Before the transfer window opens, clubs usually identify which areas they need to strengthen and then choose the player/s that fill the required positions. In most cases, there aren't any problems as the player usually has preference as to where they want to go.
Other times, however, other clubs enter into the race and ultimately win the race to their signature. This happened a few days ago when Chelsea hijacked Arsenal's attempts to Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers. The fee agreed was reported as £117 million.
There have been other high profile hijacks.
Arsenal’s successful attempt to sign Eberechi Eze from under Tottenham’s nose has sparked fierce social media reactions, but this represents just the latest chapter in a long tradition of transfer hijacking. Both North London clubs have previously fallen victim to such cunning maneuvers, while others have perfected the dark art of last-minute swoops.
The practice of intercepting rival clubs’ transfer targets has become increasingly sophisticated in modern football. What once required simple phone calls and handshake agreements now involves complex financial packages, agent negotiations and strategic timing that can turn done deals upside down.
These dramatic interventions often create lasting animosity between clubs and players; while fundamentally altering career trajectories in ways that couldn’t have been predicted when initial agreements were reached.
Emmanuel Petit joined Arsenal in the summer of 1997 in circumstances that left Tottenham fuming.
The internet was still so embryonic that almost all football obsessives got their transfer news from the back pages, or Ceefax at a push. Forget rolling news, or on-the-hour updates going from ‘concrete talks’ to ‘here we go confirmed’.
So the wider public were considerably more in the dark when it came to Petit’s move to North London. The behind-the-scenes machinations were no less dramatic – albeit a fair bit more quaint.
"Tottenham put the contract on the table for me, I needed a couple of days to think about it but they didn’t expect what happened after that," Petit reminisced in a 2018 interview with the Daily Mirror.
"When the cab came, he took me straight to Arsene Wenger’s house, it was the first time I met David Dein and Tottenham paid for the cab to help me sign for Arsenal. It’s part of the legend now."
The French midfielder was immediately a key cog for Wenger’s Gunners as they became a serious, title-winning force.
Mykhail Mudryk was compared to top footballers and labeled one of Europe’s most promising young wingers. The Ukrainian’s name appeared almost daily in transfer gossip columns during the first half of the 2022/23 season.
He openly expressed love for Arsenal on social media and the Gunners seemed ready to sign him in the January window until Chelsea suddenly appeared with a superior offer.
Shakhtar CEO, Sergei Palkin, explained to The Athletic: "Overall, it was the same proposal. But Chelsea and Arsenal’s offers had different payment schedules, different types of bonuses. Yes, you can always talk about bonuses, but these bonuses must be achievable and realistic. Therefore, in this case, Chelsea acted much more seriously and fairly in some aspects."
Arsenal might consider this case fortunate, given Mudryk’s struggles at Stamford Bridge.
John Obi Mikel to Chelsea became the template for all subsequent high-profile Blues hijackings. Mikel signed with Manchester United as a teenager but Chelsea intervened. The situation could have escalated into a messy legal battle but Sir Alex Ferguson refused engagement, accepting Mikel’s choice.
John Obi recalled on TNT Sports’ What I Wore program: "When they saw I’d signed with United, they refused to release me and said they’d fight. FIFA couldn’t resolve this issue and force both teams to back down, the English Football Association intervened, then I had a personal meeting with Fergie. He said he wanted to meet me alone, without others, for 30 minutes, believing he could convince me to join Manchester United. We met, but he couldn’t change my mind, and after that everything was finished."
Moises Caicedo to Chelsea represented the largest hijacking. Liverpool made their then-record transfer offer exceeding £100 million to sign the Ecuadorian midfielder in 2023. Liverpool’s actions forced Chelsea to raise the stakes; matching the offer and completing the deal. Ultimately, the choice belonged to Caicedo, who had an excellent season afterward.
Caicedo told Sky Sports: "I negotiated with Chelsea for a long time. Refusing was impossible because they pursued me long-term and supported me. I suffered greatly that summer because leaving Brighton was difficult. They maintained constant contact, Liverpool called me at the last moment, but it was too late because I already wanted to play for Chelsea. Saying ‘no’ to Chelsea was difficult."
If anything, that could’ve been considered a hijacking as Chelsea had been ahead of the Reds in negotiations.
It was late on a Friday evening in the summer of 1993 when Nottingham Forest starlet Roy Keane shook hands with Blackburn Rovers boss Kenny Dalglish on a transfer to Ewood Park. The Scottish manager requested that the contract be drawn up and signed right away but every member of his club's admin team had wrapped up for the day. As a result, pen could not be put to paper until the following Monday.
By that stage, though, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson had both called and met Keane in person; convincing him to accept a smaller salary to move to Old Trafford instead. The news didn't go down well in Blackburn. "Nobody does this to Kenny Dalglish," the Liverpool legend told the 21-year-old Irishman. "You're a wee b*stard and you won't get away with this."
Keane subsequently admitted that he was looking over his shoulder for some time after the snub,and also "felt bad" about going back on his word. However, he had no real regrets and went on to become one of the greatest captains in United's history. Years later, even Dalglish admitted while sitting alongside the former midfielder on a television panel that Keane had probably made the right call.
Sir Alex Ferguson thought Paul Gascoigne was the most talented player England had produced since Bobby Charlton; so the Scot was feeling pretty pleased with himself after getting the Newcastle midfielder's word that he would be a Manchester United player by the time Ferguson returned from his holiday in Malta in the summer of 1988.
However, two days after striking a verbal agreement with Fergsuon, Gascoigne was contacted by Spurs chairman, Irving Scholar. According to the former England international, his father told him, "Tell them to f*ck off, you're signing for Man United."
Scholar was undeterred and allegedly promised his father £120 000 if Gascoigne signed for Spurs. When this offer was passed on, Gascoigne's father asked, "What are you waiting for then, son?!'"
The incentives didn't end there, either. Gascoigne claims that Scholar also agreed to buy his father "a BMW soft top with a private reg", his mother a mouse and his sister a sunbed.
When Ferguson learned of Gascoigne's move to Tottenham while still on holiday, he was fuming and refused to speak to the play for years; always adamant that the lovable but troubled Geordie had "made a big mistake" turning down the chance to work with him at Old Trafford. Gascoigne even acknowledged that himself, famously quipping, "My sister should have just got a spray tan and I would have a few more medals!"
A shining star in Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk, Willian had established himself as one of the most sought-after talents, attracting interest from several European heavyweights.
After moving from Ukraine to Russia and Anzhi Makhachkala in the 2013 January transfer window, the Russian side were forced to transfer list the Brazilian due to financial problems.
Spurs, under Andre Villas-Boas, in 2013, had agreed a £30 million fee with the Russian side and even arranged Willian's flight to London.
Yet, in one of the most dramatic failed football transfers, the Brazilian, who was never meant to don the blue of Chelsea — as he had already completed his medical at the Tottenham Hotspur training centre — was a few minutes away from signing the final contract when everything changed.
While at the training centre, Willian's agent informed him of Chelsea's interest. According to reports, Roman Abramovich personally called Anzhi Makhachkala owner, Suleyman Kerimov, to match the bid — eventually paying around £32 million.
The intervention swayed Willian's decision, leaving him at the facility for hours as Tottenham's directors desperately tried to convince him to sign but their attempts ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Chelsea's last-minute transfer steal for Willian was so memorable that it inspired the club's fans to create a song in his honour.
"The s*** from Spurs, they bought his flight, But Willian he saw the light, He got the call from Abramovich, And off he went to Stamford Bridge. He hates Tottenham, he hates Tottenham"
Willian would go on to win two Premier League titles, the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, and the UEFA Europa League during seven years at Chelsea, registering 63 goals and 62 assists in 339 appearances for the West London side.Barcelona's transfer deadline day drama involving Bordeaux attacking midfielder Malcom remains one of the biggest transfer hijacks in football history.
What made the saga of Malcom particularly remarkable was that the deal was not unfolding behind closed doors — it played out in full public view, with AS Roma having already announced an agreement and their supporters eagerly anticipating the Brazilian's arrival.
In the summer of 2018, the 21-year-old Brazilian winger was one of the most highly rated young talents in European football after an excellent season in Ligue 1 that saw him score 12 goals that campaign.
His impressive performances attracted interest from several clubs but AS Roma appeared to have won the race after sporting director Monchi spent weeks negotiating a deal with the French side.
Eventually, an agreement was reached and both clubs publicly confirmed the transfer on their social media platforms.
With the move seemingly complete, Roma arranged a private jet to fly Malcom to Italy that same evening, where he was scheduled to undergo his medical and finalise the transfer.
At the news of the confirmation and flight schedule, hundreds of Roma fans who wore club scarves, held up cameras and chanted Malcom's name; as they gathered at the airport terminal, eagerly anticipating the arrival of their new star
However, behind the scenes, Barcelona's executives were working hard to get a winger after failing to sign Willian from Chelsea. They then contacted Bordeaux and Malcom's agent, offering an improved €41 million package; outbidding the already agreed €36 million deal with Roma.
Just as the player was preparing to board the plane to Italy, Bordeaux's president called his representatives and delivered an ultimatum. He was eventually forbidden from travelling to Rome until Barcelona's bid was resolved.
Ultimately, the plane never landed and hundreds of stranded fans were forced to go back home in utter disbelief and heartbreak. The next day, Malcom flew to Spain instead and was officially announced as a Barcelona player.
Despite the immense corporate drama required to secure him, the wingers' move to Barcelona ultimately turned into a nightmare as he struggled to break into a star-studded forward line that featured Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembélé, as he registered just six La Liga starts during the entire season.
A year later, after the infamous transfer hijack, the Spanish giants cut their losses and sold him to Zenit St. Petersburg in August 2019.
There are numerous myths and rumours surrounding Real Madrid's hijacking of Alfredo di Stefano's seemingly agreed move to Barcelona. What we know for certain is that the deal was complicated by the fact that Di Stefano was playing for Colombian outfit, Millonarios, in 1953 while still technically owned by River Plate.
Ramon Trias Fargas, the Catalan lawyer entrusted with negotiating on Barca's behalf, also felt undermined by senior figures at the club, including president Marti Carreto - which led to allegations of a 'conspiracy orchestrated by Madrid with the blessing of the Spanish government'.
The whole affair grew even murkier when the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) suddenly banned the signing of foreign players but offered to make Di Stefano exempt from the ruling if Barca agreed to share him with Madrid. Under the terms of the proposal, Di Stefano would alternate between the two Clasico rivals at the end of every season. Barca agreed to do so but Caretto was forced to resign less than a week later due to the controversy caused by the absurd compromise in Catalunya.
In the end, the Blaugrana gave up on the deal in exchange for compensation from Madrid and were forced to watch on as Di Stefano transformed Los Blancos into the most dominant force in European football.
Manchester United did everything in their power to sign Ronaldinho during the 2003 summer transfer window. "The numbers were done," the club's former chief executive David Gill told Rio Ferdinand's VIBE with Five podcast.
Ronaldinho was also willing to move to Old Trafford, later revealing that the proposed transfer was less than 48 hours away from happening. However, a phone call from Sandro Rosell changed everything.
Ronaldinho was on great terms with the former Nike executive who had just helped Joan Laporta become Barcelona's new president. As part of their election campaign, Rosell and Laporta had promised to sign David Beckham from United. However, when the Englishman instead joined hated rivals Real Madrid, the Barca duo turned their attention to Ronaldinho.
"It was only a matter of details with United when Rosell called to say they were going to win the election there," Ronaldino explained. "And Rosell had asked me way before I got the United offer: 'If I become Barca president, will you come?' I said yes."
Consequently, Ronaldinho ended up at Camp Nou, an outcome Gill had feared from the moment Barca entered the fray.
"I just felt if Barcelona hadn't been there we'd have got him, as we had nearly all the deal done," Gill added. "With all due respect to the success of Manchester United, they were his first choice, so, I don't think it was anything we did wrong. It was just that Barcelona had come in. We were close but no cigar."
In the case of Dimitar Berbatov, the hijacker was hijacked. Manchester United were repeatedly linked with Berbatov during the summer of 2008; so much so in fact that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy filed a complaint with the Premier League over alleged quotes made about signing the Bulgarian by Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
The row rumbled on until deadline day, so Manchester City tried to swoop in and sign Berbatov from their rivals' noses by agreeing a £34m fee with Tottenham for their star striker. The only problem was that Berbatov had zero interest in joining City: "I told my agent: "F*ck off, we're going to United!"
So, while Spurs hadn't given Berbatov permission to speak to United, when he turned up at Manchester Airport on August 31, he was met not by City officials but Ferguson. "I thought that I was going to have a heart attack," the centre-forward admitted.
In the end, Spurs felt as if they were left with no option but to sanction the sale of Berbatov to United for £30.75m; with Fraizer Campbell going the other way on a season-long loan.
Manchester City's Abu Dhabi-based patrons went on the hunt for a statement signing in 2008 and Real Madrid's Robinho ticked all the boxes. After falling out of favour at Santiago Bernabeu, the Brazilian had made it clear that he wanted to move to the Premier League and was very open about the fact that he would relish working with compatriot and former Selecao coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, at Chelsea.
However, despite lengthy talks with the Blues, Robinho instead joined City for £32.5m on the final day of the summer transfer window. Even the forward had been left in a daze by the dramatic turnaround; as he expressed his delight at signing for Chelsea in his first interview with City!
When Chelsea signed Pedro from Barcelona in the summer of 2015, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal angrily denied that his club had actively tried to sign the Spain international.
"You can write what you want but we cannot say what we want - that is the difference," the Dutchman fumed. "I have the responsibility of the interest of my club, of my players and I cannot say too much. When you ask me 'is Pedro fitting in the profile?' I cannot lie and I say yes - but I did not say we are interested in the player. But you bring it that I'm interested. People have to know that what is writing in the papers is not true because you cannot know."
"Only the players know and the clubs know. Also, Barcelona protect their interests and I have read that Barcelona didn't want to let him go, so you should ask Barcelona how it is allowed to happen. It's like that and I have the idea that you want to separate (chief executive) Ed Woodward with me. Never. Every day I am updated by him and I trust him."
However, Pedro's agent Antonio Sanz told a very different story, alleging that not only did United want to sign his client, they failed to do so because of their own incompetence and inertia.
"Maybe Manchester United fell asleep," Sanz told Radio Club Tenerife. "The negotiation with Chelsea was like a lightning bolt. It is common knowledge that United were in the bidding for Pedro, but Chelsea were faster and within 24 hours reached an agreement with the club. It was a whirlwind."
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was literally about to sign for Fiorentina on 25 July 2015, when the Serbian broke down in tears at the Viola's headquarters, confessing, "I'm sorry but I can't. I really can't."
Viola sporting director Daniele Prade was as annoyed as he was astounded and he refused to try to change the midfielder's mind.
"We reached an agreement with both Genk and the player but he arrived today and is still hesitant. We can't wait for a 20-year-old anymore," Prade told Violanews.com. "We do not need to convince nor beg for someone to come here. The lad made it clear he still needs to think about it and asked to speak to his girlfriend before deciding, but anyone who comes here has to have that fire in their belly."
"It's not professional behaviour and we can't hang around waiting for him. Is it a definitive end to negotiations? At the moment there is no reason to open them again. We're done. He has these personal issues and probably another club behind him too."
The latter statement was a very obvious reference to Lazio, who had also been pursuing Milinkovic-Savic for months and rather unsurprisingly announced his arrival at Stadio Olimpico just over a week later.
Manchester City were so sure that Dani Alves was on his way to the Etihad in the summer of 2017 that they promised journalists a sit-down interview with the Brazilian once he joined up with the club for pre-season fixtures in the United States.
However, even though he had agreed a two-year contract and held talks with manager Pep Guardiola in Barcelona, Alves performed a dramatic U-turn on the weekend of his wedding by secretly signing for Paris Saint-Germain while City officials were still expecting him to arrive in Manchester the following week.
City were outraged and they weren't alone, as Juventus had only released him from the final years of his contract as he had claimed to be desperate to play for his former Barca boss Guardiola one more time.
As for the man himself, Alves claimed that he had simply put his new bride first by choosing Paris over Manchester and insisted that the bigger wage packet at Parc des Princes hadn't been a factor in his decision.
"It was all done to go to Manchester City but it didn't happen because of a family decision," he told Sky Sports. "For me, it was a shame not to work with Guardiola again because he knows I adore him, but at the same time it was a new challenge, which is what changed my mind."
Jorginho admitted in an interview with Brazilian YouTuber Ale Oliveira in February 2022, "I wasn't supposed to go to Chelsea. I was supposed to have arrived at another club. Another English club."
The club in question was Manchester City, who, as GOAL revealed at the time, were left furious when the Italy international moved to Stamford Bridge in July 2018 rather than the Etihad, as they believed that Jorginho had been "bullied" into the move by Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis.
City had agreed terms with both the player and the Serie A side a fortnight beforehand but were left astounded by what they viewed as "an unprecedented level of unprofessionalism" when De Laurentiis reneged on the deal in order to allegedly make Jorginho a part of the same deal that saw coach Maurizio Sarri leave Napoli for Chelsea.
De Laurentiis, for his part, claimed that the defensive midfielder simply favoured living in London over Manchester, but Jorginho's agent, Joao Santos, told Football Italia that his client joining Chelsea rather than City was "Napoli's choice."
"They were negotiating with Manchester City but then they began talks with Chelsea, and that's where we ended up," he explained matter-of-factly. "We have nothing against Manchester City. Playing there under Pep Guardiola would have been satisfying, but that's how transfers work."
Alexis Sanchez looked destined to sign for Manchester City during the summer of 2017, with Arsenal only blocking the transfer because of their inability to find a suitable replacement. As January approached, though, the Gunners were ready to cash in on the Chilean, who had only six months left on his contract and a move to the Etihad appeared a formality; with personal terms having already been agreed.
However, Manchester United then offered to make Sanchez the highest-paid player in the Premier League and the forward instead moved to Old Trafford for approximately £35m. Sanchez has always insisted that his move wasn't motivated by money but the chance to wear the No.7 shirt at United promised to him by then-manager Jose Mourinho.
"That's when I said to myself, Chilean footballer playing for Manchester United, something that has never happened," he explained. "And with the seven of Eric Cantona, David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo... It was a dream."
Unfortunately, his time at United was a nightmare, and Sanchez left for Inter in 2019 after scoring just three Premier League goals in 32 appearances for the Red Devils.
It would be hard to downplay the significance of Eberechi Eze joining Arsenal over Tottenham. Not since Sol Campbell appeared without warning at a press conference alongside Arsene Wenger has a transfer caused so much consternation and excitement in north London.
Spurs thought they had Eze in the bag. They'd agreed a fee with Crystal Palace and personal terms with the player. Chairman Daniel Levy rather understandably thought the deal was done.
However, as it transpired, Spurs would be brutally punished - and humiliated - for failing to conclude the transfer sooner because Arsenal suddenly reignited their interest in Eze as soon as it emerged that forward Kai Havertz might be facing an extended period on the sidelines due to a knee injury.
From that moment on, Spurs were doomed. They knew they had no chance of convincing Eze to turn down the opportunity to join Arsenal, the team that the England international had supported as a kid and released him at the age of 13.
Evidently, timing is everything when it comes to the transfer market. Clubs need to ensure that the player has zero contact with another club inbetween the time the deal is agreed and they sign the contract.
Fortunately for some clubs, not all hijacked transfers work out. Some will crumble and fail to deliver.