Carlos Tevez and the 15 Most Annoying Transfer Sagas

So Carlos Tevez stayed with Manchester City for the foreseeable future. Or did he?

The Premier League's longest-running transfer saga still isn't fully resolved and I'll tell you why if you keep reading.

Tevez isn't the only annoying transfer rumour that's been around over the past six months or more. Some stories just refuse to go away.

Here we'll take a look at the 15 most annoying transfer sagas that have been in our headlines and twitter feeds.

Feel free to join me in venting your frustrations in the comments section below.

Carlos Tevez

Carlos Tevez.

We have to start with the Argentinean because his story is in the title.

Since refusing to warm up in a Champions League game for Manchester City, Tevez has been ousted from first-team action by Roberto Mancini.

Tevez then fled to Argentina and City stopped paying his wages.

Paris St. Germain, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Liverpool are all believed to have tried to sign him to no avail.

The British January transfer window is now shut, and Tevez wasn't sold. Up to speed?

Here's the twist.

The South American and Russian transfer windows are still open for purchases, which means Tevez could still move.

Will he? Won't he? Does anyone even care anymore?

Luka Modric

Chelsea were rumoured to have made a £30 million bid for Modric, which was turned down by his parent club Tottenham.

Modric then asked to leave the club but was persuaded to stay by the Spurs hierarchy.

Rumours persisted throughout the recent January window, suggesting that Manchester United were set to make an offer for Modric that Spurs couldn't refuse. £50 million was the fee involved.

It never came to fruition and Modric remains a Spurs player.

Neymar

Santos Striker Neymar has said he wants to stay with Santos until at least the 2014 World Cup. He has signed a contract recently to back that up.

Why then do rumours persist that Barcelona have a pre-contract agreement with the player, and that Neymar will likely sign for either Barcelona or Real Madrid in the summer?

He's staying put, so let it go people.

Eden Hazard

It's almost got to the point where I'm sicking of writing the name Eden Hazard.

If you can name a club, the chances are he's been linked with them at some point over the past 12 months.

Hazard is still at French club Lille and rumours persist he'll be moving on in the summer, despite the club's £40 million valuation of the player.

Hulk

FC Porto wanted £84 million for their attacking player Hulk.

Considering you could probably buy a player just as good for a third of the price, a deal was never going to be made with the Portuguese club, despite rumoured interest from Manchester City and Chelsea.

Hulk, unsurprisingly, remains at FC Porto for the time being.

David Beckham

David Beckham eventually decided to stay with MLS team L.A. Galaxy after a period of rumours linking him to Carlo Ancelotti's Paris St. Germain.

Beckham apparently decided to stay due to family reasons. Surely he could have figured that out before he let his contract expire in the first place.

Didier Drogba

Drogba was linked with a move to Shanghai Shenhua to join former Chelsea teammate Nicolas Anelka, who departed in early January.

Drogba kept quiet and left for the Africa Cup of Nations, at which point he declared he would be staying with Chelsea until at least the summer.

I'm not even sure Chelsea fans even cared about that statement.

Gary Cahill

It seemed to take ages for Gary Cahill to sort out his transfer from Bolton Wanders to Chelsea.

Once the fee had finally been agreed between the two clubs, there then seemed to be a delay in arranging personal terms.

Chelsea eventually appeased the English defender, but he has yet to set foot on the pitch for Chelsea since signing.

Frank Lampard

Chelsea were the kings of boring transfer gossip this past January as rumours surfaced that Frank Lampard would be leaving Stamford Bridge.

Those who follow Lampard's career knew that was always going to be extremely unlikely, and for all the talk of him missing games under Andres Villas-Boas, Lampard has in fact featured in all but three of Chelsea's league games, of which one of those he was injured. 

Rumours of a move to Manchester United were unfounded.

Gonzalo Higuain

Put your hands in the air if you really thought Real Madrid were going to sell Gonzalo Higuain.

Some Liverpool fans did after repeated stories of the player being out of favour with manager Jose Mourinho and him not seeing much pitch time.

In the end, there were no bids declared and the player stayed where he is.

Edinson Cavani

Napoli hitman Edinson Cavani was another player constantly linked with moves elsewhere, particularly in the last month or so.

Cavani really is top of his game right now, which is likely why so many teams are looking at him.

He's definitely got potential for a summer move, but how many times have you read that already?

Demba Ba

Newcastle striker Demba Ba was due to be playing for another club once he returned from International duty in the African Cup of Nations...if you believed the press hype.

A lot was made of a supposed low-figure release clause in his Newcastle contract, which could be triggered for under £7 million.

He went to Africa and came back; he still plays for Newcastle.

No bids for Ba have ever been declared but the rumours will no doubt run into the summer.

Andy Carroll

Liverpool misfit Andy Carroll has played that badly for Liverpool that they are going to sell him back to Newcastle United for £20 million.

Hang on, make that £10 million.

No wait, Andy Carroll is going to be swapped for Manchester City's Carlos Tevez.

Needless to say, it was all idle gossip.

Gareth Bale

Manchester City are going to buy Gareth Bale, but Tottenham want £150 million for him.

Note that price is almost twice as much as what Real Madrid paid for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.

Bale apparently has a release clause of £50 million in his contract, which makes a mockery of the previous sum mentioned.

Robin Van Persie

Arsenal star Robin van Persie has yet to sign an extension to his contract, which obviously means he wants to leave the club...doesn't it?

Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City were going to buy him for £30 million in January, so where were all the bids?

Perhaps van Persie wants to just concentrate on his football before talking business.

Afterthoughts

Admittedly, reading transfer speculation can be highly interesting, but it can also get incredibly tedious and monotonous.

You just know that some deals aren't going to happen, or that they have been going on for so long that you just don't care anymore.

Carlos Tevez was the prime example of such high media coverage that probably only Tevez himself cares where he ends up now.

The rumours won't stop now that January is over. We have the summer window to look forward to and that is where all the bargains are to be found...or so I'm told.

It will be interesting to see if any of the players on this list move on in the summertime. Then again, it might not.

Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on twitter @petercwebster, where I post all my B/R content.

Didn't catch the deadline day business? Click here to read about the 20 most interesting January deals in the Premier League.