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Like any fan would tell you, seeing a quality player leave your club hurts but when they go and play for your rivals it feels like pure betrayal! You never want to get rid of your main players so when you do it’s almost better that they go abroad so that it’s out of site out of mind and also you can like them to succeed a little.
When a fringe player or squad player leaves but goes to a same division team it’s almost okay because they were never really good enough but throw them into the rival team and you still get that animosity it’s almost like did they even care for the badge in the first place! What’s even worse is if they do good, a classic example of both good and bad situations would be Manchester United and Robin Van Persie. The moment he left it was a huge statement of intent from both clubs. This ultimately won Man United the league and began the decline of Arsenal. An example of a bad transfer would be Liverpool selling Torres to Chelsea, he may have scored a very famous goal for Chelsea in the champions league against Barcelona but other than that his time there was very forgettable, or at least he will be trying to forget about that open goal against Man United.
I’m going to run through some of the big transfers that shocked but also had big consequences in the football world.
Figo - Barcelona to Real Madrid
Figo cost Real Madrid a whooping 62 Million euros, which at the time was a world record. Figo wasn’t the only player in the galaticos to end up at Real Madrid from Barcelona, Ronaldo also did the exact same thing but it was made easier because it wasn’t a direct transfer swap. Figo on many occasions was hurled abuse from Barcelona fans and it’s rumoured he was delivered a pigs head to his home address. Fans can go to far and most would say it’s unnecessary, even though I’d hate my favourite player to go to our biggest rivals I wouldn’t push a certain boundary
Tevez - Manchester United to Manchester City
I remember this transfer vividly! Man City was starting to see the spoils of their new riches and the owners where making crazy signings every season. When I saw this transfer I was incredibly shocked but not surprised, tevez recenetly clearled the air by saying united never offered him a contract, it’s crazy to think that in his two seasons at Old Trafford he won 2 x Premier leagues, 1 x Champions league, 1 x League Cup and 1x Club world cup. He was a prolific part to united’s success! Nevertheless he left and made Manchester City a much stronger team and was a big factor to them winning their first premier trophy
Campbell - Tottenham to Arsenal
Judas gets thrown around a lot in football, this is one of those times where it was felt hard by the fans. Tottenham and Arsenal have been fierce rivals for many years and Arsenal have definitely had more success as a club than Spurs so to leave the club for your main rivals is a very sore spot. The signing of Campbell at the time helped Arsenal transition from Martin kweon and terry venables which made things even worse because it solved so many issues for Arsenal which ultimately helped them win more trophies.
Johan Cruyff - Ajax to Feynoord
Cruyff probably best known for the incredible skill that he brought to the football pitch was was a legend for Ajax! In the year of 1983 Ajax decided not to offer him a new contract, which resulted in him signing for rivals Feyenoord.
The following season, Cruyff won the Player of the Year award as Feyenoord won its first league title in a decade. Talk about making an impact, many Dutch fans remember this moment and I’m sure it is written in Feyenoord folklore.
Van Persie - Arsenal to Manchester United
Van Persie coming to Manchester won the league for them, there’s no questioning it. His 30 goal season was exactly what the team needed to surpass Manchester City, the fact that they beat City for the signature as well was definitely a mental blow at the beginning of the season too.