Hesitant players, greedy advisors who constantly spread rumours, managers playing poker, strange clauses. These are all excellent ingredients for the most annoying transfer sagas of recent years.
Harry Kane and Bayern are just the tip of the iceberg this summer. Here are the biggest nuisances among transfers.
Luis Suarez (2013/2014)
After two successful years at Liverpool, Suárez had had enough of the British press, which he felt were particularly attached to him given his background. He did not mention that he once again caught the media’s attention with a scandalous attack on Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanović.
He just wanted to get away from England and play the Champions League, no matter where. He announced this publicly and called Arsenal into action, although they also come from England. An offer followed, which should really heat up the story. The Gunners offered exactly one pound more than the 40 million from which the Reds had to inform the attacker and his advisor Pere Guardiola about the offer.
Liverpool saw this as a provocation and declined talks. LFC owner John W. Henry commented on this with a legendary tweet: “What are they smoking at Emirates?”. Suárez repeatedly emphasized his desire to change, but had to stay. A year later, Barça bought him for over 80 million euros.
Antoine Griezmann (2017-2023)
This saga almost passes as an odyssey. At the end of 2017, rumors about a transfer request to Barcelona first gained momentum. Atlético accused Barça of unauthorized contact with the player. The transfer rumor persisted until the following summer. Then Griezmann ended the discussions with “La Decision” Numero Uno for the time being, including an extended 200 million release clause at Madrid.
In the winter of 2018 the game continued. Six months later, full of rumors and accusations, the attacker publicly confirmed his transfer wish in “La Decision” Numero Dos. In the following months, the two clubs argued in the media about the legal validity of the transfer clause. The deal was official in July 2019. Griezmann moved two years later, first on loan and then permanently back to Atlético.
Kylian Mbappe (2022/23)
Mbappé’s forthcoming move to Real Madrid dominated the media last summer. To the great surprise, however, he extended PSG – XXXL salary and alleged right to have a say in transfers included. Even French President Emmanuel Macron is said to have been involved.
For a few weeks now, the change posse has been taking on even more absurd forms. Mbappé ruled out another extension. PSG don’t want to give him away for free. The club motto: extend or sell now. Banished to the second training group, the superstar missed the Asian tour.
Amidst the chaos, a 300 million offer from Saudi Arabia was also reported. PSG gave Al-Hilal permission to negotiate with Mbappé. However, the 24-year-old declined and reportedly wants to serve out his last year of contract in the stands if necessary.
Cristiano Ronaldo (2021/2022)
Ronaldo’s second run at Manchester United turned into a fiasco. Under Rangnick and ten Hag he was only a supplementary player instead of a superstar. With every game on the bench, it boiled more in him. After he refused to substitute, he was even suspended.
Shortly before the World Cup in November 2022, the CR7 volcano erupted. In a TV interview with Piers Morgan, he rambled on: coaches without respect, coaches without success, a club with an outdated infrastructure because the people in the club are “blind”.
“Yes, I feel betrayed. And I felt like some people didn’t want me here, not only this year but last year too,” lamented the Portuguese. The hour of blasphemy led to the separation and Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia.
Lionel Messi to PSG
After 21 years in Blaugrana, the end of an era came for La Pulga in August 2021. It cried longer. Messi intervened unusually often in salary debates or the club’s crisis management during the corona pandemic. He already wanted to leave in August 2020, but decided to go into his last year of contract without activating a clause that would have allowed him to move on a free transfer back then.
Twelve months later, Barcelona finally paid the price for years of mismanagement when they could no longer pay Messi due to Spain’s salary cap. Messi finally had enough and went to PSG, where there are no such problems.
Dembélé and Aubameyang and the BVB strike
The value of contracts has long been questioned. If there is an acute desire to change, players do not shy away from strikes. The epitome of this pesky behavior is the former BVB duo.
Dembélé refused to take part in BVB training because he wasn’t allowed to go to Barça fast enough. “I had the impression that I would miss the fulfillment of my dream. I behaved like that, I stand by it,” he later told Onze Mondial magazine.
Because it worked so well, Aubameyang also went on strike half a year later, more or less out of his contract. Auba still went to training, but skipped team meetings, shone with short trips to Milan and showed a “zero buck” attitude. BVB let him move to Arsenal, with whom he repeated this game on his transfer to Barcelona.
Robert Lewandowski (2022)
Lewandowski’s move to Barça dominated the headlines last summer. The striker did not want to extend, Bayern reacted with a change ban. In one word: “Basta”. Weeks followed with numerous peaks from both camps.
“I see no way to continue my career at this club given what has happened in the past few weeks,” said Lewandowski long before the deal was finalized. Hasan Salihamidžić accused agent Pini Zahavi of “turning his head” on Lewandowski. Until the change, Lewandowski and his entourage became more and more creative in order to force the transfer. Lewandowski did not feel valued. For Oliver Kahn, “appreciation was not a one-way street”.
These were weeks in which eight years of successful cooperation were trampled underfoot. A mud fight that also dragged on because there was still a side show.
Rags flew between Barça President Joan Laporta and LaLiga boss Javier Tebas. Tebas torpedoed Barcelona’s negotiating position by publicly emphasizing the financial difficulties several times. Barça cannot afford a Lewandowski transfer at all. Laporta accused him of “verbal incontinence” and was bothered by the advice to take an example from Real.
In the end, despite “Basta” and financial difficulties, the blockbuster transfer took place. But like many double-length films, viewers were just glad when it was over.
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2023-08-11 15:36:47
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