SANDRO TONALI AND 11 OTHER PLAYERS WHO MOVED CLUBS AGAINST THEIR WILL
It is normally assumed that football transfers are all about the desires of the moving player, unfortunately this isn’t always the case.
Sadro Tonali’s move to Newcastle has raised this topic of conversation, with the Italian looking less than happy at his new club.
Reports have even emerged that the midfielder broke down in tears once he learned of his move from AC Milan, the team he supported as a child.
Needing to raise funds and unable to turn down the offer, Milan parted ways with their star player.
Footage has emerged online of Tonali taking a look at the gym of his new club where he looks less than impressed.
It may just be people reading into the situation too much or the fact that some Italian players are famous for not feeling too pleased at leaving their home country.
This begs the question, have there ever been any other players to have transferred clubs without being overly enthusiastic about it?
We take a look at the players to have done just that.
Ángel Di María
Manchester United paid a British record fee at the time for the Argentinian’s services.
That did not translate on the pitch however as Di Maria looked miserable almost from the get-go.
A few promising performances at the start of the season soon became fleeting memories as he only spent one year in England and only found the back of the net three times.
More than happy to depart cold and rainy Manchester, the winger moved to PSG the following summer.
Almost as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, he immediately started to perform at a higher level once again at his new club.
Yaya Touré
It almost seemed personal between Touré and Pep Guardiola as the Spaniard sold him on two different occasions.
First at Barcelona, he used him as a defender because he couldn’t see him as any use in the midfield role he went on to conquer at Manchester City.
Selling the Ivorian to City was a move that made sense for all parties involved, and really kick-started Touré’s success in the engine room.
He probably never expected to cross paths with Guardiola once more at the English club. The pair worked together for two years at City, but it never felt like something that would last.
But that is exactly what happened and once again, Touré was moved along.
David De Gea
The final player left to have won a Premier League title at Manchester United, De Gea looked set to extend his 12-year stay at the club.
His contract was set to expire, although fresh terms had been offered to him, and he reportedly verbally agreed to the deal.
According to The Athletic, the club decided to go back on their offer and not grant the goalkeeper a new contract.
Even after a good season, that saw him win the Golden Glove award, the club decided to go in a new direction with a new goalkeeper set to be signed.
This is a bizarre case, in the fact that Ozil has actually been forced out of two different clubs.
Firstly, Mikel Arteta was tasked with reducing the Arsenal wage bill and Ozil became a casualty due to this reason.
He also did not help himself, after making political comments that saw him frozen out at the Emirates.
The next destination for the German maestro was Fenerbache.
Maybe a sign towards his personality or attitude came just one year later as he was exiled once again from the squad.
Luis Suárez
209 goals in 304 games is an absolutely incredible tally by anyone’s standards, and that is exactly what Suárez contributed during his time at Barcelona.
Always one to wear his heart on his sleeve, the Uruguayan made his feelings known when he was forced out of the Nou Camp by incoming manager, Ronald Koeman.
Feeling his time at the club had been cut short lit a fire beneath the fiery striker, and he moved to fellow La Liga club, Atletico Madrid.
Suárez eventually had the last laugh after firing his new team to the title in the following season at the expense of his former employers.
Joe Hart
There seems to be a common theme surrounding Guardiola.
He likes to show his authority by bringing in players he knows he can trust and this sometimes comes at the expense of players that have previously done well for a club.
Hart was England’s top goalkeeper and a vital part of Man City’s first few league title wins.
A brilliant shot-stopper and a leader in the dressing room, Hart was not even given a chance once the Spanish boss took over.
Claudio Bravo was the man earmarked to take over the number one shirt when Hart moved on loan to Torino.
The Chile international proved to be the wrong choice as he struggled during his time in the Premier League.
Damaged confidence from this situation has appeared to impact Hart for the rest of his career, although he has now found a settled home at Celtic.
Iker Casillas
Legendary goalkeeper, Casillas, served Real Madrid admirably for the majority of his long and successful career.
Winning league titles and Champions Leagues during his tenure, the way he left the club was not befitting of his legacy.
Manager at the time, Carlo Ancelotti, had lost faith in Casillas and had dropped him for league matches in 2015.
The Spanish goalkeeper’s parents have come out to say that Florentino Perez was a driving force behind getting Casillas out of the club.
He went on to represent Porto for the remainder of his career, and even suffered a health scare before retiring.
Jaap Stam
Never get on Sir Alex Ferguson’s bad side, is the moral of the story here.
The big Dutchman was a sensation at Old Trafford.
Versatile and extremely talented, Stam impressed in a number of different roles and played a big part in multiple league title successes, as well as the famous treble in 1998/99.
All was going well until he released an autobiography, in which he made some comments that angered the Scottish manager.
As a result, Stam was shipped off to Lazio for a fee of £16.5 million.
Alex Song
It is not often that you hear about a player being against a move to Barcelona.
The Catalan club are often viewed as one of the two biggest destinations for most players, with Real Madrid being the other.
In past decades, many players grew up with the goal of reaching the heights of either of the Spanish giants.
Alex Song did not see this as the case when he made the move to Spain in 2012 from Arsenal as he preferred the idea of staying put in London.
Cameroonian international, Song, made it clear that his decision was purely financial after failing to be offered an improved deal by the Gunners.
A significant pay rise to move to Barcelona was enough to convince the midfielder, even though he knew he would not be a regular starter.
Pepe Reina
Reina sent out an open letter to Liverpool fans that read: “Although it was not my decision to leave, I will accept it just like I have always accepted any decision that Liverpool have taken for me.”
This was after the club decided to send the shot-stopper out on loan to Napoli in Serie A.
Simon Mignolet was brought in to replace the Spaniard and the writing was on the wall for him going forward.
A charismatic figure and a brilliant goalkeeper on his day, Reina would never play for the Reds again after falling firmly out of favour with Brendan Rodgers.
The move to Naples was sanctioned before Reina even knew about it and this is the biggest issue he took with the move.
Rodgers clearly felt it was time for a change in the goalkeeping position, but the situation could have been handled a lot better on everyone’s part.
Andy Carroll
£35 million does not seem like a big investment in today’s ludicrous transfer market, but in 2011 it represented Liverpool’s record fee paid for any player in their history.
Andy Carroll was a promising young striker coming through at Newcastle and had even scored against the reds earlier in the season.
In January 2011, Fernando Torres famously ditched Anfield to move to Chelsea in a £50 million transfer.
This left Liverpool scrambling to replace their former number nine, and Carroll was the man identified.
He was the man in-form in the league at the time, but reportedly did not want to leave his boyhood club.
