Totally out of the blue.
Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy has arguably been the best player in the Premier League so far this season; the JOE readers overwhelmingly voted him as their choice, and it’s hard to disagree with this selection.
11 goals in 11 league appearances along with 15 chances created is testament to his superb form. To the irritation of Claudio Ranieri and Leicester fans everywhere, the England international is attracting attention from some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
To be honest, the Real Madrid link does seem a bit far fetched but this got us thinking about some of those transfers, both in and out of the Premier League, that genuinely made football fans stop for a moment and think…WTF!
Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez, Corinthians to West Ham, Undisclosed Fee
West Ham are a wonderful football club but let’s be honest, if you were told that two members of Argentina’s 2006 World Cup squad were going to be playing in Upton Park, you would probably say that it’s getting much easier to sign fantastic players on Football Manager.
Nobody was really sure what the fee was or who held their registration at the time – was it Media Sports Investments, Corinthians or Kia Joorabchian? – but Hammers fans couldn’t care less. It was like all their Christmases had all came at once. Lovely jubbly.
It should also be noted though that Alan Pardew felt it was wiser to start Hayden Mullins ahead of a future two-time Champions League winner and as for Carlos Tevez, his career in England remained uneventful. What’s that you say?
Fabrizio Ravanelli, Juventus to Middlesborough, £6.84m
Anyone that was raised on Football Italia will know that seeing ‘The White Feather’ scoring goals was as regular as James Richardson holding those pink newspapers and sipping on his orange juice. Juventus under Marcello Lippi were a European powerhouse in the mid ’90s with Vialli, Del Piero and Ravanelli firing ‘The Old Lady’ to successive Champions League finals between 1995-97.
The Italian striker was a worldwide superstar and his famous celebration was mimicked in every park around the country, but his arrival at ‘Boro is just another reason why Steve Gibson is one of the most beloved chairmen in football.
At the time, Middlesbrough were a club that were trying to establish their Premier League credentials following the move from Ayresome Park to the Riverside Stadium. The Italian added some glamour and goals but it all ended in tears and tantrums.
Bojan, Barcelona to Stoke City, £1.26m
Xherdan Shaqiri may be the latest big name star to join ‘Stokelona’ with his £12m fee raising eyebrows but I’d wager that it’s his teammate’s move from Catalonia to Stoke-On-Trent that piqued the interest of football fans even more.
Why so? Tony Pulis worked wonders with The Potters by establishing them as a stubborn, rigid and hard to beat side but they weren’t the most aesthetically pleasing side to watch.
Arsene Wenger might agree with that statement but there’s no denying the fact that Rory Delap’s throw-ins were just as effective as any other tactic. Bojan already had three La Ligas and two Champions League titles on his CV but his prodigious talent was being squandered.
Mark Hughes’ decision to gamble on the Spanish/Serbian star was an indicator of the changes that he wanted to implement at the Britannia Stadium.
Julien Faubert, West Ham to Real Madrid, Loan (reported fee of £1.05m)
Two things. Firstly, can any West Ham fan actually pick this man out from a line-up, criminal or other? Secondly, he once fell asleep on the bench during Real Madrid’s match against Villarreal. That’s all you need to know.
Fernando Hierro to Bolton, Free
Sam Allerdici out-tactic-ed us all when he turned the Reebok Stadium into an exciting and memorable retirement home for some of the best players to have played across Europe.
Big Sam managed to give ‘Arry Redknapp a run for the his money when it came to the title of ‘Best Wheeler Dealer’ (Harry loves that name) by bringing in the supremely skilled Jay-Jay Okocha, impressively afro-ed Ivan Campo and World Cup-winning Youri Djorkaeff to the club. Let’s just skip over Mario Jardel and Salva.
It was the arrival of Real Madrid icon Fernando Hierro that raised the most eyebrows but the move proved to be inspired. The classy defender guided the Trotters to a top six Premier League finish and European football for the first time.
Robinho to Man City, £32.5m
Do Man City fans remember the events of transfer deadline day 2008, a time before the most-welcomed Sheikh-down in English football history?
Sven’s City lost 8-1 to Middlesbrough and they looked clueless, leaderless and ragged. Sven and Frank Sinatra Thaksin Shinawatra were on their way out shortly after with Mark Hughes and the Abu Dhabi United Group on the way in.
At the time, Robinho was undoubtedly one of the best players in the world and the fact that City beat Chelsea to his £32.5m signature was a statement of intent. It’s a shame that this is my only abiding memory of the Brazilian’s time in England…apart from the fact that he had no idea what club he was actually signing for!
Ronnie O’Brien, Middlesbrough to Juventus
Ever hear the one about the Irishman that made no league starts for Middlesbrough, was released by the club, but ended up signing for Juventus due to his impressive performances for the Irish u-21 side?
It happened.
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