In light of the Moroccan defender’s acrimonious split from the Serie A side, Goal takes a look at some of the more controversial transfers in recent years There isn’t always a happy ending. Footballers move on to further their careers and to fulfil their goals in the game, but transfer deals often lead to acrimonious exits from the clubs forced to part with their prized players.
Mehdi Benatia’s move from Roma to Bayern Munich was no surprise because the defender was wanted by several clubs in the recent transfer window, but the nature of his departure left a bad taste at the Stadio Olimpico. The player himself claimed he had wanted to stay at the club, but Roma chief James Pallotta hit back by saying the defender was sold for being a “poisonous” liar in what was a sorry end to a successful partnership in 2013-14. In light of those developments, Goal takes a look at some of the bitterest divorces between players and clubs in the transfer market in recent years… Sol Campbell was one of the world’s most sought-after defenders in 2001 and was wanted by the likes of Barcelona and Chelsea. But the Tottenham captain continuously claimed his heart was at White Hart Lane, told the media he was staying at the club where he had come through the youth ranks and insisted he was putting
off a new contract until the end of the season in order to “concentrate on my football”. Spurs made Campbell the highest offer in their history to keep him, but instead the England defender did the unthinkable and moved to north London rivals Arsenal. And worst of all, he went for free after running down the final year of his agreement. Fans strung up an effigy in a noose outside White Hart Lane and then “welcomed” their former hero back with “Judas” T-shirts and balloons when he returned with Arsenal the following season. They will never forgive him. Antonio Cassano is a controversial character at the best of times, but the striker’s shock move across the Milan divide left a bitter taste with supporters of the Rossoneri in 2012.
Cassano was upset at the sales of star players Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to Paris-Saint Germain and put in a transfer request, even though AC Milan had helped him recover from a heart problem which required complicated surgery. The Italy forward eventually moved to rivals Inter and there were all sorts of anti-Cassano banners in the home end at the first derby after his transfer. One read: “Cassano, you traitor, give us back our defibrillator”. It was hardly worth the hassle. At Milan, Cassano claimed a Serie A title and a Supercoppa Italiana. At Inter, he lasted only one season and the club finished ninth in a calamitous campaign. Local lad and homegrown hero, Ashley Cole’s career as an Arsenal player saw him win two Premier League titles and three FA Cups as he emerged as England’s best left-back for many a day.
But in 2005 he was fined for meeting Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho and the club’s chief executive Peter Kenyon over a possible transfer to Stamford Bridge and eventually made the move the following year. Cole claimed he had been “trembling with anger” at Arsenal’s new contract offer of around €70,000 a week, further distancing himself from the fans who had seen him as one of their own. The transfer was confirmed late on deadline day in 2006 and was a player-plus-cash deal, with William Gallas moving the other way. The French defender’s split from the Blues was equally bitter and Chelsea released a statement saying the player had “threatened to score own-goals” if he wasn’t granted a transfer. Angel Di Maria was crucial to Real Madrid’s success in the Copa del Rey and the Champions League last season, but the Argentine winger decided to leave the Spanish side after the club refused to meet his wage demands. 
The 26-year-old joined Manchester United in a €75 million deal and declared himself happy with the move, but took a parting shot at Madrid as he published an open letter in Marca which claimed he had wanted to stay and that “somebody at the club” had wanted him out. Madrid, meanwhile, posted a meagre four-line news story on their website to confirm his departure and president Florentino Perez has since said that the Argentine wanted almost as much as Cristiano Ronaldo. The player’s father, however, claims his son asked for nowhere near that, while Di Maria himself has revealed he tore up Madrid’s letter asking him not to play in the World Cup final when he was injured. No love lost there, then. 
Luis Figo was a hugely popular player at Camp Nou and one of the shining lights in a side which also featured Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique, Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert. But the winger was contacted by Florentino Perez as the Real Madrid presidential elections approached in 2000. The construction magnate had not been expected to triumph, but his pledge to sign the Portuguese won favour and he swept to power. Figo had signed a pre-contract agreement with Perez and to break it, would need to have coughed up around €30m (half his eventual record transfer fee). After much consideration, he decided to go ahead with the move – and the rest is history. The Portuguese was greeted with banners calling him a “traitor”, “mercenary”, “scum” and “Judas” among other things on his return to Camp Nou. And on his next visit, he had a pig’s head and a whisky bottle thrown at him as he took a corner. Even now, he remains a persona non grata in the Catalan capital. Another footballer unlikely to spend his holidays in Barcelona these days is
Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Sweden striker spoke in glowing terms of the Catalan club following his move to Camp Nou in 2009, but the affection didn’t last long and he found himself marginalised later in the season as coach Pep Guardiola moved Lionel Messi to a central role. Ibrahimovic left Barca in August to join AC Milan on loan ahead of a permanent move and later revealed he had not spoken to Guardiola in months. That was just one of many attacks on the Catalan coach, who he described as “the philosopher”, while he also likened the side’s homegrown players to “schoolchildren” in his autobiography and revealed a tense dressing-room bust-up with Guardiola. 
Javi Martinez had already won a World Cup and a European Championship before turning 24, but the midfielder missed out on honours at Athletic Club as the Basques lost both the Copa del Rey and the Europa League finals in 2012. Wanted by Barcelona before his eventual €40m move to Bayern Munich, Martinez upset fans of the Bilbao side as he turned his back on the exciting project under Marcelo Bielsa. Indeed, such was the breakdown in relations betwen player and club that the midfielder scaled a fence to gain access to the club’s training gound in order to collect some things from his locker after the move to Bayern was confirmed. That annoyed Athletic even more, but as the Basque side slumped in Bielsa’s second season, Martinez had the last laugh because Bayern went on to claim an historic treble under Jupp Heynckes in 2012-13. 
Ronaldinho’s return to Brazil with Flamengo went well initially as the Rio club claimed a Campeonato Carioca in his debut campaign, but things soon turned sour in the forward’s second season. The player’s performances waned in 2012 and fans grew angry as the former Barcelona hero was spotted out and about on the Rio party scene with more frequency. Ronaldinho took the club to court over unpaid wages after claiming he had not received his salary for four months from Brazil’s most popular club. His contract was duly terminated and he left to join Atletico Mineiro, where he would win the Copa Libertadores. Not that the Flamengo fans were celebrating… 
Carlos Tevez is never far from controversy and it was a big surprise when the Argentine forward left boyhood club Boca Juniors to join Brazilian side Corinthians in 2004. Tevez signed a five-year deal after the Sao Paulo-based club reached an agreement with Media Sports Investment, but by 2006 the striker was unhappy and refused to train until he was granted a transfer. By then, MSI’s involvement had seen the investment company fight to keep unpopular coach Daniel Passarella and following a player revolt, Tevez ultimately led an exodus of stars with a surprise move to West Ham. Years later, Tevez then upset Manchester United and their fans by leaving Old Trafford to join City at the end of his contract, his image controversially used in a blue “Welcome to Manchester” billboard which poked fun at United, located outside the city’s centre.
Fernando Torres grew up as an Atletico Madrid fan but his admiration for Liverpool was clear when he was pictured with the message “You’ll Never Walk Alone” on the back of his captain’s armband in a Liga fixture against Real Sociedad. The love story soon escalated as the player moved to Anfield for €28m and netted 33 goals in a stunning debut season. But injuries eventually took their toll and after celebrating Spain’s World Cup win with a Liverpool scarf around his neck, Torres returned to the club an unhappy player in 2010. Still struggling for form after rushing back from injury, he then broke Liverpool hearts by moving to Chelsea for €58m in the next window. Torres was not a Liverpool fan, but had made Reds supporters believe Anfield was his second home and the move to one of the club’s fiercest domestic rivals was a bitter ending to a fairytale story. And Torres has never been the same player since.
Christian Vieri played for many of Italy’s biggest clubs during his professional career, but enjoyed his most successful spell at Inter before surprisingly leaving the nerazzurri to join city rivals AC Milan. Vieri hit over 100 goals for Inter in six seasons, but won only one Coppa Italia in blue and back. In 2005, he terminated his agreement with the club, only to leave Inter fans stunned as he signed a contract with Milan. The Italy striker struggled for the rossoneri, however, hitting just one Serie A goal in eight games as Milan finished third and Inter won the title in his absence (after Juventus had the title revoked due to the Calciopoli scandal). Years earlier, Vieri also upset Lazio fans by moving to Inter following a single season in Rome. Some supporters burned their shirts in protest at the sale and the club even offered refunds to those who had bought kits with Vieri’s name on them in the summer of 1999. Football is littered with examples of acrimonious splits between players and clubs and there are far too many to list in this piece. But here are a few more notable cases.
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In England, Emmanuel Adebayor ran the entire pitch to celebrate in front of Arsenal fans for Manchester City and then later made the relationship even worse by joining Tottenham, while Wayne Rooney upset childhood club Everton by moving to Old Trafford after just two seasons in the first team and more recently, Jack Colback stunned Sunderland by joining fierce rivals Newcastle, admitting that the fans would “hate me for the rest of my life”. Pierre van Hooijdonk went on strike until he was allowed to leave Nottingham Forest in 1998, while Dimitar Berbatov and Dwight Yorke upset Tottenham and Aston Villa, respectively, by pushing for moves to Manchester United. In Spain, Sergio Ramos has only recently repaired his relationship with Sevilla after leaving for Real Madrid in 2005, while Valencia fans have never forgiven Predrag Mijatovic for his decision to leave Mestalla for the Santiago Bernabeu in the 1990s. Luis Enrique left Madrid to join Barcelona for free and wasn’t too popular with the capital club for that, while Bernd Schuster controversially went in the opposite direction years earlier and then also played for Atletico. And Mesut Ozil, much like Angel Di Maria, left Madrid on bad terms when he joined Arsenal last year. In Italy, Fabio Capello incurred Roma’s wrath by leaving for Juventus (both as player and coach), while Polish winger Zibi Boniek went from Juve to Roma in 1985 and is still disliked by fans, many of whom signed a public petition to remove him from the club’s Hall of Fame. Niko Kranjcar still hasn’t been forgiven by Dinamo Zagreb either after leaving for Hajduk Split as a talented 18-year-old, while Johan Cruyff controversially left Ajax to play for Feyenoord in 1983 and Franck Riberycaused plenty of ill feeling when he quit Galatasaray for Marseille after just a handful of games in 2005.
Source: goal.com
