Angel Di Maria and 5 Footballers Who Didn't Want Their Transfers
Angel Di Maria's brief Premier League tenure ended in the summer, but the fallout from his unhappy spell in England is apparently far from finished.
On Thursday, Spanish newspaper Marca (h/t Daily Mail) reported that Di Maria never wanted to join Manchester United from Real Madrid.
"My intention was always to stay [at Madrid]," Di Maria is quoted as saying. "I don't really know what happened on the inside [of the deal]; these are things that representatives deal with. It happens in football."
In fact, it's happened a few times in recent years. No matter what footballers might say upon joining their new clubs, it's often obvious they had no real desire to leave their previous home, whatever their reason.
Here are five such footballers, starting with Di Maria.
Angel Di Maria
1 of 5
If you read the previous slide, you know that Di Maria claimed not to know much about his move from Real Madrid to Manchester United in 2014. But if you kept reading his comments later in the Daily Mail article, you will see that he betrayed a hint of inside knowledge anyway.
"My move to PSG could have happened before this summer but it didn't for financial reasons and I ended up going to United," Di Maria said. "In the summer I had the chance to go there again and I could not say no."
Translation: Di Maria would have joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2014, rather than 2015, but the French giants were limited due to financial fair play regulations at the time.
Jaap Stam
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Dutch defender Jaap Stam enjoyed a fine three-year career at Manchester United before unexpectedly moving to Lazio in 2001. Coincidentally or not, the move happened just after Stam had released a book in which he made some, erm, uncomplimentary remarks about teammates.
"It was a bolt from the blue. I didn't see it coming," Stam said at the time, per the Daily Telegraph. "I've never wanted to leave this club. I love it here. But when the club tell you they're prepared to sell, you have to start viewing things differently."
Ferguson claimed the sale had nothing to do with the book, calling it "absolutely a football decision."
Later, though, the legendary manager changed his tale somewhat, telling the Independent: "At the time he had just come back from an achilles injury and we thought he had just lost a little bit. We got the offer from Lazio, £16.5m for a centre-back who was 29. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. But in playing terms it was a mistake."
At Lazio, Stam served a long ban after being found guilty of having nandrolone in his system (h/t BBC Sport).
Robinho
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The signing of Robinho for £32.5 million in 2008 represented a major moment for newly wealthy Manchester City. In capturing the talented Brazilian, City showed they could compete with Europe's richest clubs to sign some of the world's top talent.
Even if that talent didn't necessarily know anything about the club itself. Shortly after the move, BBC Sport quoted Robinho as saying this: "On the last day, Chelsea made a great proposal and I accepted." Asked by a reporter whether he meant Manchester, he said: "Yeah, Manchester, sorry!"
That confusion is no surprise when you see Robinho in this picture (h/t the Sun) with Mark Hughes, who was Manchester City's manager at the time. On that evidence, there was a 50 percent chance Robinho thought he was in the Land of Oz.
Emmanuel Frimpong
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Jenkinson wasn't the only young footballer to look unhappy after leaving Arsenal in recent times. In 2014, when social media master Emmanuel Frimpong moved from north London to Barnsley, the 22-year-old midfielder greeted his new club with this scowl (h/t Daily Mail).
On Twitter, he posted a note asking (jokingly, we think): "How am I gonna draw girls now?"
Frimpong lasted just four months at Barnsley before being released.
Fabio Da Silva
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When Fabio Da Silva left Manchester United for Queens Park Rangers on loan in 2012, he left behind not only one of the world's biggest clubs, but also his twin brother Rafael.
As this picture (h/t Daily Mail) shows, he was unable to hide his disappointment. Even in later interviews, when he tried to convince the world that he was fine with the move, it didn't seem believable.
"Maybe (Rafael) feels that I am down...because we lived together [in Manchester]," Fabio told the Independent. "Sometimes when he plays he is happy. Sometimes when I play I am happy. Now we are getting more mature. He is there. I am here.”
Excuse us while we find a box of Kleenex. That's the saddest thing we've heard all day.
