5 Players who were forced out of their respective clubs

2. Jaap Stam (Manchester United)

Manchester United failed to replace Jaap Stam after selling him to Lazio

Jaap Stam was already a superstar when he arrived on the English shores to sign for Manchester United in 1998 in what was then the highest fee ever paid for a Dutch footballer and the highest paid for a defender (£10.6 million) and the centre-back did not disappoint. In his first 3 seasons at the club, the Dutch defender made 127 appearances for the Red Devils and played a crucial role in his side winning 3 consecutive Premier League titles, an FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

Given that he was chosen as the UEFA Club best Defender of the year for 2 consecutive seasons (1999-2000 and 2000-01), it was expected that Stam would go on to have many more glorious years at the Old Trafford.

However, in a rather strange turn of events, Stam, the man who had led the United defence with aplomb was sold to Lazio in the summer of 2001 for a fee believed to be in the region of £ 15.3 million. While the money, at that time, was lucrative, losing the leader of their defence was expected to have negative repercussions on the side and many were shocked when the player signed for Il Biancazzurri. In a recent interview, Stam explained that he was forced to quit the club that had become his home as the hierarchy at the club wanted to balance their books and Sir Alex Fergusson himself has agreed that it was a move that he thought was right at that time.

“Every club has like three or four players who are, how you call it? Like the spokesmen, the committee, and I was in there as well and occasionally you speak with a couple of people from the board and about the situation of the club. That’s when they told us that budget-wise they needed to do something."

"They didn’t mention names but… It wasn’t about the book. We spoke about it with the board as well about having a problem with the budget at the time. They needed to sell somebody eventually and, of course, if there had been an offer placed for a player. I had been there three seasons, a bit more, and won everything with the club. They paid, what was it, £10-11million for me? And they could sell me three years later for £15-16million,” explained Stam in an interview.

In hindsight, it was a move that cost Manchester United dearly as they failed to find an able replacement for the Dutch superstar and had to endure several seasons of dodgy defending.