It's a transfer tale that many Nottingham Forest fans may recall.
Back in 2009, the Reds almost signed a certain Gareth Bale from Tottenham Hotspur, according to reports.
Forest were said to have struck a deal to bring the young Welsh prospect to the City Ground on loan, with a view to a permanent deal.
Bale had been struggling to establish himself at Spurs but apparently after a late change of heart, opted to stay and fight for his place at White Hart Lane.
The rest is history, as he went on to become the world's most expensive player - for a while, anyway - after being snapped up by Real Madrid in a reported £85million deal.
Former Spurs team-mate Peter Crouch remembers how Bales nearly joined Forest - for a fee of just £2million.
Crouch was answering questions from fans in a column for the Daily Mail.
Asked who was the most impressive player he had seen develop, he responded: "When I was at Southampton there was a buzz about two kids at the Academy — Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale. We heard all sorts of positive reports and I knew there was interest from Liverpool about signing Gareth in the summer of 2007.
"Our paths did not cross for another couple of years, until we were together at Tottenham.
"The young lad I saw initially had some confidence issues and had not enjoyed playing at left back.
"The talk was that he was going to go to Nottingham Forest for £2million.
"Then, though, he started to find his feet. He got faster, stronger.
"His confidence began to grow and gradually all those special things we had been told about when he was a kid started to come true.
"The night that did it for me with him was when he scored a hat-trick in the San Siro.
"Maicon, the Inter Milan right back, looked like he had been traumatised by the way Gaz kept running at him relentlessly.
"He tore him to shreds and it was proof that we had a galactico in our midst. You couldn't wish to see a more spectacular transition."
