There have definitely been some mad transfers in British Leagues.
SEE MORE:
Arsenal And Manchester United Among Top Five Possible Destinations for Unsettled Yohan Cabaye
Ten Things Manchester United Fans Need To Know About Transfer Target Abdul Majeed Waris
Revealed: The Statistically Best Team In Europe Including Chelsea Flop And Usual Suspects Messi And Ronaldo
Vlad Chiriches could become the latest player to break the North London divide with a loan move to Arsenal from Tottenham Hotapur, according to reports.
In that vein, CaughtOffside decided to take a look at some of the more controversial transfers in recent memory throughout the British leagues.
10) Andy Cole – Newcastle United to Manchester United
Andy Cole’s record of 68 goals in 84 appearances was enough to keep him close to the hearts of many in Tyneside.
Which might go some way to explain why an angry mob formed outside the entrance to St James’ Park when it was revealed Sir Alex Ferguson had snatched the striker up for £7 million.
The crowd could only be calmed when Kevin Keegan famously appeared at the top of stars at St James’ Park to plead that they trust his judgement.
9) Rio Ferdinand – Leeds United to Manchester United
With Ferdinand in their side Leeds managed to reach the Champions League semi-final and looked on the cusp of becoming a European powerhouse.
However, the defender’s move across the M62 to Manchester was a signal of Leeds’ financial mismanagement finally catching up with them.
Ferdinand was just the first name out the door as more of the club’s famous faces left as Leeds tumbled further into financial ruin and to the brink of bankruptcy.
8) John Robertson – Nottingham Forest to Derby County
Scoring the winning goal in the 1980 European cup final, Robertson was the jewel of Nottingham Forest.
However, trouble began to rear it’s ugly head when Forest manager Brian Clough’s best friend and former assistant manager, Peter Taylor, took the job at Derby County.
Taylor bought Robertson from Forest without consulting Clough and the two lifelong friends who had won countless titles together at Forest would never speak again.
7) Carlos Tevez – Manchester United to Manchester City
Tevez was a fan favourite at United during his short two year spell at the club.
The Argentine was on a two year loan deal at the Red Devils from West Ham United following issues of third party ownership of the player’s rights and a failed transfer to United.
However when Tevez came to the end of his time at United, which coincided with the end of his West Ham contract, he refused to sign a five year deal at Old Trafford and instead moved to arch-rivals Manchester City.
6) Fernando Torres – Liverpool to Chelsea
Torres’ Liverpool exit had been on the cards for some times following a series of bad injuries that seemed to have serious effects on his level of play.
However, his move to Chelsea came as a sucker punch to Liverpool fans who thought they had found the next Anfield great and their best goalscorer since Robbie Fowler.
They may now feel they got the better end of the deal with Torres’ £50 million price tag paving the way for Luis Suarez to Anfield but it was a sour ending to a brilliant Liverpool career.
5) Eric Cantona – Leeds United to Manchester United
Cantona inspired Leeds to the 1991-92 League title before being surprisingly sold to Manchester United just before the start of the next season
Rising tension with manager Howard Wilkinson and the French striker were blamed but their spat caused the Frenchman to leave the Yorkshire club at the peak of his powers.
Leeds have never finished above United since that day.
4) Robin van Persie – Arsenal to Manchester United
With the sale of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in one transfer window Arsenal looked a broken team only to be dragged almost single-handedly to the top four by Robin van Persie.
The Dutchman was now Arsenal’s captain, their talisman, their player of the year and fans were hopeful he would re-sign after his contract came to a close at the end of the season.
However, that all came crashing down when van Persie released a statement exclaiming he wished to win trophies and didn’t trust he would do so at Arsenal before promptly signing for Manchester United.
It can’t have been nice for Gooners to then see the Dutchman get his wish in his first season winning his first Premier League for the Red Devils, not Arsenal.
3) Ashley Cole – Arsenal to Chelsea
If you looked up “tapping up” in the dictionary chances are you would see a picture of Ashley Cole. The boy who came through the Arsenal youth ranks to break into their first team and develop into one of the world’s best left backs is now one of the most hated names in North London.
In 2005 Cole met in secret with the Chelsea chief executive and manager Jose Mourinho to negotiate a transfer behind the back of Arsenal. Cole was then said to be furious when the Gunners offered him a one year extension with a wage of £55k per week.
Chelsea, meanwhile, were offering him £90k a week and in a protracted affair Cole and his boyhood club’s relationship was in such disrepute that he was excluded from the 2006 team photo.
Cole ended up joining Chelsea with William Gallas and a large bundle of cash going to the other way and is still known as Cashley Cole to this day.
2) Mo Johnston – Nantes to Rangers
A former Celtic striker, Johnston said he would return to the Scottish club after two seasons at French side Nantes. However, after a last minute change of heart Johnston chose to join hated rivals Rangers.
Johnston, who was Catholic, caused anger on both sides of the Glasgow divide and was just the second player to play for both sides.
To make matters worse, Johnston ended up scoring a last minute winner away to Celtic that season.
1) Sol Campbell – Tottenham Hotspur to Arsenal
Considered to be one of the best players ever to come out of White Hart Lane, it’s not an overstatement to say Sol Campbell might be the most hated person North of Highbury.
Much like Robin van Persie’s situation in 2012, Campbell went into the close season in 2001 at the end of his Spurs deal and continually stalled attempts to re-sign him.
However, Campbell continued to insist he would sign for Spurs even saying in a TV interview at the end of the season that he would be at the club the following year.
Well, with a nickname like Judas you can guess what happened next. Arsene Wenger capitalised on the situation, taking one of England’s best centre-backs to the hallowed turf of Highbury.