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Everton have been linked with some sensational footballers over the years.

Of course, the Blues have managed time and time again to secure the services of some of the brightest names in world football to display their talents at Goodison Park.

However, there are some players who fans were always longing to see make the switch to Merseyside but never arrived.

And now scores of supporters have responded to the ECHO's question on Facebook asking them who was the one player they would have love to have seen Everton sign but never did.

One man that received several mentions was Juan Roman Riquelme.

Fans such as Dayne Powell, Andy Riley and Vincent McNally revealed that they would have loved to see the magical Barcelona and Boca Juniors playmaker, who was four times voted Argentine Footballer of the Year, at the club.

The Riquelme to Everton rumours would not go away and reached a crescendo in July 2007.

A story appeared on the official Everton website on a Monday morning claiming that the Argentine was on his way from Villarreal.

The ‘news’ quickly spread on Everton forums, but while it seemed that Riquelme was on the move, Atletico Madrid was his likely destination, not Goodison.

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The story was quickly removed from the Everton website, where a statement appeared claiming the article was ‘completely untrue and appeared as a result of a technical error that occurred during some maintenance work on the site’.

Ian Rush was another player who supporters like James Drury, Rocky Greenham and Neil Hardie revealed they wished the Blues had secured.

His history as a boyhood Everton supporter is well-known and there is a belief the Toffees were first offered the chance to sign him from Chester before he joined Liverpool in 1982 for a then record £300,000 to devastating effect.

There were also further mentions by fans for former Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer.

Simon Lloyd, Sean Ryan and Ron Davenport all wished that the all-time leading Premier League goal scorer plied his trade at Goodison.

In 1996 Everton reportedly bid £12.5million for Shearer even though Newcastle United had already agreed a £15million fee.

The likes of Robbie Keane and Olivier Giroud were also outlined as players fans would have loved to come and join the Blues.

Of course, with a club the size and stature of Everton there are always going to be near misses with fantastic players.

And while none of those mentioned ever made it to Goodison it has not stopped the Blues signing a plethora of world-class talent and that is becoming evident in the team Marco Silva is building today.