Raul Tamudo - Espanyol - Raul was willing to sign for Sunderland, but Peter Reid never followed up with a bid for the 7m rated striker. Raul currently plays for his national team, Spain.
Dennis Bergkamp - Arsenal - Reidy made an equiry, but that all it ever was.
Eidur Gudjohnson - Chelsea - Chelsea accepted a bid of 13m from Sunderland. It is beleived that Ediur was very close to joining Sunderland and would of been worth every penny.
Robbie Keane - Leeds - Sunderland also tabled a bid for Robbie Keane, beleived to be around 8m. Niall Quinn couldn't convince him to sign and I don't think anybody could.
Nicky Butt - Manchester United - Sunderland attempted to sign Nicky Butt when Sunderland first gained top flight status. Paul Scholes was also part of the 13m deal, which was close to completion. Nobody know to this day why the deal was never completed.
Paul Scholes - Manchester United - Please see Nicky Butt.
Trevor Sinclair - West Ham - Sunderland equired about Trevor Sinclair, but were scared off by his 8m price tag.
Claude Makelele - Marseille - Sunderland stuck 9m on the table for Claude before Real Madrid signed him. Marseille wanted 10m for him, which Sunderland were not willing to pay.
Gilberto Silva - Reidy admitted several months ago that her attempted to sign the Brazilian before Arsenal did.
Emmanuel Petit - Chelsea - It was rumoured that Sunderland tabled a 5m bid for the frenchman.
Ian Harte - Leeds - Sunderland attempted sign the Republic of Ireland iternational for 3m, but Leeds weren't willing to sell.
Kanu - Arsenal - Sunderland were rumoured to have made a bid, but we can not confirm this.
Ray Parlour - Arsenal - Steve Bould had had a word with Ray about joining Sunderland, but Wenger crushed the move flat by stating Parlour was part of his plans and would not sell.
If Sunderland had managed to pull just 1/4 of those signing, it's hard to imagine us in the situation we're in now.