5 players who handed in infamous transfer requests in the Premier League

Current reports are flying around that both Alexis Sanchez and Philippe Coutinho will both hand in transfer requests before the end of the current window – both men looking to leave their clubs for more money and potentially more success.

Whether a transfer request would do any good is anyone’s guess. Sometimes the request turns out to be the final straw and enough to break the relationship between the player and club, but other times one – or both – parties manage to U-turn and end up staying where they are.

However you look at it, a transfer request is a big deal – it’s a statement of intent and to the fans, it’s often a sure sign of betrayal. Here are five players who handed in high-profile transfer requests, and what happened when they did.

#1 Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney's relationship with Manchester United was fractured by his 2010 transfer request

Upon his move to Everton this summer, Wayne Rooney sparked a debate between Manchester United fans as to whether he should be considered a true club legend like Cantona, Best or Charlton. On the face of it, it seems a silly question – Rooney spent thirteen seasons at Old Trafford, won everything there was to win and became United’s all-time top goalscorer. Essentially, the one thing counting against him was his infamous transfer request.

2009/10 was one of Rooney’s greatest seasons – he scored 34 goals in 44 games, his highest tally at United – and despite a poor World Cup that summer, he was clearly the Red Devils’ key man going into 2010/11. Except Rooney wasn’t exactly happy with the situation at the club at the time. Not only had his relationship with manager Alex Ferguson broken down due to a disagreement over the extent of an ankle injury to the player, but Rooney also felt that United’s ambitions didn’t match his own.

Perhaps he had a point – the big signings of the summer of 2010 were Chris Smalling, Javier Hernandez and Bebe, after all, and the club had never truly replaced Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez – but questioning the club in the way Rooney did was essentially like stabbing the fans in the back, especially when the hot rumour had him moving across town to Manchester City, who were showing ambition, throwing money around like crazy.

Of course, one massive U-turn later – and a much richer contract paying him £250k a week – and Rooney decided to stay, eventually scoring probably his greatest goal against City a few months later, but his relationship with the fans was never quite the same.

#2 Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres used a transfer request to get out of Liverpool

Signing with Liverpool in the summer of 2007, Fernando Torres quickly established himself not only as one of the best strikers in the world but also as a new Scouse hero. His goal record was phenomenal – 33 in all competitions in his first season, and then 17 and 22 in the following two – and playing alongside the likes of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, he seemed quickly on his way to legend status.

That all changed in 2010/11. Roy Hodgson had taken over Liverpool that summer and almost immediately there were questions about the future of Torres, who to that point hadn’t really expressed a desire to leave Anfield, even stating his commitment to the club in August. But he started the season struggling for form and fitness, and by the turn of the year, he was cutting an unhappy figure at Liverpool.

Cue a £40m bid from Chelsea in late January, towards the end of the transfer window. Liverpool stood fast and turned the bid down, but Torres responded by handing in a transfer request. The request was immediately denied by Liverpool, who claimed they expected Torres to honour his contract and commitment to the club.

It didn’t put Chelsea off though and just a couple of days later, an improved £50m bid was enough for Liverpool to accept the request and allow Torres to move to Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately for Torres, he hardly made the best of the move, but for Liverpool, it was a telling sign that it was now money, not the reputation of a club which counted most for a player.

#3 John Stones

John Stones' transfer request was classy as far as footballers go

Transfer requests are usually linked with the very worst behaviour in footballers, an exercise in the so-called 'player power' that is despised by both the clubs and the fans. When Everton’s defender John Stones handed in a transfer request in the summer of 2015 amidst serious interest from Chelsea, though, it was something different entirely. Stones behaved so professionally during the whole issue that both the fans and his manager didn’t really seem to mind.

“The transfer request was something that he didn’t really mean to do,” was the quote from his then-manager Roberto Martinez when it became clear that as Everton weren’t interested in selling Stones, he wasn’t that interested in a move, apparently. The fans were equally pleased and rather than call Stones a traitor or Judas, they simply taunted the Chelsea fans with chants of “money can’t buy you Stones”.

Unfortunately for the Toffees fans, that proved to be not entirely true. While they turned down bids of £20m, £26m and £30m from Chelsea in 2015 – during the period in which Stones’ request went in – a bid of £47.5m from Manchester City in the summer of 2016 proved to be enough for Everton to take the money. This time though Stones didn’t need to put in any sort of request in order to leave, and ended up exiting Goodison Park with his head held high.

#4 Jermain Defoe

Jermain Defoe burnt his bridges with West Ham thanks to an ill-timed transfer request

Due to his relationship with the late Bradley Lowery, most football fans now see Jermain Defoe as one of the game’s good guys – in a game full of greed and treachery, he provides a bit of heart. It’s pretty surprising then to think that just a few seasons ago he was seen in an entirely different light – particularly by the fans of West Ham. And it all came about by one simple transfer request.

West Ham were relegated from the Premier League in the 2002/03 season and with a team full of young stars – Defoe was joined by Paolo Di Canio, David James, Michael Carrick and Joe Cole amongst others – their fans probably expected a large exodus as Premier League clubs were guaranteed to be sniffing around their squad.

What they didn’t expect was for one player – Defoe – to put in probably the fastest transfer request ever. Defoe’s request came in less than 24 hours after the Hammers’ relegation had been confirmed, like the first rat looking to jump a sinking ship.

West Ham’s fans were naturally infuriated, although it’s worth pointing out that his then-manager Trevor Brooking put it down to “bad advice” – probably from a leech-like agent – rather than Defoe’s own wishes, as he felt that the behaviour wasn’t in the player’s nature. The club unsurprisingly refused the request. Unfortunately, Defoe’s attitude didn’t improve over the summer as he started the season with disciplinary problems – three sendings off – and he was duly packed off to Tottenham in January 2004.

Defoe has since apologised for his actions and thankfully he seems to have been forgiven by most people in the game – although whether hardcore Hammers fans would ever truly forget the episode is a question mark.

#5 Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard's 2005 transfer request was hugely controversial at the time

Gerrard is so synonymous with Liverpool since the turn of the millennium that it seems insane to think there was a time he was close to leaving – let alone putting a transfer request in – but it did indeed happen, in the summer of 2005. The timing makes it even more surprising given Gerrard had just captained the Reds to their most remarkable trophy win – the miracle of Istanbul that saw them snatch the Champions League from under the noses of AC Milan.

Rumours of Gerrard wishing to leave Liverpool had been floating around since the summer of 2004, when he’d flirted with a move to Chelsea to hook up with manager Jose Mourinho and his England teammates John Terry and Frank Lampard. But things became serious in the summer of 2005 when negotiations over a new Liverpool contract stalled and Gerrard turned down a club-record wage of £100k a week.

The club captain called his agent and asked him to telephone Liverpool and put in an informal transfer request, with a formal, written one to follow if the club so asked for it. Liverpool’s chief executive Rick Parry even appeared to be ready to draw a line under the Gerrard era, only for the player to suddenly U-turn the next day, signing a new deal and stating that one trophy with Liverpool would mean more to him than dozens with Chelsea.

Parry claimed the whole issue was down to miscommunication; the rumours claimed Scouse gangsters had threatened Gerrard into staying; the more likely truth was that the club simply bent to Gerrard’s wage demands. Either way, it was one of the most unlikely – and controversial – transfer requests of all time.