Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy has arguably been the best player in the Premier League so far this season, but recent rumours about a move to Real Madrid seem a little far-fetched.
However, if history tells us anything about the transfer market, it’s that you should expect the unexpected.
So, with 11 goals in 11 matches for Leicester so far, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised if Vardy finishes the season scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final while Cristiano Ronaldo sulks on the bench.
Here are some other transfers that left us truly thinking “WTF?”…
Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez, Corinthians to West Ham
West Ham are a great 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 at Upton Park, you’d probably say Football Manager is getting a bit unrealistic.
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. All their Christmases had come at once.
It should be noted that Alan Pardew preferred Hayden Mullins to the future two-time Champions League winning Mascherano, while Tevez saved the Hammers from relegation before joining Man United…
Fabrizio Ravanelli, Juventus to Middlesborough
Anyone raised on Football Italia will know that watching ‘The White Feather’ find the back of the net was as regular an occurrence as seeing James Richardson holding those pink newspapers and sipping on his espresso.
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 superstar, while Middlesbrough were merely mid-table candidates looking to cement their top-flight status. Ravanelli bagged a hat-trick on his debut against Liverpool, but didn’t stick around for long – unlike Juninho.
Bojan, Barcelona to Stoke City
Xherdan Shaqiri may be the latest star name to join ‘Stokelona’ last summer, but former Barcelona forward Bojan arguably raised even more eyebrows with his cut-price switch to the Potters.
Bojan had three La Ligas and two Champions League titles on his CV when he arrived at Stoke…and so far he hasn’t threatened to add any more European success.
But Mark Hughes’ decision to gamble on the Spanish star was an indicator of the changes he wanted to bring to Stoke, and so far – injuries aside – it has proved a shrewd decision.
Julien Faubert, West Ham to Real Madrid, Loan
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
Sam Allardici out-tacticked us all when he turned Bolton into an exciting retirement home for some of Europe’s greatest players.
Big Sam managed to give ‘Arry Redknapp a run for the his money when it came to the title of ‘Best Wheeler Dealer’ by bringing in the supremely skilled Jay-Jay Okocha, impressively afro-ed Ivan Campo and World Cup-winning Youri Djorkaeff to the club.
It was the arrival of Real Madrid icon Fernando Hierro that proved to be most inspired, however. The classy defender guided the Trotters to a top-six Premier League finish and European football for the first time, leaving the club a hero.
Robinho to Man City, £32.5m
Probably the most enjoyable aspect of Robinho’s move to Man City in 2008 was that he declared his excitement to be joining “Chelsea” after originally being tipped with a move to Stamford Bridge.
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 real statement of intent.
It’s a shame his move never proved fruitful, but there were one or two highlights at least…
Can you think of any more WTF transfers? Let us know @JOE_co_uk…
