Sunderland were once a fractured club and the years that preceded their relegation to League One in 2018 were a damning inclination that the club were on a rapid decline.

In the early to mid 2010s, there was an ever-growing disconnect between the club and supporters as ill-fated managerial appointments and disastrous transfer dealings were ultimately the root cause of their demise.

While the likes of Jack Rodwell, Didier Ndong and Adnan Januzaj swallowed up the majority of the wage bill and contributed to their plight, the Black Cats were prone to missing out on talent who could have prevented their sinking ship from drowning.

One star who slipped through their net was centre-back Toby Alderweireld during Gus Poyet's tenure at the club.

According to Belgian outlet Het Laatste Nieuws [via talkSPORT], the Black Cats had agreed a deal with Atletico Madrid to sign the Belgium international, with a view to making a move permanent the following year.

Alderweireld wasn't convinced by the project at Sunderland and rejected the transfer. He ended up joining Southampton on loan, playing 26 games for the club in the 2014/15 season and ultimately attracted interest from Tottenham, who snapped him up on a permanent deal from Atletico in 2015.

Another example of one who got away during this period was Georginio Wijnaldum.

Did Sunderland almost sign Georginio Wijnaldum?

According to the Guardian, Sunderland had lodged an £11m bid for PSV Eindhoven midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum in the summer of 2015.

The report detailed that their manager at the time, Dick Advocaat, had made contact with the club to register an interest in the 24-year-old.

Unfortunately, the Dutch manager was unable to persuade Wijnaldum to move to Wearside and instead, arch-rivals Newcastle United swooped in with a £14.4m offer to lure him to Tyneside.

With Newcastle winning that particular transfer battle, the "superb" Wijnaldum – as dubbed by Toon legend Alan Shearer – would go on to have a tremendous campaign, registering 16 contributions as the Magpies suffered relegation to the Championship.

Before joining Liverpool and staying in the Premier League, the Dutchman found room to become a cult hero on Tyneside, notably scoring four goals in one game against Norwich.

How good was Wijnaldum at Liverpool?

After snapping him up for £25m in 2016, he quickly became a crucial cog in Jurgen Klopp's gegenpressing system with the German dubbing him as "sensational" and insisting that he was the "architect of our success".

Wijnaldum made 237 appearances across a glittering five-year spell at Liverpool, playing crucial roles in their Champions League triumph in 2019 and in winning their elusive Premier League title in 2020.

The Reds came from 3-0 down in first leg to win 4-3 on aggregate in the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona and Wijnaldum's contribution on the night will go down in the club's folklore for eternity.

He produced two moments of brilliance to flip the game on its head and all but single-handedly break Barca's spirit as Liverpool triumphed on the greatest European night Anfield has ever seen.

Remembered for showing up on the biggest stages and missed for the explosive power, sensational ball-carrying and insane press resistance that he brought to Klopp's midfield trio, the Reds have only just replaced those crucial attributes with the arrivals of Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai this summer.

One of the German's most important signings in his first summer at the helm, the long-lasting legacy that Wijnaldum left behind following his departure from the club to Paris Saint Germain in 2021 is encapsulated by how long it took for the club to truly replace his world-class attributes. Just imagine had he been able to showcase those initially at the Stadium of Light…