7 biggest transfer sagas in recent European football history
For millions across the globe it's football that makes the heart beat, it’s football that makes the world turn and it’s football which will be their first and last love. Love can certainly take you to new heights, but can also introduce you to new lows. While the ‘beautiful game’ can make you feel emotions that make your day/ week/ month/ year, it can also give you moments or let’s say prolonged periods where you would like tear you hair off.Transfer sagas are one such thing. The passion and fervour of loving your favourite club can cause much anxiety and pain when the star player get repeatedly connected to clubs across Europe. With social media at its peak nowadays, it is however just part and parcel of the deal.But, then again, who are we to complain? This is what keeps us all going during the dry summer months when there is no football. We devour whatever the tabloids and twitter serve up and make them a part of our daily appetite till the holy month of August.Transfer sagas, come and go these days, but some remain in our mind forever. Here are the seven biggest transfer sagas in recent times that will stay in our memories for some time to come –
#1 Wayne Rooney\'s threats to leave Manchester United
Wayne Rooney will go down in Manchester United folklore as a fan favourite, but that won’t come without a few ripples in the Old Trafford pond. The striker who has made the number 10 shirt iconic again at the Theatre of Dreams has twice in the past, requested a move away from the Red Devils.
In the first of these showdowns, the England forward was unhappy about his treatment at the club and issued the club a notice that he wanted out, in the year 2010. After failing to make the first team in a game against West Brom, rumours began to circulate that Rooney wanted to move away from the Manchester club.
Soon, those fears were confirmed when Sir Alex Ferguson in a pre-match conference delivered the news, telling that he was “dumbfounded” as to why the Englishman wanted to move away. However, after intense negotiations, a few days later, Rooney would go on to sign a new five-year deal.
The Englishman would again make the headlines as he wanted out three years later in 2013. This time, Rooney conveyed his decision to the club’s then chief executive David Gill via his agent Paul Stretford, instead of handing in a transfer request in writing, owing to a fear that he might lose out on money.
Rooney said, “I didn’t feel like I got a consistent run of games up front. I actually felt when I played in midfield I did OK, but I didn’t want to play there. Everyone at the club knew that’s where I wanted to play (up front) and that’s why I was disappointed because I got told to play in midfield and I didn’t want to. But I’d always go in and try to help the team, so I think there had to come a point where for my own career I had to be a bit selfish.”
With Sir Alex out of the door in 2013 and Rooney clearly feeling despondent and unwanted, it looked all but certain that the Manchester heartthrob would be going to pastures anew. With Chelsea knocking hard on the door, the move away seemed inevitable.
However, in another complete U-turn, the Englishman was convinced by Ed Woodward and David Moyes to sign a new £300,000 a week deal that would see the ex-Everton lad stay at the club till the summer of 2019, at least.