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Football fans all around the world are quite skeptical when it comes to transfer news and rumours. Until they have it on good authority from the club or a confirmation from one of the top-tier sources, it's best not to believe that a deal has been done.
Transfer hijackings happen quite a lot in the world of football
After all, a transfer is not complete until the official announcement is made. Clubs could announce agreeing a deal in principle with a player's club. The transfer could yet break down if they cannot agree personal terms with the player.
There are plenty of examples of high-profile transfers breaking down at the last minute. Without further ado, let's take a look at five high-profile transfers that failed to go through at the last minute.
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#5 Nabil Fekir to Liverpool
In 2018, Liverpool were actively looking for a long-term successor to Philippe Coutinho. Nabil Fekir garnered a lot of attention during that time and the Merseysiders were strongly linked with him.
A £53 million deal was close to being agreed for the then Olympique Lyon midfielder. Fekir's agent revealed in an interview with L’Equipe that the Frenchman had even posed for photos in a Liverpool shirt.
However, the Merseysiders pulled the plug on the deal at the last minute. In an interview with The Times in September 2021, Fekir opened up on the transfer debacle. While a knee issue was widely reported as the reason behind Liverpool's decision, the Real Betis midfielder blamed his agent for the transfer breaking down.
“It was a dark moment. I saw plenty of things which weren’t true. It was said the knee stopped me going to Liverpool but that wasn’t true. I went to Clairefontaine [France’s football centre near Paris], and they did all the proof [medical] and the knee was fine.
“I had a problem with my agent, my adviser. It was the agent responsible for the deal not going through. Of course I was disappointed not to go to Liverpool, very disappointed because Liverpool are a great club.”
#4 Luis Diaz to Tottenham Hotspur
Luis Diaz has proved to be an excellent signing for Liverpool. He was roped in during the January transfer window but there's one man in England who must be absolute furious with the way things panned out.
Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy believed he was close to sealing a deal for the Colombian international before Liverpool swooped in. Diaz's father, Luis Manuel Diaz, explained his son's decision in an interview with BluRadio's Blog Deportivo (via SportBible) in February.
“There were many suitors who wanted Luis’ services, but he had the dream of reaching Liverpool. Because Liverpool are an elite team.
“Tottenham was one. Roma was also left behind in the process. They hesitated a lot and let themselves be caught by Liverpool. Liverpool were faster than them, they needed him and they took him away."
#3 Willian to Tottenham Hotspur
Luis Diaz's transfer falling through is not the first time that Tottenham Hotspur have been abandoned at the last minute. Brazilian winger Willian chose to join Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in 2013 on a five-year deal. Chelsea snatched him from Tottenham Hotspur's grasp in the very last minute.
As per various reports, Willian even passed a medical at Tottenham Hotspur before deciding to accept an offer from Chelsea.
Once again, it was Spurs chairman Daniel Levy's insistence on striking a cheaper deal that allowed Chelsea to hijack it. Willian was at Anzhi Makhachkala prior to joining Chelsea. Their former director Herman Tkachenko revealed in February what exactly happened in that fated summer transfer window.
Speaking to Sport-Express, as quoted by Tribal Football, he said:
"Funny story. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy had closed Willian at the club base!
"He had almost signed a contract with them - in my opinion, he even signed the first sheet. Even passed a medical examination. And Levy was twisting my arm at that moment.
"He did not want, as usual, to make solidarity payments (to the previous clubs). This was five percent, and he insisted that we split them in half. I said, 'No, you pay them in full'.
"While we were discussing all this with him, I get a message from Willian: 'Jose called me!' Mourinho, by the way, had wanted (Samuel) Eto'o. Here Suleiman (Kerimov, then owner) joined in, and despite the fact that at the end of that season Samuel ended his contract with Anzhi, we found a rather profitable solution"
Even Willian's recounting of the story to Brazilian TV show Resenha (via Eurosport) is quite incredible. He talks about bumping into his agent Kia Joorabchian at the Tottenham's training centre and being alerted about Chelsea's interest. The Brazilian international spent eight hours at the training centre.
When Spurs learned about Chelsea coming to an agreement with Willian's club over a potential deal, they even threatened to report Willian to FIFA. They also warned him that football fans in England will boo him for his decision.
#2 Toni Kroos to Manchester United
Toni Kroos was all set to join Manchester United in 2014, shortly after winning the World Cup with Germany. Imagine how that would have turned out. Everything was in place for Kroos to secure a transfer to Old Trafford but then David Moyes got sacked and that was the end of it.
As quoted by the Daily Mail, Kroos said:
“I knew beforehand that United wanted me. And Moyes absolutely underlined that. It was a really nice afternoon with very pleasant people. We talked a lot about United's football plan, which convinced me.
“But we also got to know each other as people. We knew quite a bit about the Moyes family afterwards. We talked about how we lived and how we all imagined life as a family.
“In the end, we broke up to do it. So we agreed verbally. The next step should be to look at everything on the spot in Manchester. The move would not have been that complicated - after all, we only had one child at the time, seven months old. It would all have worked.
"I'm not someone who thinks about hypotheticals. Yes, it was close. I almost went to Manchester United. But that's not how things turned out."
#1 Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe's transfer to Real Madrid was teased for over a year. It looked like the perfect next chapter for football's next superstar. Mbappe has been at Paris Saint-Germain for four seasons and it looked like it was time to secure the next big move.
The Frenchman seemed to be running down his contract with PSG and it looked like he had his heart set on leaving the club. In the first big twist of the saga, Mbappe's mother and representative Fayza Lamari hinted at the possibility of her son kicking on at PSG. In an interview with Kora Plus (via Marca), she revealed:
“We won't have new meetings to discuss the future of Mbappe , these meetings have already finished. Now we have arrived at an agreement with both Real Madrid and PSG and the discussions are over, because now Kylian has to choose.”
PSG confirmed on Saturday (May 21) ahead of their game against Metz that Mbappe has signed a new three-year deal at PSG. The 23-year-old celebrated the contract renewal by scoring a hat-trick for his side in the final game of the season.
