Your Favourite Clubs Best Transfer ''Saga''

Paully D

Thought this would be an interesting thread rather than just asking for a favourite signing.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a saga I just couldn't think of another word :pac: It can of course be a long drawn out saga that went on for months and months and left you tearing you hair out as newspapers, websites etc kept changing their stories day after day but you were delighted to get your man in the end, or something that came completely out of the blue.

Coincidentally two of my favourite Sunderland transfer ''sagas'' include one of each, so my piss poor attempt at explaining what I meant hopefully you'll have a better idea. The first one was long and drawn out and the second one completely out of the blue.

1) Darren Bent to Sunderland from Spurs - 2009

It was clear to supporters of the club as far back as June of that year that when Bruce took over that Darren Bent was the clubs number 1 transfer target. Bent had had opportunities to move to us a few times before in his career and was sort of becoming the player that is linked to the club every single transfer windown no matter what (every club has a player like this I'm sure of it, Robbie Keane was another one for us down through the years) but backed with Short's cash and a fresh approach we all thought we'd have a good chance to get it done. Of course Levy and Spurs are notoriously difficult to negotiate with and as the weeks dragged on everyones patient was beginning to run out. Stoke and Hull were reported to be interested and as it got to August, Bent's frustrations spilled over with this Twitter rant, after the Spurs plane to China for a preseason game was delayed as Bent was pulled off the plane only to once again see the proposed move to us delayed:

"Seriously getting p***** off now. Why can't anything be simple. It's so frustrating hanging round.

"Sunderland are not the problem in the slightest. Do I wanna go Hull City? NO. Do I wanna go Stoke? NO. Do I wanna go Sunderland? YES. So stop f****** around Levy."

A few days later and after being fined two weeks wages he eventually was cleared to come up for a medical, but before that became public knowledge someone who happened to be in Newcastle airport at the time snapped a picture with him and it began to spread over the internet. His best friend then began to keep us all updated through Twitter and he even joined the main Sunderland forum to give updates.

So eventually after 2 long months of negotiations, different things popping up in the media every day, Bent being pulled off the plane before take off and then having the move delayed, the Twitter rant, the picture in the airport and his mate giving us updates we finally got our man.

To us Sunderland fans it was brilliant anyway

2) Djibril Cisse to Sunderland (on loan) from Marseille - 2008

This is one that came completely out of the blue.

I was over in Sunderland at the time and literally the first thing I heard about this was when I was watching TV it popped up on the Sky Sports yellow ticker. The whole city was buzzing after it as we genuinely hadn't signed someone as widely know as Cisse for a long time.

Funnily enough I was going on a stadium tour the next day and near the end of that I seen about 9 or 10 very important looking people all carrying briefcases etc and the tour guide explained that they were Cisse's entourage. I've honestly never seen anything like it, it was like Obama or someone similar was in the building :pac: I had a few pictures of them all but can't seem to find them otherwise I'd upload them. No sign of Cisse though unfortunately although his deal was announced over the next couple of days.

So yeah, that was a signing that nobody seen coming and gave the whole city a lift!

What are yours?

Super-Rush

Andy Cole to United.

He'd been banging them in left right and center for Newcastle all season and next thing bang, he's on the back page of every newspaper wearing a Man U shirt.

smallerthanyou

The only time Sky Sports sucked me into their transfer deadline day dramatics was the Torres/Carroll craziness. I didn't leave the house that evening. It was mental stuff.

Edit: Sorry missed the saga part, this transfer it was more of a short story.

GavRedKing

Ashley Cole from Arsenal to Chelsea.

Didnt want to stay at Arsenal and made the move to Stamford Bridge, forever known as Cashley Cole.

Although sice hes joined us hes definetly justified wanting to leave for success.

Sgt Pepper 64

Duffer to Chelsea.
The whole way it just kept creeping up and up cos we had to find this magical mystical release price that Blackburn had set

Also memorable for being part of the intial Roman transfer blast

geeky

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Duffer to Chelsea.
The whole way it just kept creeping up and up cos we had to find this magical mystical release price that Blackburn had set

Also memorable for being part of the intial Roman transfer blast

This for me epitomised the summer of Abramovic, even more than the Cole saga. 'We're rich now, he's good, how much?' Crass it may have been but it was heady stuff after not having a pot to p1ss in for a while.

Where To

Jong Il-Gwan, the North Korean wonderkid to Newcastle earlier this summer.

Fascinating so it was.

Melion

Gerrard to Chelsea in 05

Degag

Recently, Berba's move from Spurs to United i guess.

eugeneious

For me the 2 that come to mind are the Nani and Anderson deal- completely took me by surprise and in the same summer Carlos Tevez- It took so long but I was delighted when we signed him!

Mars Bar

Hernandez was completely out of the blue! Made the World Cup that little bit more interesting and his performances generated some excitement.

And that bloody Sneijder saga...what a pain in the arse that was.

fergiesfolly

Cantona to United. The pure and utter shock of that transfer was huge at the time.

Jame Gumb

Cantona and Cole transfers to United were hardly "sagas". They just moved clubs out of the blue.

The Roy Keane transfer saga was just that.

Keane agreed to join Blackburn for £4m on a Friday evening but because the club's office had shut for the day, no contract was signed. That weekend, Fergie called Keane's parents' house and asked him to come to his house in Manchester. Keane tells Dalglish their deals off. Kenny goes mad. United offer £3m. Forest banish Keane to the reserves. The saga plays out for a while, with Keane eventually moving for a British record £3.75m.

Handsome Bob

Stevie G and Chelsea, went from loving the man to hating him to loving him again, just a roller coaster ride of emotions.

Xavi6

Robinho/Berbatov. One minute we were getting Berbatov from the under the noses of United and the next we're borderline kidnapping a superstar Brazilian from the airport.

All while the first cement was being poured on the foundations of what is now the richest club in the world.

A defining saga in City's history

Whatsisname

I still can't quite believe we've signed RVP.

cson

For Arsenal at the moment; Sahin if he signs. Possibly Arshavin too considering it was the last of last minute signings and he came with a serious pedigree and looked the real deal for a while; the Liverpool match in particular.

Saga's involving us typically go the other way unfortunately.

cson

Also, I wonder how many clubs transfer sagas involve Benjani? :pac:

racso1975

i remember when city signed robinio!!!! I shiiit myself as a utd supporter it was the first real sign of the strength city were gonna have in the market........as it turned out he was not that great but was still a serious display of strength by city

Daemos

Personally I couldn't believe we got Suarez. When my friend told me we were looking for him I said there was "no chance". Happy to say I got that one wrong

Of course the departure of Torres needs mentioning, with us beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in his first match for them being a highlight of that season for me

And as for Aquilani, well that saga started after we signed him in 2009 and only ended two weeks ago :pac:

davyjose

Xavi6 wrote: »

Robinho/Berbatov. One minute we were getting Berbatov from the under the noses of United and the next we're borderline kidnapping a superstar Brazilian from the airport.

All while the first cement was being poured on the foundations of what is now the richest club in the world.

Ahem http://www.forbes.com/soccer-valuations/list/

I think you mean richest owners. Which you can be proud of, if you like.

Xavi6

davyjose wrote: »

Ahem http://www.forbes.com/soccer-valuations/list/

I think you mean richest owners. Which you can be proud of, if you like.

No I mean richest club, we have the most money. If I meant most valuable I'd have said that.

And very proud of it yes :cool:

Neil3030

Xavi6 wrote: »

Robinho/Berbatov. One minute we were getting Berbatov from the under the noses of United and the next we're borderline kidnapping a superstar Brazilian from the airport.

All while the first cement was being poured on the foundations of what is now the richest club in the world.

A defining saga in City's history

Xavi6 wrote: »

No I mean richest club, we have the most money. If I meant most valuable I'd have said that.

And very proud of it yes :cool:

Then your above statement makes no sense. By your definition, City are as "rich" now as they were the day ADUG took over.

ceegee

Bebe - The ultimate WTF transfer. The exaggerated stories of homeless world cups etc only made it more mental

Paully D

cson wrote: »

Also, I wonder how many clubs transfer sagas involve Benjani? :pac:

Ended up falling asleep in the airport one year, didn't he? :pac:

EDIT - Yep!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-512582/Benjani-fell-asleep-missed-planes--real-reason-nearly-lost-City-switch.html

Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie has revealed that Benjani Mwaruwari's transfer to Manchester City failed to take place on transfer deadline day because the player fell asleep when he was supposed to be catching an aeroplane to the north-west.

The protracted deal, which City claimed had fallen through just after the January window closed at midnight last Thursday, was finally completed yesterday after the Zimbabwe international signed a two-and-a-half-year deal.

City will pay an initial £3.87million up front, with the remaining half of the £7.75million fee due to be paid in three instalments when the 29-year-old makes 25, 50 and 75 starts for Sven-Goran Eriksson's team.

Speaking about the reasons for the delay, Storrie claimed the whole drawn-out "fiasco" could have been avoided had Benjani not taken an untimely nap as he attempted to make his way to Manchester to complete the formalities of the switch.

"In his own inevitable, wonderful way - and we all love Benji so much - he falls asleep at the airport and misses two planes," Storrie said in The Times.

"You couldn't write the script. The next plane at 7 o'clock got cancelled and the 8.30 was delayed. It just made the whole situation a fiasco."

IncognitoMan

Not a transfer in but one out. I remember clearly how my heart sunk when I heard on sky news how Real Madrid had an offer accepted for Ronaldo. I knew it was coming but that moment made it real. Going into that season was probably the least I have looked forward to the start of a season. Ronaldo off to madrid, tevez off to city. Bad summer

Edit: But after watching the community shield I was ready to go again

grohlisagod

Daemos wrote: »

Of course the departure of Torres needs mentioning, with us beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in his first match for them being a highlight of that season for me

The Agger elbow on Torres was priceless.

Corholio

As a Villa fan, the Yorke to United one definitely comes to mind. I remember the feeling I had when I read the quotes from Gregory that Yorke had told him he wanted to leave, stomach just sunk. Of course Gregory's 'If I had a gun I'd have shot him' comments are famous/infamous now, but we all felt the same way I think.

The Collymore one also comes to mind, couldn't believe Villa had actually signed him. It didn't go all that well of course, but to this day I don't think I've been quite that excited about a signing Villa have made since. Although his Atletico goal is still one of my most memorable goals following Villa.

Xavi6

Neil3030 wrote: »

Then your above statement makes no sense. By your definition, City are as "rich" now as they were the day ADUG took over.

Since ADUG took over yes but that wasn't the regime in place in 2007 when it all kicked off.

Father Damo

Keane to Liverpool. The pool were in flying form in those days and I felt he would not only be a success but that it would do sheer wonders for his international form to be playing weekly for what at the time was a club that had silverware pedigree.

Of course we had no idea of all the internal politics and whatnot that made it into a tragedy.


Dont even like United but for me I could never fathom how the media and fans fell hook line and sinker for Fergie and his mind games of pretending that Rooney wanted to go to City. It was nothing more than a bit of trickery, a way of Fergie taking the piss out of a team who he still viewed as not being legitimate contenders despite their money.

Rooney probbly regretted going along with it when people were standing outside his house burning his jerseys mind :pac:

Jame Gumb

Manchester City are not the richest club in the world. Calling them that is just lazy journalism. They're probably the most insolvent club in the world but they do have wealthy owners. However if that's the criteria for deciding "the richest club in the world" then what about clubs whose shares are publicly traded? The Saudis, hedge funds, pensions funds etc may own shares in a myriad of football clubs, making those clubs "the richest in the world" by the ridiculous criteria of "owners' wealth".

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Jame Gumb wrote: »

Manchester City are not the richest club in the world. Calling them that is just lazy journalism. They're probably the most insolvent club in the world but they do have wealthy owners. However if that's the criteria for deciding "the richest club in the world" then what about clubs whose shares are publicly traded? The Saudis, hedge funds, pensions funds etc may own shares in a myriad of football clubs, making those clubs "the richest in the world" by the ridiculous criteria of "owners' wealth".

Who cares tbh?? Why be so pedantic, we all know they have the most money..

Jame Gumb

THFC wrote: »

Jame Gumb wrote: »

Manchester City are not the richest club in the world. Calling them that is just lazy journalism. They're probably the most insolvent club in the world but they do have wealthy owners. However if that's the criteria for deciding "the richest club in the world" then what about clubs whose shares are publicly traded? The Saudis, hedge funds, pensions funds etc may own shares in a myriad of football clubs, making those clubs "the richest in the world" by the ridiculous criteria of "owners' wealth".

Who cares tbh?? Why be so pedantic, we all know they have the most money..

There's a world of difference between being pedantic and pointing out that people are talking horsesh1t.

tolosenc

Taking "richest" to mean "has the most spending power", then yes, City are the richest team in world football, and there can be no arguments about that.

matrim

As a villa fan, one of the biggest in recent years was when Liverpool came in for Gareth Barry in 2008

applehunter

The comings and goings of Jason Kabia at Cork City and the inability of Aertel to get his name right.:)

Just An Opinion

The James McLean transfer from NI to ROI was intense!

Father Damo

Just An Opinion wrote: »

The James McLean transfer from NI to ROI was intense!

You just reminded me, the last hunt for an Ireland manager must have lasted a good 5 or 6 months! Stan was gone by October odd and I am nearly certain Givens was still in charge for the next friendly around February? If I had a fiver for every international figure alledgedly seen at Dublin airport by someones cousins taxi driving horse during that period......

MGMTea

Andy Carroll.

I had the flu the day we signed him and I woke up at like 2 or 3pm to see we bid 20 million and it had been rejcted and in my delirious state was laughing hysterically at the price, then woke up later to see a 35 mil bid accepted.

Mike Ashley had some about of balls to reject 20-30 mil And all that while Torres to Chelsea was going on, hilarious.

Lawrence1895

In 1998, a certain goalkeeper called Jens Lehmann joined Borussia Dortmund, and the majority of Borussia's supporters went bonkers.

After him scoring in injury time for his former club and Borussia's biggest rivals Sch**** (after a very soft free kick he headed the ball, pushing the Borussia defender away) and saying on the radio, Borussia would be the last club to join.

starviewadams

Anelka from PSG to Liverpool a good few years back,he had been on loan with a view to a permanent transfer,but Houllier decided he was too similar to Owen and he ended up at the old Manchester City.

Steve McManaman from Liverpool to Real Madrid back in the 90's,he got dogs abuse for running down his contract and leaving on a bosman.

Oscorp

starviewadams wrote: »

Anelka from PSG to Liverpool a good few years back,he had been on loan with a view to a permanent transfer,but Houllier decided he was too similar to Owen and he ended up at the old Manchester City.

And instead of Anelka, we ended up with Diouf :mad:

Anyone

Oscorp wrote: »

And instead of Anelka, we ended up with Diouf :mad:

Wasnt it Diouf instead of Duff?

Ormus

Andy Reid from Forest to Spurs.

Took about 3 years I think.

Well worth the weight though..

Anyone

Anyone wrote: »

Wasnt it Diouf instead of Duff?

It was a pronunciation error.

Ormus

Ormus wrote: »

Andy Reid from Forest to Spurs.

Took about 3 years I think.

Well worth the weight though..

Hammer Archer

Tevez and Mascherano. I woke up the morning of transfer deadline day with a rake of texts about it and was sure it was an organised plot from my mates to wind me up.
People were tipping us for Champions League and all that season. We went on to lose 8 of our next 9 games in all competitions and Tevez only really got going in the last 2 months of the season.

LuckyLloyd

Father Damo wrote: »

Dont even like United but for me I could never fathom how the media and fans fell hook line and sinker for Fergie and his mind games of pretending that Rooney wanted to go to City. It was nothing more than a bit of trickery, a way of Fergie taking the piss out of a team who he still viewed as not being legitimate contenders despite their money.

Rooney probbly regretted going along with it when people were standing outside his house burning his jerseys mind :pac:

Wow. People really think that's what it was?

GT_TDI_150

Not as much a saga as a 'how on earth did we manage to get him' one ...

Tino Asprillia!!!! He was propper good in Italy at the time ....


As for saga's
Most of newcastles transfers are nowadays, courting players for months leading into the windows, not willing to meet the valuation and sign some lesser known gem for 1/2 the price!!

The exeption being Cisse, were after him for 12months!

Lamper.sffc

As a Leeds fan Im going through a transfer saga that seems like it will never end.
Its the transfer of ownership from Bates to potential new buyers and its taking forever. Two months now of checking the net every day and still nothing :mad:

It will turn out to be a great transfer saga if it goes through though, and we can finally say good riddance to Bates.

LuckyLloyd

Actually, that's a good shout Lamper. The H & G to NESV transfer of ownership was a nailbiting saga the whole way through.