Interesting selection there....no big club was in for Berbatov and Modric when we were and van der Vaart was surplus to requirements at Madrid. They are also the three counter examples people give as driven by Levy when I say he doesn't interfere in football decisions. I don't really think they were more exciting signings than Son, Eriksen and Perisic were. Or how Simons, Kudus and Gray could turn out given time.
Man United, Bayern and Marseille were all interested in Berbatov. The player himself has confirmed this in various interviews. There were strong rumours at the time that we reached a gentleman's agreement with United that we would sell them Carrick if they stepped back from Berbatov.
Modric was strongly linked to Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle. Which is the reason why we, quite unlike ourselves, got the deal sealed in April long before the season had finished.