5 strangest transfer deadline-day stories
The 2021 summer transfer window has been one of the most exciting windows in recent memory, with Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos shifting allegiances. Unfortunately, the ongoing transfer window is nearing its end.
August 31st is the much-dreaded transfer deadline day across Europe’s top-5 leagues, so clubs will be scampering in the hope of adding a few fresh faces for the new season. The madness of transfer deadline day has already started to transpire, as Ainsley Maitland-Niles publicly expressed his intent to leave Arsenal.
On that note, here's a look at the five strangest transfer deadline-day stories.
#5 QPR’s shock signing | 2014
Sky Sports News reporters have been on the receiving end of some of the strangest occurrences on transfer deadline day.
One such reporter who fell victim to the madness of deadline day was Gary Cotterill while he was on live TV at Loftus Road. Throughout the day, Cotterill was outside the home of Queens Park Rangers, covering all their business on deadline day for the 2014 summer window. Sky cameras caught a man seen arriving in a luxury car with a QPR jersey in hand.
He was posing as QPR’s new fictional signing, Jason Bent, who was just a local comedian pulling off a prank. The Sky Sports reporters in the studio seemed to buy into the charade, but their reporter on the ground, Gary Cotterill, was having none of it.
Cotterill reported back to the studio:
“There’s a false thing that’s just happened here. This man here is a comedian posing as Jermain Defoe.”
However, the fictional signing accurately predicted QPR’s fortunes in the upcoming season. Jason Bent said that he had signed “to play in the Premiership this season and in the Championship next season.”
QPR did indeed get relegated at the end of the 2014-15 league season, and still find themselves in the second tier of English football.
#4 Diafra Sakho’s unsanctioned medical | 2017
In one of the most recent bizarre occurrences on deadline day, West Ham’s Diafro Sakho went ahead and completed his medical at Rennes without permission from his employers.
The Hammers never gave Sakho permission or assurances regarding his sale to Ligue 1 outfit Rennes. That, though, did not deter Sakho, as the Senegalese was hell-bent on completing a move to France.
The now-31-year-old was so keen on the move that he made the return trip to London to force his club to sell. However, none of West Ham’s big bosses attended that meeting. As things turned out, West Ham and Rennes could not agree on a reasonable fee for the centre-forward, and he was expected to make an immediate return to training.
Sakho was in no rush to rejoin his teammates as he visited Chelmsford Racecourse, and partook in gambling on horse races. He even earned a £500 profit after betting on one of his agent’s horses.
The former Senegal international would eventually get things his way in the next transfer window, and was sold to Rennes on a €10-million transfer.