Transfer Sagas of the past

[wurmer]

Was thinking back today about some of the will they/wont they incomings and outgoings in the past 3-4 decades.

 

Which was the most ridiculous you can remember?

[STEVIE B]

Johan Cruyff potentially joining is in the late 70s/early 80s. Nuts. 

[Robo61]

Lee Chapman and the house he bought in Oadby.

[Paddy Gresley]

Didn’t we think in the early 70’s we were about to sign John Toshack from Liverpool, and ended up a few years later with Alan Waddle.

[Newcastle_Fox]

Nicky Maynard!

[whoareyaaa]

Edgar Davids

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Beckham under Sven.

[Danizen]

Aranguiz 

 

We all fell for the idea of having a dirty, angry, South American midfielder that it was devastating when he didn't come. 

Edited 10 February by Danizen

[urban.spaceman]

I’ll never forget that time FoxesTalk spent an entire afternoon tracking Vichai’s private plane across the Atlantic thinking it was heading to Brazil to pick up Aranguiz only for it to stop in Texas for its annual check up. 

[Royston.]

Adrian Silva is a good one cos we actually signed him but a comedy **** up meant we couldn't use him.

 

[AKCJ]

2 hours ago, Newcastle_Fox said:

Nicky Maynard!

This is the one. Pretty sure we were trying to sign him for a good two years.

[pmcla26]

Didn’t we try to sign Okazaki in Jan 2015? 
 

Sensi. 

Pretty sure we went in for Slimani in summer 2014. 
 

I think Charlie Austin rejected us summer 2015. 
 

Craig Mackail-Smith. 
 

We used to have a lot of signings that seemed like players we scouted extensively over a long period of time or tried signing across different windows (mainly when Walsh was here) but now it seems to be a bit more random. 

[urban fox]

3 hours ago, Paddy Gresley said:

Didn’t we think in the early 70’s we were about to sign John Toshack from Liverpool, and ended up a few years later with Alan Waddle.

Yep. Failed the medical, deal called off. He scored a hattrick in his next game for liverpool

[boots60]

3 hours ago, STEVIE B said:

Johan Cruyff potentially joining is in the late 70s/early 80s. Nuts. 

This came so close to happening but Levante offered more money. Levante!!!!!!! FFS

[Jobyfox]

The Nicky Maynard one was a real saga.

We kept offering Bristol City more and more money £3m, £4m even £6m was rumoured.

BC, with new investment, were insistent that they “wouldn’t sell to a rival” and would only sell to a PL club. 
 

Nicky Maynard never signed another contract with Bristol C and they had to let him go to West Ham (a Championship club) for a fraction of the cost we were offering. Even though West Ham got promoted that season NM never really cut it as a PL player. 
 

In retrospect: we shouldn’t have offered so much, Bristol City should have taken our offer and Nicky himself was never in such demand again.  He suffered through injuries and gradually went down to the lower levels of the football pyramid and was at League 2 Bury by the age of 32 
 

 

[fox_favourite]

Nicky Maynard was great fun. 

[Leicesterpool]

Mahrez wanting to leave, the guy even spent the day at the airport hoping to get transfer.

[jayfox26]

We tried to sign Vertout instead of Kante in summer 2015  but he joined Villa instead. We won the league and they got relegated 🤣

[Heathrow fox]

Both MON and Peter Taylor were very keen on John Hartson.He was always just out of reach

[Nick]

When we nearly signed Claude Puel as Manager.

[Daggers]

You have to include the summer Mandaric spent a summer looking at Youtube videos and amassing the shittest squad the club had even known.

[Nick]

Just now, Daggers said:

You have to include the summer Mandaric spent a summer looking at Youtube videos and amassing the shittest squad the club had even known.

With players queuing up for 'some of that money'.

[Aus Fox]

Bobby Zamora, we even sang his name when we played Brighton last game of the season. Only for him to join West Ham.

 

Mark Hughes - under O’Neil I think there was a few seasons he was close to joining only for him to go somewhere else.

Kingkladze was also close one season. Which did get everyone very excited.

[apollo4joe]

4 hours ago, Newcastle_Fox said:

Nicky Maynard!

 

[fazzyfox]

Not so much a saga but Ben Thatcher who eventually joined us in 2003 was very close to signing in 1996, opting to join Wimbledon instead. It was no secret we were in for him and it looked on until Wimbledon came in late but I know for a fact it was as close as you can get. I was on holiday in Portugal, it was the day of England v Scotland ("Taxi for Hendry") and I watched it in a bar with a Sheff Utd player, an ex-Millwall team mate of his who also claimed Thatcher was his best mate. I raised the question of where he'd be going that summer and he pointed at my badge and said, "Your lot, Leicester, he's going to you". Next thing Wimbledon chairman Sam Hamman is making a smug comment about how he'd had options but had made the right choice in joining them and my "Source" rating nosedived!