the departing James Milner.
With Milner a key player at St James’ Park, Keegan reluctantly agreed to his £12million sale to Aston Villa, after being led to believe that Schweinsteiger was headed to the north east in his place.
But to Keegan’s fury, not only did he fail to land his target, he was left humiliated by Newcastle’s infamously dubbed ‘Cockney Mafia’ owners.
According to his assistant at the time, Terry McDermott, the former Liverpool hero was ‘hoodwinked’ by the club, who made a derisory €5million (£4.3m) bid for Schweinsteiger to push through Milner’s sale.
In his 2017 autobiography “Terry Mac: Living For The Moment,” McDermott opened up on the saga, as he explained how Keegan came to agree to Milner’s sale.
He wrote: “It was a decent offer, so Kevin asked who would they get to replace him. It would have to be someone really good because Milner was a crucial player.
“[Vice chairman Tony] Jimenez said they had accepted the bid and that it looked like they could sign Bastian Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich.
“Kevin said it was a no-brainer: ‘Just do it’.”
However, what promised to be an incredible piece of business for Newcastle soon came undone.
McDermott revealed that Jimenez then asked Keegan to discuss the potential move with Bayern chief Karl-Heinz Rumenigge, who he knew personally.
It was at this point that the former England boss discovered that his employers’ had no intention of signing Schweinsteiger, as he called the German side’s board on speaker phone.
McDermott continued: “He ended up getting Karl-Heinz on the phone and switched it to speaker mode.
“In English, he explained the reason he was ringing him – that he had been told by his club they might be able to sign Schweinsteiger.
“Karl-Heinz immediately started laughing. He revealed Bayern had received an email from Newcastle that morning offering €5m for him.”
He then shared Rumenigge’s response: ” ‘Kevin, we couldn’t stop laughing.
“If you had offered €50m we still wouldn’t have sold him — but €5m?!
“After the conversation ended, I looked at Kevin and he was ashen-faced. We had lost a very good player with no suitable replacement. The club had hoodwinked him.”
Ultimately, Keegan both lost Milner and failed to replace him with Schweinsteiger.
And it’s fair to say their careers at their respective clubs went in polar opposite directions after the transfer saga.
Just months after Milner’s departure, Keegan followed suit, resigning from his role amid a string of disappointing results and disagreements with the club’s ownership in his second stint in charge
Meanwhile, Schweinsteiger went on to establish himself as a Bayern legend, adding a further four Bundesliga titles to his collection, as well as lifting the Champions League in 2013.
His career reached its pinnacle with victory at the 2014 World Cup, before bringing his career to an end with stints at Manchester United and Chicago Fire.