Throwing your toys out of the pram does not always work - just ask these guys.
The news that Harry Kane has told Tottenham Hotspur he wants to leave this summer rocked the football world on Monday evening.
Debate was sparked regarding where the England captain will end up with Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea all reportedly keen, alongside an unnamed foreign club.
There is no doubt that when a player of Kane’s stature expresses his desire to leave, the club are left in a tricky position; should they sell and take the war chest of cash, or try and keep hold of their most valuable asset?
That is what Spurs supremo Daniel Levy and his board will be weighing up, and the second option, which may be uncommon, is certainly on the table.
Down the years, many superstars have not been granted their wish and have had to remain where they are - for better or worse.
With that in mind, here are nine times players tried and failed to force moves.
Cristiano Ronaldo - 2008
Although in hindsight, the Portuguese superstar’s move to Real Madrid seemed relatively smooth and a natural conclusion to his time at Manchester United, it was far rockier.
Ronaldo wanted to make the switch a year prior, following his first taste of European glory and a record-breaking 31 goals in Premier League action on the way to one of three successive titles.
That summer, Ronaldo told Portuguese television station TVI that he was a ‘slave’, which prompted FIFA president Sepp Blatter (then an honorary member of Madrid’s board) to criticise United over denying the future Ballon d’Or winner his dream move.
A year later, £80million would take him to Madrid, coming off the back of a Champions League final defeat and 18 league goals in United’s 2009 title success.
Wayne Rooney - 2010
Having spearheaded a Ronaldo-less Manchester United to second place in 2009/10, rumblings that Rooney was considering a shock exit began to emerge.
Then aged 24, Rooney was unwilling to sign a new deal which would’ve made him the highest-paid player in the club’s history, and he released a statement on October 20 stating that he wanted to leave Old Trafford as he criticised the club’s lack of ambition.
With everyone weighing in on the debate, including boss Sir Alex Ferguson and teammate Patrice Evra, the footballing world was in a frenzy over where the English star would end up.
Two days after his statement, though, he stunningly signed a new deal and the saga was over - for a few years, at least.
Carlos Tevez - 2011
This ordeal began with arguably the most infamous case of a player refusing to play - given that it was during a match - as Tevez’s turbulent time at Manchester City reached its most dramatic period in the club’s first Premier League title-winning campaign.
Having spent two seasons at the club following his switch across the city, the bullish striker decided he did not want to come on as a substitute in a Champions League group stage match against Bayern Munich in September 2011.
A five-month saga ensued, which saw Tevez claim manager Roberto Mancini treated him ‘like a dog’ and AC Milan fail to meet City’s asking price amid attempts to sell.
All this was while the former Manchester United forward was back home in Argentina playing golf, and with no move finalised in the January transfer window, Tevez stayed put and once he apologised, played a role in their title triumph that campaign.
Wayne Rooney (again) - 2013
Back with Wazza with a similar story three years later.
Towards the end of Ferguson’s Old Trafford reign, Rooney had found himself in and out of the starting XI as United marched to a record 20th league title and the second saga blighted the outgoing manager’s final few months in charge.
When David Moyes took the hot seat, reuniting with his old Everton boss did not stop the Liverpudlian wanting to leave, as Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea reportedly offered key men David Luiz and Juan Mata to try and prise Rooney from the Theatre of Dreams.
Moyes remained unfazed in the media, while Mourinho discussed his desire for the player, and when the two clubs met at the beginning of the season, Rooney was on the red side of a drab scoreless draw.
In February 2014, almost a full year after the saga was sparked by his omission from the Red Devils’ Champions League clash with Real Madrid, he signed another new deal, this time worth a reported £300,000-a-week.
Luis Suarez - 2013
As the shining light during Liverpool ’s struggles around the turn of that decade, Suarez almost never gave Anfield his best season.
After 23 goals and that bite of Branislav Ivanovic’s arm, the talisman wanted out of the club before he netted 31 strikes in a failed title challenge the coming season.
In the August between the two terms, following Arsenal ’s infamous £40million (plus £1) bid, the Uruguayan told the Guardian: “[Liverpool] gave me their word a year ago and now I want them to honour that.” This was a reference to turning down a lucrative move the previous summer with the view to leaving the next year.
It eventually ended relatively calmly as Suarez left Merseyside for Barcelona shortly after picking up the 2013/14 PFA Player of the Year award.
Leonardo Ulloa - 2017
Not everyone on this list is a superstar, but they are title winners.
Argentine striker Ulloa was part of Leicester City’s unlikely Premier League win in 2016 but rarely featured in the first half of the following season, prompting the striker to hand in a written transfer request and receive subsequent interest.
Manager Claudio Ranieri was unwilling to sell, so it was a stalemate.
Having previously stated in a Twitter rant that he felt ‘betrayed by Ranieri’ and wouldn’t play for the club again, he wrote in January 2017: “Thanks to all the fans at LCFC. Two wonderful years but I need to feel like a footballer again.”
Unfortunately, he did not feel like a footballer until the following January, when he returned to Brighton & Hove Albion on loan.
Philippe Coutinho - 2017
Another Anfield star who eventually got his desired move to Barcelona.
Like former teammate Luis Suarez, Coutinho set out his intentions to leave in the summer transfer window of 2017, and Barca bid three times for the Brazilian playmaker.
Five months later, a £142million deal was struck and despite many fearing it would damage Jurgen Klopp’s side, the cash funded a move for Virgil van Dijk in January and Alisson Becker and Fabinho the coming summer.
Not many would have thought it, but Liverpool comprehensively got the better end of the drawn-out deal.
Gareth Bale - 2019
Remember when Bale almost went to the Chinese Super League?
It seems strange now that the Welsh winger is back as a regular in Tottenham’s starting line-up, but recently-dissolved CSL outfit Jiangsu Suning were on the cusp of taking him off Real Madrid’s hands in the summer of 2019.
Initially, the move was to be made without a transfer fee and Bale would become the highest-paid footballer on the planet - before things broke down.
The deal was ’90 percent done’ according to Suning coach Cosmin Olaroiu, when Madrid decided to demand a fee for their asset, who is still contracted in the Spanish capital.
Lionel Messi - 2020
2020 was certainly an odd year, and this anti-climatic transfer saga had its fair share of the sporting spotlight.
Following Barcelona’s 8-2 humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter finals, Messi sent a burofax to Camp Nou chiefs expressing his desire to leave.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner believed he was within his rights to exercise the clause which allowed him to leave the club any season as a free agent, should he wish to do so and inform the club in good time.
However, the clause is tied to the calendar year, so the extended campaign due to Covid-19 stretched past the deadline - something which Barca and La Liga agreed on.
With Manchester City the only club even with a chance of paying his £630million release clause, the Spanish court beckoned for Messi and his agent father, Jorge.
On 4 September, the Argentine legend confirmed to Goal that he ‘could not go to war with the club of his life,’ adding: “Barca gave me everything and I gave it everything. I know that it never crossed my mind to take Barca to court.”
To this day, Messi still has not signed a new contract under Ronald Koeman but is continuing to be his brilliant best, particularly since the turn of the year.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com