Ranking the 10 most shocking collapsed transfers of all time: Guehi to Liverpool joins the list…
Marc Guehi’s move to Liverpool collapsed at the very end of deadline day, but where does it rank among the most shocking collapsed transfers of all time?
From failing a medical to the paperwork not being submitted on time, there are several reasons why a transfer could collapse at the final hurdle.
We’ve searched the archives and have ranked the 10 most shocking collapsed transfers of all time.
10. George Boyd to Nottingham Forest
Boyd’s move to Nottingham Forest in 2013 ended up collapsing for one of the most bizarre reasons on this list.
After Forest had agreed a deal with Peterborough, the deal didnât go ahead because of an ‘inconclusive eye test’, which made them pull the plug.
Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony was left fuming with the outcome, branding their decision to pull out of the deal a ‘disgrace’.
“Apparently after playing 300 games in six and half years, his vision isn’t 20/20 so no deal. Total disgrace the whole thing,” MacAnthony said after the deal fell through.
9. Loic Remy to Liverpool
Another example of a failed medical was Remy’s proposed move to Liverpool.
He was on the brink of signing for the club in 2014 and was being lined up as one of the players to replace the outgoing Luis Suarez.
However, Liverpool pulled out of the deal after a heart issue was discovered during his medical. He then ended up signing for Chelsea later that summer instead.
8. Dan James to Leeds United
James eventually ended up signing for Leeds United in 2021, but he was on the brink of joining them in January 2019.
The Welsh winger was seen posing with the Leeds United shirt and even passed his medical before Swansea pulled the plug on the deal at the last second.
According to reports at the time, Swansea were unhappy with the payment structure of the deal so decided to pull out.
“Swansea made no attempt to keep the player and at the first sign of money they couldnât show him the door quickly enough,” James’ agent David Manasseh told Telegraph Sport.
He ended up staying at Swansea until the end of the 2018-19 season before then joining Man United in the summer.
7. John Obi Mikel to Manchester United
Back in April 2005, United announced that they had signed Mikel from Lyn on a pre-contract, worth ÂŁ4million.
The Red Devils did the deal directly with Mikel and bypassed his agent, which only made things more complicated when Chelsea claimed they already had a deal in place to sign the midfielder when he turns 18.
“FIFA was trying to sort it out. They couldn’t sort it out for about a year. I missed a year of football,” Mikel told talkSPORT when recalling the transfer saga.
“United didn’t want to let me go. Chelsea were not going to back down because they were saying, âHe’s our player, we took him to Norway, we’ve been looking after him.
“Then Fergie said, âListen, give me 30 minutes with the kid, alone, in a boardroom office. I can convince him to still come to Manchester United.â So he flew down to London. I was in a room with him, alone.
“My agent was sitting outside. And he said, âWhatever he says to you in that meeting, just nod your head and say, nope, nope, nope.â So I spent 20 minutes with him, locked in a room.
“He was just saying, âWhat is the problem? Why don’t you want to come to Manchester United? Is it more money? I will give you more money. What do you need? What do you want? We need you at the club.â
“I just kept saying no. I said, âSorry, I just want to play for Chelsea.”
6. Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Arsenal
Ibrahimovic nearly signed for Arsenal as a teenager, but the reason the deal didnât go ahead is still hilarious to this day.
“So I came to the office of Arsene Wenger,” Ibrahimovic told Piers Morgan when recalling the saga.
“He had an Arsenal shirt with number nine and wanted me to come and do a trial for two weeks. Everything was all good until he said you come and do a trial.
“Obviously, he is Wenger and I am nobody in this moment. I said, ‘I don’t do trials.’ He said, ‘What do you mean?’
“I don’t do trials. Either you want me or you don’t want me. Why else am I here?'”
5. Emmanuel Adebayor to Aston Villa
Back in 2015, Aston Villa had agreed a deal with Tottenham to sign Adebayor. However, the deal didnât go ahead for one bizarre reason.
After passing his medical, the striker started to have second thoughts about the move before a ‘higher power’ told him that he was making a mistake.
“Thereâs a story at Aston Villa, when we got rid of Benteke â he was always going to go, he was on fire at the time. We got Adebayor, he came and he did his medical, all but signed the papers,â Micah Richards said on The Rest is Football Podcast.
“Thereâs even a picture of him with the shirt, but the reason he didnât sign was that he had a dream that he was making the wrong decision.
“A higher power told him that he was making the wrong move to come to Aston Villa, so he didnât turn up the next day.”
4. Marc Guehi to Liverpool
Undoubtedly, the biggest collapsed transfer of 2025.
With just one year remaining on his contract at Crystal Palace, the club agreed to sell him to Liverpool for ÂŁ35million, on the condition that they could sign a replacement.
Everything seemed to have been completed from Liverpool and Guehi’s side, but Palace scuppered the deal as they couldnât sign his replacement in time.
To make matters worse, Guehi had already filmed his exit video from Palace, which has since been leaked online.
3. Ronaldinho to Manchester United
Ronaldinho wouldâve been absolutely box office in the Premier League and he nearly joined United in 2003.
With United looking to replace David Beckham, they were locked into negotiations with Ronaldinho, who was playing for PSG at the time.
However, Barcelona managed to beat United to his signature, with the weather in Spain being one of the reasons cited for him joining the La Liga club.
“I will prefer the lifestyle in Barcelona, the way of life and the climate, too. It is not a good climate in Manchester,” Ronaldinho said after making the move.
READ: Ronaldinho got bored at Barcelona so invented a physics-defying pass
2. Robert Lewandowski to Blackburn
To this day, this still has to be one of the biggest ‘what if’ moments in football.
Back in 2010, Lewandowski was on the verge of joining Blackburn Rovers for ÂŁ7million, until the deal was scuppered by an Icelandic volcano.
With an ash cloud over northern Europe, Lewandowski was unable to fly to England to complete his medical and the deal was subsequently cancelled.
“I could have been a God bringing Lewandowski to Blackburn Rovers,” Sam Allardyce said when recalling the saga.
“He could have got us in the top half of the league with the goals he went on to get. He ended up signing for Borussia Dortmund instead of us.”
1. David De Gea to Real Madrid
We still remember the internet going into meltdown the day De Gea’s move to Real Madrid collapsed in 2015.
The Spaniard was arguably the best goalkeeper in world football at the time and Madrid had agreed a deal with United to sign him on transfer deadline day.
However, the move famously collapsed at the final hurdle due to a dodgy fax machine that meant his paperwork wasnât submitted on time.
Both clubs blamed one another for the collapsed transfer, but De Gea remained professional through it all and ended up staying at United for another eight years.
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