Manchester United's transfer wishlist was sensationally leaked in 2004 - and remarkably, the club went on to sign most of the names on it. At the time, the Red Devils were heading into arguably the toughest patch of Sir Alex Ferguson's Premier League tenure.

They'd just surrendered the title to Arsenal's Invincibles and would spend the next two years fruitlessly chasing down Jose Mourinho's Chelsea. But Ferguson's meticulous squad-planning eventually helped turn the tide - even if part it was leaked to the public.

The leak came in the form of a fascinating photo of a club document titled Player Analysis. It divided the United squad into four columns: squad, excess, youth potential and transfer targets.

Established players such as Nicky Butt and Diego Forlan appeared in the excess column, signalling they were likely to be moved on. Meanwhile, academy prospects like Kieran Richardson, Tom Heaton and Phil Bardsley were listed under youth potential, evidence that they were being groomed for future roles in the first team.

But the most intriguing section was the transfer targets column, which included then-Barcelona academy star Gerard Pique, PSG full-back Gabriel Heinze and Leeds striker Alan Smith - all of whom would go on to join United that summer. Two notable names, however, slipped through the net.

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One was Vincent Kompany, then an emerging teenage star at Anderlecht and a future Manchester City captain. The other was Auxerre defender Philippe Mexes, who later played for Roma and AC Milan.

The document offered an intriguing window into United's Ferguson-era recruitment strategy - and the brilliance of their scouting network. Pique, Heinze, Kompany and Mexes were largely unknown in 2004, yet each would go on to forge successful careers at the highest level.

Pique's Old Trafford career, however, never truly took off. The young Spaniard struggled for game time behind the formidable Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, eventually returning to Barcelona. There, he became one of the modern game's greatest central defenders, anchoring a period of dominance at the Nou Camp that included nine La Liga titles, three Champions League trophies and seven Copa del Rey wins.

Heinze enjoyed a solid three-year spell at United, but a lengthy injury in 2006 prompted the club to sign Patrice Evra, who would soon supplant him as first-choice left-back. Heinze departed in 2007, moving on to Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, Smith started brightly at Old Trafford but was hampered by persistent injuries, eventually leaving for Newcastle in 2007.

Perhaps the most significant acquisition of the summer, though absent from the leaked wishlist, was Wayne Rooney. United secured the striker from Everton for £27million - a record for a teenager at the time.

Rooney would, of course, go on to become the club's all-time leading scorer with 253 goals and eventually captain the team, cementing his place as a Red Devils legend.

As for the players on the excess list, all five were offloaded that very summer. Butt was sold to Newcastle, Forlan to Villarreal and Luke Chadwick to West Ham. Ricardo was released on a free, while Michael Stewart was loaned to Hearts before leaving the following year permanently.

In hindsight, United largely made the right calls. That said, a case can be made that letting Forlan go was a misstep. The Uruguayan had struggled during his two-and-a-half years at Old Trafford, famously failing to score in his first season. Yet once he left, he finally fulfilled the potential United had glimpsed when they signed him from Independiente.

After scoring just 17 times in 98 appearances for United, Forlan netted 25 goals in his first season at Villarreal. Following three prolific seasons there, he moved to Atletico Madrid and went on to score 96 goals in 198 matches.

United didn't exactly suffer in his absence - with the likes of Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov all firing consistently - but Forlan's later success highlights one of the rare miscalculations in a transfer market record that had few major blots.

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