3 shocking last-minute hijacked transfers
Barcelona's last-minute steal of Brazilian winger, Malcom, from Roma, isn't the first time a player has performed a dramatic U-turn late in the day. The shocking announcement from Barcelona on Tuesday, only a day after Roma had sent a now-deleted tweet stating that they had captured the signature of the highly-rated youngster, represents an incredible turn of events.
However, clubs often work hard behind the scenes to hijack rival transfers for their targets. This practice has happened for years, dating back to the 1950s when Alfredo di Stefano was reportedly set to sign for Barcelona before Franco intervened. The transfer wasn't sanctioned and the Argentine signed for Real Madrid instead, going on to become one of the club's greatest ever players.
While it happened occasionally before the turn of the millennium, intercepting transfers is now a common occurrence as clubs and managers come under increasing pressure to capture their targets or big-name signings. Almost every transfer window is fraught with reports of a player agreeing to sign for one club before an opposing last-minute bid arrives and changes the player's destination.
In today's world of fast news and social media, football clubs are eager to announce new signings and deals quickly. This can lead to many clubs jumping the gun, as was the case with Roma when vying for the signature of a player. Due to this, we can witness dramatic player U-turns in real time and become part of the saga.
In honor of Barcelona's 11th-hour swoop for Malcom, we look at the 3 most shocking last-minute hijacked transfers below.
#3 Jon Obi Mikel to Chelsea (hijacked from Machester United)
A huge saga in the summer of 2005, Jon Obi Mikel had reportedly signed a contract with Manchester United before heading for Stamford Bridge just a month later.
At the time, an 18-year-old Mikel was playing in Norway for Lyn Oslo and was widely considered as one of the hottest prospects around. A film circulated online showing Mikel receiving a Man Utd jersey with the number 21 on it from club representative Jim Ryan.
Just under a month after the film, Mikel had all but signed for the Red Devils. However, in July of 2005, he was in London holding talks with Chelsea, telling Sky Sports he "no longer wanted to play for Manchester United".
Cue mayhem, with United's assistant manager, Carlos Queiroz, accusing Chelsea of "virtually kidnapping" the Nigerian teenager. Mikel eventually joined the Blues, who paid Manchester United €15 million and Lyn Oslo €6 million in compensation.
This saga was the beginning of a long rivalry between the two clubs who claimed the next six consecutive Premier League titles between them.