In light of the recent transfer debacle of David De Gea’s proposed move from Manchester United to Real Madrid, we take a look at some of the weirdest transfer goof-ups of recent times.
1. David De Gea (Manchester United to Real Madrid)
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The longest running transfer saga of the summer window, involving David De Gea and two of the biggest clubs in the world, came to an abrupt end after a paperwork fiasco. The transfer could not go through as Real Madrid failed to file the paperwork in time with the Spanish League offices and this resulted in the reported collapse of the transfer.
Since then, a war of words has ensued between the two clubs with each club releasing statements accusing the other for their failure in completing the move on time. A transfer of this magnitude, involving two of the biggest clubs in the world, failing due to clerical error in filing of paperwork is hard to fathom and does raise questions over the intentions of the two clubs involved.
The repercussions of this transfer breakdown between the two clubs is expected to have long standing effects on the working relationship between them. Not only that, David De Gea is also set to suffer due to this, at-least till he remains at Old Trafford.
Manchester United have lost close to A?29 million on transfer fees and also missed out on the services of Keylor Navas while they are left with an unhappy goalkeeper in the last year of his contract.
Real Madrid also failed to recruit their top transfer target of the summer and not only that, they also managed to upset Keylor Navas as they tried to force him to move to Manchester United.
2. Peter Odemwingie (West Bromwich Albion to Queens Park Rangers)
On the deadline day of the winter transfer window in January 2013, the West Bromwich Albion striker drove all the way to QPR in a bid to force a move to the London club. The Nigerian was present outside Loftus Road; however, the London club refused him entry as no transfer had been agreed between the two clubs.
No transfer finally materialized for the 34-year-old in that window and he had to return to West Brom. The striker was initially sent back from training when he returned to train with the Baggies, and was only allowed to train once he had been disciplined by the club. The striker also had to publicly apologize for his behavior, but he only made sporadic substitute appearances for West Brom, before eventually moving to Cardiff City in the summer.
3. Ander Herrera (Athletic Bilbao to Manchester United)
The failed transfer move of David De Gea from Manchester United to Real Madrid is not the only transfer that the Old Trafford club have been able to make a mess of on deadline day. Two years ago on deadline day, three lawyers claiming to be representing Manchester United, showed up at the headquarters of the Spanish league in a bid to help broker a move for Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao to Old Trafford.
However, the Red Devils claimed to have no knowledge of the three lawyers and eventually the move fell through and Herrera had to stay with the Basque outfit for another year. The Spaniard did move to Old Trafford a year later, but the English giants had become the laughing stock on social media for their alleged goof-up in their pursuit of Herrera.
It was later revealed that the three lawyers were part of a leading law firm in Spain and had previously played a key role in the transfer of Javi Martinez from Bilbao to Bayern Munich. The trio had hoped to play a similar role and help broker a move for Herrera, but it was not to be for another year.