As we all know, football is no longer a sport. It’s a business – and a pretty ruthless one at that. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the transfer market, where money is king and the idea of a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ is utterly laughable. This is why it’s so naive for supporters to think that a ‘Here we go!’ is akin to confirmation that a deal has been done.
In reality, clubs cannot take anything for granted until a player signs on the dotted line, given there are all sorts of things that can go wrong at the 11th hour. Remember, even a faulty fax machine can scupper a proposed move!
However, the biggest threat to the completion of a transfer is last-minute interest from elsewhere – as Tottenham have once again discovered to their considerable cost. So, with Eberechi Eze’s move to Arsenal in mind, BALLGM runs through the most dramatic hijackings in football history:
As we all know, football is no longer a sport. It’s a business – and a pretty ruthless one at that. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the transfer market, where money is king and the idea of a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ is utterly laughable. This is why it’s so naive for supporters to think that a ‘Here we go!’ is akin to confirmation that a deal has been done.
In reality, clubs cannot take anything for granted until a player signs on the dotted line, given there are all sorts of things that can go wrong at the 11th hour. Remember, even a faulty fax machine can scupper a proposed move!
However, the biggest threat to the completion of a transfer is last-minute interest from elsewhere – as Tottenham have once again discovered to their considerable cost. So, with Eberechi Eze’s move to Arsenal in mind, بالجم runs through the most dramatic hijackings in football history:
There are numerous myths and rumours surrounding ريال مدريد‘s hijacking of Alfredo di Stefano’s seemingly agreed move to Barcelona. What we know for certain is that the deal was complicated by the fact that Di Stefano was playing for Colombian outfit Millonarios in 1953 while still technically owned by ريفر بليت.
Ramon Trias Fargas, the Catalan lawyer entrusted with negotiating on Barca’s behalf, also felt undermined by senior figures at the club, including president Marti Carreto – which led to allegations of a ‘conspiracy orchestrated by Madrid with the blessing of the Spanish government’.
The whole affair grew even murkier when the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) suddenly banned the signing of foreign players but offered to make Di Stefano exempt from the ruling if Barca agreed to share him with Madrid. Under the terms of the proposal, Di Stefano would alternate between the two Clasico rivals at the end of every season. Barca agreed to do so, but Caretto was forced to resign less than a week later due to the controversy caused by the absurd compromise in Catalunya.
In the end, the Blaugrana gave up on the deal in exchange for compensation from Madrid and were forced to watch on as Di Stefano transformed Los Blancos into the most dominant force in European football.
Sir Alex Ferguson thought Paul Gascoigne was the most talented player England had produced since Bobby Charlton, so the Scot was feeling pretty pleased with himself after getting the Newcastle midfielder’s word that he would be a Manchester United player by the time Ferguson returned from his holiday in Malta in the summer of 1988.
However, two days after striking a verbal agreement with Fergsuon, Gascoigne was contacted by Spurs chairman Irving Scholar. According to the former England international, his father told him, “Tell them to f*ck off, you’re signing for Man United.”
But Scholar was undeterred and allegedly promised his father £120,000 if Gascoigne signed for Spurs. When this offer was passed on, Gascoigne’s father asked, “What are you waiting for then, son?!'”
The incentives didn’t end there, either. Gascoigne claims that Scholar also agreed to buy his father “a BMW soft top with a private reg”, his mother a mouse and his sister a sunbed.
When Ferguson learned of Gascoigne’s move to Tottenham while still on holiday, he was fuming and refused to speak to the play for years, always adamant that the lovable but troubled Geordie had “made a big mistake” turning down the chance to work with him at Old Trafford. Gascoigne even acknowledged that himself, famously quipping, “My sister should have just got a spray tan and I would have a few more medals!”
It was late on a Friday evening in the summer of 1993 when Nottingham Forest starlet Roy Keane shook hands with بلاكبيرن Rovers boss Kenny Dalglish on a transfer to Ewood Park. The Scottish manager requested that the contract be drawn up and signed right away, but every member of his club’s admin team had wrapped up for the day. As a result, pen could not be put to paper until the following Monday.
By that stage, though, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson had both called and met Keane in person, convincing him to accept a smaller salary to move to Old Trafford instead. The news did not go down well in Blackburn. “Nobody does this to Kenny Dalglish,” the ليفربول legend told the 21-year-old Irishman. “You’re a wee b*stard and you won’t get away with this.”
Keane subsequently admitted that he was looking over his shoulder for some time after the snub, and also “felt bad” about going back on his word. However, he had no real regrets and went on to become one of the greatest captains in United’s history. Years later, even Dalglish admitted while sitting alongside the former midfielder on a television panel that Keane had probably made the right call.
Emmanuel Petit flew to London in the summer of 1997 to discuss a possible transfer to Tottenham. The Frenchman wasn’t completely convinced by the offer on the table, though, and asked for some time to think things over.
Rather than return to his hotel, though, Petit jumped in a taxi paid for by Spurs and headed straight to Arsene Wenger’s house to discuss a possible reunion with his former Monaco boss at Highbury.
“Arsenal arranged for us all to meet there, as they wanted everything to be secret,” Petit later told Four Four Two.\”Their offer was far better than Spurs’ and I really wanted to play for Arsene again. He spoke to me on a different level, as a human being, and (vice-chairman) David Dein was also very kind. I could feel their desire and I was excited by the project they put on the table, with the guys I was set to play alongside.
“After three hours I said, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to sign for you.'” It proved an inspired choice, as Petit helped Arsenal win a domestic double in his first season at Highbury.
Manchester United did everything in their power to sign Ronaldinho during the 2003 summer transfer window. “The numbers were done,” the club’s former chief executive David Gill told Rio Ferdinand’s VIBE with Five podcast. Ronaldinho was also willing to move to Old Trafford, later revealing that the proposed transfer was less than 48 hours away from happening. However, a phone call from Sandro Rosell changed everything.
Ronaldinho was on great terms with the former Nike executive who had just helped Joan Laporta become Barcelona’s new president. As part of their election campaign, Rosell and Laporta had promised to sign David Beckham from United. However, when the Englishman instead joined hated rivals Real Madrid, the Barca duo turned their attention to Ronaldinho.
“It was only a matter of details with United when Rosell called to say they were going to win the election there,”Ronaldino explained. “And Rosell had asked me way before I got the United offer: ‘If I become Barca president, will you come?’ I said yes.”
Consequently, Ronaldinho ended up at Camp Nou, an outcome Gill had feared from the moment Barca entered the fray.
“I just felt if Barcelona hadn’t been there we’d have got him, as we had nearly all the deal done,” Gill added. “With all due respect to the success of Manchester United, they were his first choice, so, I don’t think it was anything we did wrong. It was just that Barcelona had come in. We were close but no cigar.”
Mikel John Obi once said that his move from Lyn to تشيلسي via Manchester United was “like a movie” – and that’s no exaggeration.
United announced they had signed Mikel from Lyn for an initial £4m on April 29, 2005 and that the Nigerian would arrive at Old Trafford in January of the following year. However, Chelsea subsequently alleged that they had already struck an agreement with Mikel and his representatives, while also revealing that they had even facilitated his move to Lyn with a view to signing him at a later date.
What followed was a series of claims and counter-claims, while at one point Mikel actually went missing, sparking rumours that he had been kidnapped by Chelsea. However, he later explained, “I was just staying away from the public eye making sure no one knew where I was. But there was a public announcement in Norway that, if anyone saw me, they should report it to the police, so we had to go and hide. Obviously, United were trying to get hold of me. So were Lyn. There were some tough times.”
In the end, the three clubs came together to resolve the matter, with Chelsea agreeing to pay £16m for Mikel, £12m of which went to United.
In the case of Dimitar Berbatov, the hijacker was hijacked. Manchester United were repeatedly linked with Berbatov during the summer of 2008, so much so in fact that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy filed a complaint with the Premier League over alleged quotes made about signing the Bulgarian by Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
The row rumbled on until deadline day, so مانشستر سيتي tried to swoop in and sign Berbatov from their rivals’ noses by agreeing a £34m fee with Tottenham for their star striker The only problem was that Berbatov had zero interest in joining City: “I told my agent: “F*ck off, we’re going to United!”
So, while Spurs hadn’t given Berbatov permission to speak to United, when he turned up at Manchester Airport on August 31, he was met not by City officials, but Ferguson. “I thought that I was going to have a heart attack,”the centre-forward admitted.
In the end, Spurs felt as if they were left with no option but to sanction the sale of Berbatov to United for £30.75m, with Fraizer Campbell going the other way on a season-long loan.
Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi-based patrons went on the hunt for a statement signing in 2008 and Real Madrid’s Robinho ticked all the boxes. After falling out of favour at Santiago Bernabeu, the Brazilian had made it clear that he wanted to move to the Premier League, and was very open about the fact that he would relish working with compatriot and former Selecao coach Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chelsea.
However, despite lengthy talks with the Blues, Robinho instead joined City for £32.5m on the final day of the summer transfer window. Even the forward had been left in a daze by the dramatic turnaround, as he expressed his delight at signing for Chelsea in his first interview with City!
Two hijacks for the price of one here! Liverpool led the race for Willian’s signature for the majority of the summer of 2013 but, in the end, it appeared as if Tottenham had nicked the Anzhi Makhachkala attacker from under the noses of their Premier League rivals.
However, Chelsea hijacked that transfer, with owner Roman Abramovich calling Anzhi owner – and fellow Russian oligarch – Suleyman Kerimov to quickly thrash out a £32m deal after the Blues had learned that Willian was in London for a medical at Spurs.
“That’s the danger of medicals before contracts,” an unsurprisingly smug Jose Mourinho said after adding the in-demand Brazilian to his plethora of attacking options. “The best thing you can do is do the medical in secret.”
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy was said to be incandescent with rage and there were claims that Chelsea had signed Willian simply to spite their London rivals. However, that particular allegation was strongly denied by the Blues, who insisted that they had been tracking the winger for years.
When Chelsea signed Pedro from Barcelona in the summer of 2015, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal angrily denied that his club had actively tried to sign the Spain international.
“You can write what you want but we cannot say what we want – that is the difference,” the Dutchman fumed. “I have the responsibility of the interest of my club, of my players and I cannot say too much. When you ask me ‘is Pedro fitting in the profile?’ I cannot lie and I say yes – but I did not say we are interested in the player. But you bring it that I’m interested. People have to know that what is writing in the papers is not true because you cannot know.
“Only the players know and the clubs know. Also, Barcelona protect their interests and I have read that Barcelona didn’t want to let him go, so you should ask Barcelona how it is allowed to happen. It’s like that and I have the idea that you want to separate (chief executive) Ed Woodward with me. Never. Every day I am updated by him and I trust him.”
However, Pedro’s agent Antonio Sanz told a very different story, alleging that not only did United want to sign his client, they failed to do so because of their own incompetence and inertia.
“Maybe Manchester United fell asleep,” Sanz told Radio Club Tenerife. “The negotiation with Chelsea was like a lightning bolt. It is common knowledge that United were in the bidding for Pedro, but Chelsea were faster and within 24 hours reached an agreement with the club. It was a whirlwind.”
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was literally about to sign for Fiorentina on July 25, 2015 when the Serbian broke down in tears at the Viola’s headquarters, confessing, “I’m sorry but I can’t. I really can’t.”
Viola sporting director Daniele Prade was as annoyed as he was astounded, and he refused to try to change the midfielder’s mind.
“We reached an agreement with both Genk and the player, but he arrived today and is still hesitant. We can’t wait for a 20-year-old anymore,” Prade told Violanews.com. “We do not need to convince nor beg for someone to come here. The lad made it clear he still needs to think about it and asked to speak to his girlfriend before deciding, but anyone who comes here has to have that fire in their belly.
“It’s not professional behaviour and we can’t hang around waiting for him. Is it a definitive end to negotiations? At the moment there is no reason to open them again. We’re done. He has these personal issues and probably another club behind him too.”
The latter statement was a very obvious reference to Lazio, who had also been pursuing Milinkovic-Savic for months, and rather unsurprisingly announced his arrival at Stadio Olimpico just over a week later.
Manchester City were so sure that Dani Alves was on his way to the Etihad in the summer of 2017 that they promised journalists a sit-down interview with the Brazilian once he joined up with the club for pre-season fixtures in the United States.
However, even though he had agreed a two-year contract and held talks with manager Pep Guardiola in Barcelona, Alves performed a dramatic U-turn on the weekend of his wedding by secretly signing for باريس سان جيرمان while City officials were still expecting him to arrive in Manchester the following week.
City were outraged, and they weren’t alone, as يوفنتوس had only released him from the final years of his contract as he had claimed to be desperate to play for his former Barca boss Guardiola one more time. As for the man himself, Alves claimed that he had simply put his new bride first by choosing Paris over Manchester and insisted that the bigger wage packet at Parc des Princes had not been a factor in his decision.
“It was all done to go to Manchester City but it didn’t happen because of a family decision,” he told سكاي سبورتس. “For me, it was a shame not to work with Guardiola again because he knows I adore him, but at the same time it was a new challenge, which is what changed my mind.”
Jorginho admitted in an interview with Brazilian YouTuber Ale Oliveira in February 2022, “I wasn’t supposed to go to Chelsea. I was supposed to have arrived at another club. Another English club.”
The club in question was Manchester City, who, as بالجم revealed at the time, were left furious when the إيطاليا international moved to Stamford Bridge in July 2018 rather than the Etihad, as they believed that Jorginho had been “bullied” into the move by Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis.
City had agreed terms with both the player and the Serie A side a fortnight beforehand, but were left astounded by what they viewed as “an unprecedented level of unprofessionalism” when De Laurentiis reneged on the deal in order to allegedly make Jorginho a part of the same deal that saw coach Maurizio Sarri leave Napoli for Chelsea.
De Laurentiis, for his part, claimed that the defensive midfielder simply favoured living in London over Manchester, but Jorginho’s agent, Joao Santos, told كرة القدم الإيطالية that his client joining Chelsea rather than City was “Napoli’s choice”.
“They were negotiating with Manchester City, but then they began talks with Chelsea, and that’s where we ended up,” he explained matter-of-factly. “We have nothing against Manchester City. Playing there under Pep Guardiola would have been satisfying, but that’s how transfers work.”
Alexis Sanchez looked destined to sign for Manchester City during summer of 2017, with Arsenal only blocking the transfer because of their inability to find a suitable replacement. As January approached, though, the Gunners were ready to cash in on the Chilean, who had only six months left on his contract, and a move to the Etihad appeared a formality, with personal terms having already been agreed.
However, Manchester United then offered to make Sanchez the highest-paid player in the Premier League and the forward instead moved to Old Trafford for approximately £35m. Sanchez has always insisted that his move wasn’t motivated by money, but the chance to wear the No.7 shirt at United promised to him by then-manager Jose Mourinho.
“That’s when I said to myself, Chilean footballer playing for Manchester United, something that has never happened,” he explained. “And with the seven of Eric Cantona, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo… It was a dream.”
Unfortunately, his time at United was a nightmare, and Sanchez left for انتر in 2019 after scoring just three Premier League goals in 32 appearances for the Red Devils.
It would be hard to downplay the significance of Eberechi Eze joining Arsenal over Tottenham. Not since Sol Campbell appeared without warning at a press conference alongside Arsene Wenger has a transfer caused so much consternation and excitement in north London.
Spurs thought they had Eze in the bag. They’d agreed a fee with Crystal Palace and personal terms with the player. Chairman Daniel Levy rather understandably thought the deal was done.
However, as it transpired, Spurs would be brutally punished – and humiliated – for failing to conclude the transfer sooner, because Arsenal suddenly reignited their interest in Eze as soon as it emerged that forward Kai Havertz might be facing an extended period on the sidelines due to a knee injury.
From that moment on, Spurs were doomed. They knew they had no chance of convincing Eze to turn down the opportunity to join Arsenal, the team that the England international had supported as a kid and released him at the age of 13.
