7 Biggest Transfer U-Turns In Football

In light of Kylian Mbappé's recent last minute decision to stay at PSG, having been widely tipped to sign for Real Madrid, HITC Sevens takes a look at a number of other famous or controversial transfer u-turns from within the world of football.
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[@lucaslonchampt613]

You forgot to mention that Mbappe's contract also include keys to the French Nuclear Codes

[@magicalhikari5859]

Wouldn’t be surprised lol

[@vatsalsingh1555]

Well the president of the country himself personally pleaded with him to stay so its not farfetched if he gets involved in politics.

[@lucaslonchampt613]

@@vatsalsingh1555 that's specifically because of Macron's involvement that I made that joke

[@vatsalsingh1555]

@@lucaslonchampt613 And that's correct not only that even emir of Qatar got personally involved in this case and there are reports of his family getting some threats.

[@orion-jett]

@@vatsalsingh1555 mbappe’s gonna nuke moscow

[@Adam95273]

7 whole seconds before the hull city reference , I'm impressed

[@HITCSevens]

Must do better.

[@calethalttv1724]

@@HITCSevens just start all videos with “like Hull City…..”

[@Dz73zxxx]

Lads and lasses, your local hull PR in action

[@oh1yeah2]

How about the Griezmann saga? So many U-turns it makes your head spin... 2018: about to join Barça, only to make a documentary to announce he'd stay at Atlético (first u-turn) 2019: joins Barça (2nd u-turn) 2021: goes back to Atlético on loan (3rd u-turn) There may yet be more

[@rohannalawade3227]

3rd uturn isnt a uturn. The club needed to offload his salary.

[@Deenaziamazinjg14]

@@rohannalawade3227 because he sucked at barca

[@SubhamChowdhury97]

2017 close to joining Man Utd, then turning down

[@rohannalawade3227]

@@Deenaziamazinjg14 sure but that still does not make it a u turn it was a mutually beneficial decision

[@Deenaziamazinjg14]

@@rohannalawade3227 did I say it made it a u turn?

[@12thMandalorian]

John Obi Mikel literally signed for Manchester United, had his presentation then changed his mind and went to Chelsea

[@fbi8552]

same with dan james and leeds

[@jbo4547]

"Literally signed" then how did he get out of contract?

[@12thMandalorian]

@@jbo4547 lawyers

[@fbi8552]

@@jbo4547 look at the case of Jean-Kevin Augustin involving Leeds

[@VillaFanDan92]

The Delph statement hurt even more because 90% of his Villa career before that, he was sitting in the physio room, injured on very decent wages for a player of his age, in a Villa team that was struggling financially at the time.

[@sukhdevr3489]

That's the same case with him now. He's a fairly useful player when fit but only plays 5-10 times a season. Not worth it at all for like 70k a week. Shocking signing.

[@lordbendtner6404]

A statue alongside Toni kroos

[@thewelshrocker101]

Okay, hear me out here. Top 7 most expensive free transfers. Who cost the most in agents fees, sign on fees and wages despite being a "free" transfer?

[@semipro2810]

I think the era of free transfers and high sign on fees is on it's way now. Mbape must be highest

[@emdad121]

Willian has to be the worst. 57 staff made redundant and he pocketed £11.44m then just left. Aaron Ramsey £400k a week to spend 2 years in the hospital 😅😅 AND lose Rangers the UEL.

[@drogba8722]

Alaba. I know for a fact that he costed Real Madrid fortune to sign.

[@seandelap6268]

I can remember thinking at the time that Wayne Rooney was really going to leave Man Utd until he signed a new contract but in hindsight when you look at the direction the club has gone since Alex Fergusson left he actually had a point things may well change with Ten Hag at the helm but its mostly been rash ill thought out decisions and blatant incompetence by the Man Utd board for the past decade which is why they have fallen so far behind in the league.

[@hmoham]

It was quite the saga, I remember at the time some of my friends and family hating Rooney because he wanted to leave and another set convinced this was a ploy between Fergie and Rooney to get the Glazers to cough up some money and make proper signings. Seeing how after he signed a new deal we came second only on goal difference, and then win the league, before everything going downhill I'm more inclined to believe the latter was the case.

[@gatshenimpongo4171]

We need to apologize to Rooney... He was right 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@Mad_Intalect]

People forget though, when he wanted to leave he was probably playing some of the worst football in his career until "that goal" against City. He played a decent role in the under-performing United team then.

[@xedyir_oZZ]

Can't wait CEO Mbappe's first signing 😃

[@DomenBremecXCVI]

Having Rooney join Real Madrid in my 2010 PES career mode, I sometimes still think he played there... Like, if you wake me up at 3am and ask me if he ever played for them, I might actually say yes.

[@tilburg8683]

Hey wake up! Did rooney play for real Madrid?

[@TheMightofDab]

Rooney being 24 in 2010 sounds absolutely insane. It's mad just how early he peaked.

[@georgehall7059]

The build up to the trolling of Le Tiss was absolutely spot fucking on

[@tlawal7]

Bosman, Neymar and Mbappr are 4 signing who have (and will) change football transfers and negotiations. If you haven't done a documentary on the Bosman deal I would really appreciate if you did.

[@justhuy7960]

yeah I would love to watch docu about Bosman's transfer saga, especially the aftermath, how this saga help lot of players around the world but sadly not himself

[@DaybreakPT]

Neymar was so expensive he counts as 2 signings.

[@zulu9812]

Mo Johnston? Rejecting a move back to Celtic and signs for Rangers instead. Extremely controversial.

[@Sandwich13455]

I thought it was definitely going to be included here!

[@jatinchadha8141]

I can’t forget the transfer window when Barcelona signed Malcom when he was on his way to board the flight to Rome to join Roma.

[@lewis657]

You've honestly never uploaded a bad video in my opinion, thanks for all the quality content 👏🏽

[@AB-rp6ik]

"No, it is bitterness that fuels me in life, and I refuse to move on." I feel seen.

[@hansnase364]

Showing a picture of Gerd Müller while asking "Where was I?" is a pretty dark but also pretty funny bit of subtle humour.

[@Thomas_Bergel]

i am surprised that not more people noticed it!

[@kibakurosaki]

Do a part 2! Thanks for the great video and content as always 👍

[@richardprocter8012]

Couldn’t believe Mo Johnston wasn’t on the list Alfie 💚🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💚

[@wasgzzak8837]

Mo Johnston. One of the most controversial transfers of all time in football. And it’s missing. It changed Scotland as a country forever among other madness. So please discuss in future Alfie.

[@shanemcgaley8322]

David Beckham (Man Utd/Barcelona/Real Madrid). One of the signings that started the Glatico era at Real Madrid.

[@siwi2041]

It started with Figo. Beckham was basically the last Galactico

[@Edelweiss1102]

It started with Figo in 2000, followed by Zizou in 2001 and Ronaldo in 2002. Beckham was either the 2nd last or even last Galactico in 2003 depending on if you count Owen in 2004 or not.

[@ihateorphans]

I support your theory, Alfie. There is no way a real human being has the surname Le Tissier.

[@sejn195]

amogus

[@kozukizaki8675]

Nice vid Alfie, highly recommend an Atlas of Guadalajara documentary as they're about to go from no title in 70 years, to potentially doing a double in back to back seasons.

[@89jersy]

Don’t know if it would have a whole lot of appeal but 7 best former pl players to play in MLS (taking into account how the performed in MLS too). Wayne Rooney came to my hometown club and turned out fortunes around for two seasons

[@gian3008]

D.C., represent! 🙌

[@bimanatawilaga7509]

in NBA, they have LeBron nickname as 'LeGM' due to his often influence in every player signing decision in his team I wonder what we should call to the new PSG co-GM Kylian Mbappe 😂

[@salvadoracosta4510]

LeGMbappe

[@Noobie2k7]

GMbappe

[@smv1990]

Loving the content as always, brother. Keep it up! Also, a possible video idea: Whether it's just England or anywhere in the world, a list of the seven lowest points totals to avoid relegation. Was playing Football Manager and seen some teams that were almost as bad as that infamous Derby side (in their respective leagues), which eventually led me on a train of thought to that question. I know with the PL it's said every season about the lesser teams needing to reach "the magic 40 point mark" - but I wanna know what tragic end of season tally a team has had that's remarkably been enough for them to survive.

[@sidosh2229]

Day 31: Considering that the last player who played in the miracle of Bern died about 6 months ago, I would really like to see a video about the whole story between Germany and Hungary, especially because it

[@jza78]

You had me at “MbappeLand”😂😂

[@MillhouseSpeaks]

Fc Barcelona saying they’ll keep Messi but the biggest U Turn!

[@debayanbhunia7084]

Keeping Messi the season before was also one u turn

[@WERTYUIO821]

@@debayanbhunia7084 It wasn't a U-turn. Barcelona had a contract with Messi and they didn't want to let him go. It doesn't matter what the players say in those cases

[@shweetbetta5846]

@@WERTYUIO821 what about the clause that said he could leave for free or reasonable amount at end of any season ?

[@WERTYUIO821]

@@shweetbetta5846 The clause had a deadline so Barcelona would have the time to replace him. Messi asked to leave after the deadline which made him a Barcelona player for at least another year.

[@shweetbetta5846]

@@WERTYUIO821 that is because they didt let him go. also shows why they didnt.

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 326) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

[@radulescuremus9159]

Ozil probably the best , Lehman also…

[@gian3008]

A few years later...

[@kristianfjelde7897]

I REALLY enjoyed the jokes around Mbappe in the start, absolutely hilarious! And your anecdote about Wayne Rooney and Chinese takeaway made me laugh a bit hard. Really good and funny video today!

[@simongreenwood445]

That isn't sheik mansour by the way, that is Shawn Wright Phillips . . . And mark hughes 😂 keep it up Alfie, another bru you make me laugh out my nose😂 cheers

[@torernning8652]

Good luck reaching 500k soon. Goes to show that hard work and a dash of quirkness appeals to the masses.

[@frankunodostres473]

I'm glad mbappe stayed at psg. money aside, real madrid have been very arrogant lately (or always?) and it's important that a world class player showed that you CAN decide against joining them. there is no single club in the world bigger, better and more attractive than the rest. and that is a good thing. it's good if young players set themselves goals but those should differ. it would be boring and in a way harmful if every kid "dreamt of one day playing for real madrid". also mbappe is an important figure for the french league. losing him would've been a big blow for ligue 1

[@denigster]

you re maybe the best you tube channel ever - your work is amazing - keep on and i m not really even a football fan anymore

[@SilliusSodus]

8:54 He hates Tottenham, he hates Tottenham, he hates Tottenham and he hates Tottenham.

[@BALHAM69]

22:36 on this day 2005 good timing Alfie 😊

[@Jakeyt573]

Hey Mate, could you do a video of the top 7 controversial nation changes. Like at the moment there is a fair bit of controversy in Australian football with Christian Volpato choosing Italy over Australia

[@benjeffery9958]

Massively surprised to see that the David Beckham from man utd to Barcelona that ended up being to real Madrid... that was huge and remember Barcelona believing he was practically there's.

[@craigmurphy1204]

Ian Harte moving to St Mirren in 2009. He turned the car around in Gretna, and signed for Carlisle United instead. That one hurt.

[@abelardions7600]

17:04 cheeky product placement there, Alfie😂😂😂

[@cfcmoi]

An another cracking video 👏

[@lmfsilva3000]

One that may have had a large impact on modern football, Mario Jardel in 2001. A return to Porto was in the cards, arrived in the airport with a scarf but allegedly coach Octávio Machado boycotted the move (another possibility, the medical team found out his drug problem was getting much worse), and he ended up at Sporting, where he would have another massive season and lead them to the title, as Porto had a catastrophic one, with a poorly built, mostly unmotivated squad with bizarre tactical choices, so by the end of January with the team already out of contention for the league, knocked out of the cup, pretty much done in the CL GS2 and the captain loaned out after severe disagreements, Octávio was fired and to replace him, the club hired a certain former Bobby Robson assistant that was having a dream season at Leiria.

[@bbcmotd]

7 best clubs with "hull" or "city" in their names

[@donshmeezy6662]

Are you telling me Fabian Delph went to Citeh because he wanted to win the Champions league? What a chump 😭😂

[@pirotessc1811]

Part 2 would be nice :D

[@drewmilavec9383]

not a paid actor but the book was super good! highly recommend if you enjoy this channel

[@jshall14]

Another interesting thing about the Adelphi transfer is that he just signed a new contract six months prior. The player and club made a huge deal about the signing at the time. However, Delph and his agent put in a comically low buyout of £8m. The fee was better than nothing, but the buyout showed the extension was a farce from the beginning.

[@GorgeDawes]

The daft thing is, if he had just left at the end of the season I really don’t think it would have been that controversial. His contract extension gave a big boost to the mood around the club when it happened and his performances in the second half of the season were a huge factor in us staying up and reaching the FA Cup Final (although the less said about the actual final the better). Once it became clear that the extension was only to ensure that Villa received some kind of fee for him when he left, most fans would have been grateful that he had bothered to do even that, were it not for his whole kiss-the-badge “this is my club” routine.

[@lemigod4475]

A 500 foot statue lol! you so witty Alfie,enjoy your videos and insight on all things football sagas.

[@larssveinsson]

You should do a video of 7biggest transfers ruled by a third party

[@thacrypt223]

My first video idea: which team would dominate European football if transfers were frozen for let's say 5 years at a time, forcing clubs to utilise their youth squad?

[@od9694]

Video suggestion: 7 biggest player/manager fall outs.

[@mahatma1989]

Becks and Fergie.

[@od9694]

@@mahatma1989 keane and fergie Keane and McCarthy I feel a lot of the same names would come up

[@jackclements9205]

Need some kind of video on the Catalunya Vs Jamaica game or even just that Catalunya side, some decent players in that team

[@liamfeely]

The fact Mo Johnson is not included in this shows how much this guy knows lol

[@LB1973]

Mo Johnston not being on the list is a massive oversight. In 1989 The Ex Celtic player was to resign with Celtic from a two year spell in Nantes to the point that he even turned up at a press conference in Celtic gear with about two weeks to go in the 1988/9 season. Rangers manager Graeme Souness saw that press conference and in a chance meeting with Johnstons agent Bill McMurdo at a game a week later he said why didn't you tell me Mo was available? McMurdo replied why, would you be interested? and so started the biggest turn in football history. Johnston at this point was at a Celtic game supporting Celtic v St Mirren! Souness then met Johnston in secret in Paris after the cup final where he had been in the Celtic end watching them beat Rangers and persuaded him to join Rangers!! and become the first openly Catholic Rangers player since the first world war (he actually had good reasons for breaking that unwritten rule in that FIFA were cracking down on sectarian clubs and he wanted Rangers not to get in trouble with them) and only the second ever to play for both clubs. Johnston then went to Celtic and said no deal but Celtic had already started paying his fee (about 400k of it) FIFA even ended up involved basically saying he was a Celtic player. Billy McNeill the Celtic manager was willing to beach him and he wouldn't be able to play for anyone but eventually the board relented and he was paraded at Ibrox to the shock of all Old Firm supporters. I remember being in France with the school at the time and the news blew as all away. So Johnston was a Rangers player and boy were some of the support not happy cue some scarfs being burnt and season tickets threatened to be ripped up even Jimmy Bell made Johnston arrange his own kit... That is until he scored the winner in the November Old Firm game winning a lot of Rangers fans over. So a boyhood Celtic fan that had played for the club was about to resign for them changed his mind somehow (£ough) and crossed over to their biggest Rivals breaking a 70 year old divide in the middle of the troubles and thats not the biggest U turn ever??

[@bobinscotland]

I photographed Mo in one of his first games in a pre-season friendly at Kilmarnock. One of my best pics of him later was when he was being marked by Oleg Kuznetsov and Alexei Mikhailitchenko pre-season against Dinamo Kiev... both those players later joining Rangers.

[@Ebuka957]

Delph story had me 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@asenkochanov1877]

'Where was I' and that Gerd Mueller picture was tough.

[@HITCSevens]

Hope that wasn't interpreted as me making a reference to his Alzheimer's, Asen, it wasn't meant that way - I just wanted a photo of someone in football looking as though they were deep in thought. Thought I'd best clarify that!

[@asenkochanov1877]

@@HITCSevens That was a necessary clarification - I am not usually one to jump to conclusions but the connection seemed obvious. Not that I care, but others might. Keep up the good work :)

[@hierkonnteihrewerbungstehe3426]

Alfie: "Where were I?" Also Alfie: showing a picture of Gerd Müller Great shithousery 😂

[@WERTYUIO821]

18:32 His fondness of Atletico Madrid to be more precise.

[@sfus5354]

Atlético Aviación at the time. The team of the army. Franco’s team.

[@CharlesOffdensen]

Berbatov was on a plane to Florence when he decided to sign for Fulham. A newspaper literally said: Berbatov is already in Florence and he's deal with Fiorentina is 99.99% sure.

[@louielouie95]

Video Request-What On Earth Is Going On At Cagliari?

[@thomaskendell8146]

The Le Tiss conspiracy jokes 😂😂😂👍

[@samuelschonenberger]

You're welcome Alfie, I didn't know I was considered a friend and I don't remember recommending this video idea

[@BadgerOfTheSea]

It's kind of sweet how many South American footballers have their dad as their agent.

[@Leo4gzs]

Actually, I’ve been watching your videos for months and I assumed I was subscribed but I wasn’t. So thanks for the reminder 😂

[@ohsnap1781]

Starting to think Alfie is a cyborg sent from outer space

[@drewgarvie08091976]

What's happened to England's badge on the team's shirts @ 21:21 ? Copyright ?

[@briangomez9119]

Hey Alfie do a 7 of the best players with the most 2nd place finishes!!

[@kenyichoy5578]

I remember Malcom. Roma fans were waiting at the airport only for him to appear at the Barcelona airport the next day

[@tookhertotheo7803]

They had those hull city billboards up Anlaby Road, is this pic taken there, Alfie?

[@mashiah1]

Day 15: Best XI who never played in the world cup (excluding those who played before the first world cup in 1930)

[@booradley6832]

2:30 cmon dude dont make me play age of empires 2 by putting the dock bell in the sfx.

[@nille_fca6689]

How about the best and worst summer transfer windows by a club?

[@mallabhai3906]

Can u make video about overnight surprise signing like Torres to Chelsea.

[@ElCooler]

Franco literally saved barça from bankruptcy and madrid used to be the team of the republic so he wasnt really a fan of them

[@louielouie95]

Video Request-What On Earth Is Going On Genoa?

[@louielouie95]

Video Request-What On Earth Is Going On At Metz?

[@louielouie95]

Video Request-What On Earth Is Going On Scunthorpe United?

[@Rohcket]

I remember morata to united was noted on his wikipedia page and then chelsea signed him afterwards

[@Deenaziamazinjg14]

Wiki can be edited by anyone that’s the problem

[@Ndhavuko_nyiko]

Spurs are always getting them shots from Alfie 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@FozzQuaker]

Would you ever give that period of Colombia breaking from FIFA the Sevens treatment at some point

[@ivaneurope]

Weird hearing Gabriel Obertan and Manchester United in the same breath. He played in the Bulgarian First League for a while for Levski Sofia.

[@jhaych]

He was dreadful

[@jacknelson927]

U should make a vid on financial fair play

[@TGFLdn24]

Asprilla coating off the Darlington chairman live on sky sports news was the greatest and funniest u turn I have witnessed 😂😂😂

[@Thomas_Bergel]

0:54 holy cow that joke is dark as hell...

[@robingronwald7993]

10/10 Intro

[@mdma2078]

1:39 come on mate don't diss us as well 🇲🇦🤣

[@michaelward5370]

I would like to see you do a 7 players who played for Celtic/Rangers, and went on to play for massive teams! Such as Henrik Larrson to Barcelona, or Rino Gattusso at AC Milan!!

[@bobinscotland]

Yes... and that list would include a certain Virgil Van Dijk.

[@michaelward5370]

@@bobinscotland, that was one of the first names I thought of! But also there's Mikel Arteta, Victor Wanyama, Ronald DeBoer, etc!!

[@bricktop.]

So now Mbappe is the king of France will we see him at world leader summits? " We will halt the war on Ukraine using stepovers and pace combined with Cryuff turns wherever possible".

[@bestyoueverhad.2408]

These videos are really good, they're just waaaay too long imo. make them shorter like before 10mins-15mins max.

[@ParksandPosh]

My god just how accurate was Alfie about le tissier given the utter bollocks he’s currently spouting

[@THEKILLERWHALE]

Hi Alfie. I would not mind a "What is wrong with PSG's team building strategy" video. I say this because RM have locked in their midfield for the next decade-plus by buying young French players from other Ligue 1 sides, which really should be PSG's approach. It is hard to look at that PSG midfield and not wonder how much better this team would be with Camavinga and Tchouameni in there instead of the drunks, has-beens and never-weres that they are currently trotting out.

[@OriginalAimbot]

If Willian wanted money, he wouldn't have walked out of Arsenals contract.

[@wagwanbennydj6003]

Plugged your channel twice today ;) gowan Alfie x

[@arzhi_azis]

Day 264: Indonesia XI If All Eligible Players Had Declared For Them.

[@hi-rr2vm]

Keep dreaming bocah

[@felixidadex]

greetings from Panama alfie

[@JLeppert]

The American hospital joke was too real.

[@matteogumpold8236]

the gerd müller joke was dark

[@johnchimbani8473]

That is’nt Shejk Mansour, its Shaun Wright Philips and Mark Hughs…Thanks for clarifying alfie😂😂😂😂

[@graudevicio8568]

Hey mate, how about a video about why Brazilian players start to fall out of shape when they reach their thirties?

[@Joe-xf5ot]

2:40 .... They are inexplicably getting longer