5 most surprising Deadline Day transfers

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Transfer deadline day is one of the most exciting times in the Footballing calendar. It’s 24 hours of mayhem as clubs compete within a time-frame to finish off their duties and stock up their squad for the rest of the season. There’s nothing quite like landing a huge deal on transfer deadline.

Leaving the transfer business for the last day of the market may lead to panic buys and disappointments, but for us football fans, it’s nothing short of entertainment.

Let us look at some of the most surprising deadline day deals agreed by clubs, that came out of the blue.

 

  • Robinho – Real Madrid to Manchester City – £32.5 million

 

This is one of the most bizarre transfers. This could go down as the first transfer to have been influenced by money. For most of the transfer window, Robinho was linked with a move to Chelsea. He had even publicly stated his desire to move to London. However, on transfer deadline day, Manchester City tabled a bid of around £35 million to land the Brazilian.

This was a conversation between him and a journo soon after completing his transfer.

“On the last day, Chelsea made a great proposal and I accepted.” To this comment, a reporter then replied, “You mean Manchester, right?” “Yeah, Manchester, sorry!” answered Robinho.

He even admitted long after his stint with the club that he had thought he was moving to Manchester United.

 

  • Anthony Martial – Monaco to Manchester United – £36 million

 

Anthony Martial’s transfer to Manchester United was indeed a surprise to many, simply because of the fact that not many had heard of him before his move to Old Trafford. The then 19-year-old had broken the record of transfer fee for a teenager. He didn’t take much time in endearing himself to the Stretford End as a goal on debut against Liverpool is definitely one of the best ways to get your United career up and running.
His transfer was a success as he went on to score 17 goals in his debut season, earning the title of the ‘Golden Boy’ in the process.

 

  • Andy Carroll – Newcastle United to Liverpool – £35 million

 

The January transfer window of 2011 was all about Fernando Torres’ move to Chelsea for a British record of £50 million. A kop-hero making the move to one of their direct rivals was not taken kindly by the Liverpool fans; as they had lost one of their most talismanic strikers. The need for reinforcements was there, and Liverpool did not waste much time. They roped in Andy Carroll from Newcastle United for £35 million, the highest transfer amount for a British footballer. He was enjoying a stellar season at Newcastle, but many felt he didn’t suit the Liverpool system. What many feared turned out to be true as Carroll failed to hit any sort of form while at Liverpool; and was loaned out to West Ham 2 years later.

 

  • Peter Odemwingie

 

There is no club written next to his name, and that is because he could not move to any club on deadline day. Strange, isn’t it?

What makes it strange is the fact that Odemwingie was a player under a contract at West Brom, but was fed up of his time there and decided to take matters into his own hands. He drove to Loftus Road, by himself, to try and persuade QPR to make an approach for him on deadline day. Till date, this has been the most bizarre, albeit comical attempts at forcing a move on deadline day.

 

  • Carlos Tevez and Mascherano – Corinthians to West Ham United – Undisclosed

 

The most shocking move on deadline day of 2006 was the transfer of two relatively unknown Argentinians to West Ham, from Brazilian club Corinthians. Alan Pardew’s photo with the two almost looks like he could foresee his signings as great players in the future.
There was a lot of hype as both the players had potential and that lead to excitement among the West Ham United fans.
However, that joy was shortlived as Tevez left for Manchester United on loan the next year, and Mascherano joined Liverpool in January 2007.