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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
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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.
#2 Cesc Fabregas forcing a move to Barcelona
The period between the summers of 2009 and 2010 was a torturous one for Arsenal fans as links suggesting a return to the Nou Camp for Cesc Fabregas refused to die down. A tumultuous 2009-10 season in which Arsenal refused to spend, finishing 11 points off eventual winners Chelsea
Another worrisome summer transfer saga started off quiet early as Arsenal chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, claimed that an agreement had been struck between the clubs that no bids will be made for the player. The claims, however, were quickly refuted by Barcelona's then sporting director, Txiki Begiristain, saying “We have never said that we will not try to sign Cesc Fabregas, we’ll see what happens.”
Cesc Fabregas cast further doubt on his Arsenal future when he spoke about his envy at the success that players were enjoying at the Nou Camp with Arsenal going through a mini trophy drought of their own. He stated, “When you see that things are going so well for [players at Barcelona], I think I would like to go to Barcelona. Then if they want me or not is another thing. It’s what I want and what I would like.”
Comments from Barca players and Fabregas’ countrymates soon came flying off the saddle, wanting Fabregas at the Catalan club. A conversation with Arsene Wenger later, the seal for a move to the La Liga champions was put on.
August 15th , 2010 was finally the day when Fabregas finally put on the blue and red of the Blaugrana, putting pen to paper on deal that cost the Spanish team £35 million.
#3 Steven Gerrard trying to move to Chelsea
The end of Steven Gerrard’s Premier League career in his beloved red shirt wouldn’t have surely happened if he had got his way in 2005. The born scouser had handed in a transfer request in 2005 only a few days after leading the Anfield side to a famous Champions League triumph at Istanbul.
The drama about Gerrard’s club career had started about a year back in 2004. The ex-England skipper was enticed by Jose Mourinho and Chelsea, who were going places, having won the Premier League title twice on the trot. The London club’s ambition and willingness was in stark contrast to the stagnation that Gerrard felt had set in at Liverpool under Gerard Houllier.
Even a historic win in the Champions League in Rafa Benitez’s first year in charge didn’t give the Liverpool faithful a clear indication of what lay ahead for Gerrard, even though the club’s then chief executive Rick Parry had proclaimed the star to be the lynchpin of their side moving forward.
Parry had already stated in an interview with the BBC: "The priority is to keep Steven and build a winning team around him. As long as he wants to stay, we want to keep him." Even after such high remarks, sounds coming from the Gerrard camp didn’t quite convince the Kop faithful.
"The ball is in Liverpool's court now," said Gerrard in turn. "We haven't spoken about a new contract yet and I don't know how long those talks will go on for."
However, the first round of talks regarding his contract extension didn’t go as smoothly as the Anfield outfit had thought they would and by the 1st of July, the situation had become tense, with Real Madrid also firmly in the fray. Three days later, Gerrard's agent Struan Marshall finally admitted this to be the case and suggested that talks were "unlikely to be re-opened".
A day later and the gates of hell had opened at Merseyside. Parry announced that they had received a £32 million bid from Chelsea for the midfielder whilst stating; "Sadly, Steven has told us this afternoon that he will not accept our offer of an improved and extended contract because he wants to leave Liverpool."
This was quickly confirmed by Gerrard. "This has been the hardest decision I have ever had to make. I fully intended to sign a new contract after the Champions League final, but the events of the past five to six weeks have changed all that."
However, two days later, the world seemed to come back to normal order for the people wearing the red shirt of Liverpool. After a few emotional conversations with Parry and co., Gerrard was ready to commit his future to the club he had joined as an eight-year-old.
After signing on the dotted line on a new deal that would fetch the midfielder £100,000-a-week for the next four years, the Englishman stated that he was ready for any flack that the Kop would serve on his return to the pitch.
"I've got a fantastic relationship with the fans. I know they have been through a lot as well, which I'm not proud of. They were close to losing their best player, so I can understand people getting frustrated. I feel as if I've made the right decision and as I said, I'm not proud of the week I've been through. It's been difficult and very confusing. And I wouldn't wish being in my shoes on any other person. But it's all behind me and I'd like to forget about it."
#4 Eden Hazard to every club possible
Eden Hazard was “the man” to get in the summer of 2012. The Belgian youngster had torn apart defenses in Ligue 1, led Lille to a treble and won the Ligue 1 Player of the Year for two consecutive years at the age of 21.
The first warning bells were sent ringing when Lille academy director Jean-Michel Vandamme said that the youngster would be willing to stay at the club 'at least until the summer' and that Chelsea were the team most interested in acquiring him. Soon, tabloids across the world started connecting the name ‘Hazard’ with every major team in every major league in European football.
While the length of the saga wasn't much, the thing that drew a lot of attention was the openness with which a lot of stuff was carried out. With Vandamme declaring about the possibility of Hazard’s departure during the summer, it wasn’t long that Hazard took to the social media to talk up the teams.
“Of course, [Manchester United] is a club that excites anyone. For now my focus is on Lille but yes, it is a pleasure to be watched by one of the best coaches in the world, if not the best.”, said Hazard in an interview on the 13th of March. A few days later, he was amongst the crowd in the Manchester derby.
Then again a few days later, after Manchester United introduce a blue away shirt, he said that he will be wearing blue next year. This kept both the Manchester clubs along with Chelsea interested.
Whilst he began as a shoe-in for Arsenal’s style of playing, the Manchester clubs were the ones who were thought to be ahead of the competition as rumours began flying that the Belgian preferred to come to the Premier League. However, Chelsea’s most unlikeliest of victories in Munich to win the Champions League changed the whole dynamic.
On 28th May, Hazard ended all speculation by tweeting, 'I'm signing for the champions league winner,' thus ending, a small but weird saga.
#5 Gareth Bale to Real Madrid
Gareth Bale’s emergence as a genuine superstar and a game changer at White Hart Lane certainly gave Spurs genuine hope that they were on to building something great for the first time in a long while. However, his performances in the White of Tottenham also began to turn the heads of all the big fishes in the European market.
It didn‘t take much time for the tabloids to start linking the latest left-footed Welsh phenom to nearly all the top dogs across Europe. With Spurs missing out on qualifying for the Champions League for two consecutive seasons, it didn’t help David Levy when it came to keeping Bale. By the end of the 2012-13 season, it was, more of a when, rather than if when it came to Bale and him moving away from North London.
That was when Real Madrid came in with an offer that was just too good for the Londoners to refuse. After years of rumours and millions of headlines that took Bale all across continental Europe, the Welshman finally signed for Los Blancos for a world record fee that set back Real Madrid by a whopping €91 million.
#6 Patrick Vieira refusing Real Madrid
Patrick Vieira’s rumoured move to Real Madrid became an affair that would catch the imagination of the country every year between 2002 and 2004. With Vieira’s fondness of Madrid and Juventus out in the open, the rumours never quite seemed to get away.
Real Madrid were confident of adding the Frenchman to their group of Galacticos and even let Claude Makelele leave for Chelsea. However, with reports of an £18 million bid said to be made, and even more ludicrous reports of a £30 million bid having been accepted by the Gunners for their captain, Vieira opted out of the move and chose to stay in London.
The move would be the end of the collection of Galacticos that Real Madrid had embarked on from the season 2000 onwards. A scheme which had seen Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham move to the Santiago Bernabeu in successive seasons.
Vieira, however, wouldn’t stay at Arsenal for long, moving to Juventus a year later.
#7 Cristiano Ronaldo move to Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo was the pearl of the eyes, the most prized possession, of the Manchester United faithful. But the maverick winger turned forward always had an edge about him that kept pointing to an eventual exit from the scenes at Old Trafford.
Rooney and Ronaldo alongside Carlos Tevez would gift the Old Trafford faithful one of the most talented attacking trios that fans had ever seen. Their success on the pitch could only be matched by the sides of the late 90s and early 00s under Sir Alex.
Ronaldo would go on to surpass nearly all expectations as the youngster from the Sporting Lisbon academy became a world class star. However, with that came all the headlines that linked him with a move away to Real Madrid that just didn’t die down until his eventual move.
A 42-goal 2007-08 season (including 31 goals in the Premier League and) that saw him sweep all the awards was in time followed by a FIFA Player of The Year award in 2008. With nearly everything won and Ronaldo’s known desire to play in Spain, the tabloids had a field day, regardless of whether the transfer window remained open or closed.
Comments from Ronaldo’s agent and mother didn’t help the cause much either and every passing day seemed like he was heading closer to the exit door. Manchester United had even filed a complaint to FIFA against Real’s alleged tapping up of the Portuguese. Even FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s comments on the lines of “modern slavery” seemed to indicate that Old Trafford was only counting days as to Ronaldo’s exit from the Theatre of Dreams.
Madrid president Ramon Calderon was, however, adamant in the face of all these tapping up accusations, stating: 'Ferguson is hard, but it doesn't matter. Ronaldo will be signed'
Sir Alex’s persuasion did indeed keep Ronaldo at United for the 2008-09 season, but the inevitable finally happened in the summer of 2009. On May 29, 2009, Madrid president-elect Florentino Perez finally showed his hand: 'What I know is what I've read, that there is an agreement by means of which he would come for £80m.'
Manchester United would indeed go on to accept an "unconditional" offer of £80 million from Real Madrid for Ronaldo after it was revealed that he again had expressed his desire to leave the club.
