Over the last three months, the clubs had the opportunity to strengthen themselves by recruiting new players. And among all the formalizations, all the rumors, all the agreements, some players have come very close to seeing their destiny changed. On the final day of the transfer window, Bayern Munich, for example, had to cancel the arrivals Joao Palhinha and Armel Bella-Kotchap who could not complete the files before the end of the deadline. The Portuguese had already posed with the jersey of the German club and carried out his photo shoot. But he will return to Fulham while the Dutchman bounced back quickly at PSV Eindhoven a few hours later. But these two players are obviously not the only ones. Here are some crisp stories from this summer.
Saudi Arabia could have taken it all
During the summer, Saudi Arabia decided to strike very hard by trying to attract the best players on the planet. This paid off with the arrivals of Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kanté, Neymar, Bounou, Mahrez, Firmino to name but a few. And other players could have joined them during the summer. On the side of Al-Nassr, the transfer window ended with the arrival of the Spanish international Aymeric Laporte who therefore left Manchester City. But, basically, Al-Nassr was aiming for a completely different profile, and he is French. The club of Cristiano Ronaldo wanted in priority… Dayot Upamecano. But there was no question for Bayern Munich to part with it, which forced the club to change targets.
Also on the side of Al-Nassr, the club tried to divert a player at the last minute. Al-Ahli, competitor, accelerated on his transfer window and wanted to complete the arrival of a midfielder with Franck Kessié as a priority. So Al-Nassr tried a gamble and sent a delegation to Barcelona overnight to negotiate the transfer of the 26-year-old midfielder. But this attempt failed and the player took the direction of Al-Ahli.
Paris missed Veiga and Mahrez
In Saudi Arabia, we can also cite the case of Alvaro Morata. The Spanish international was expected to leave Atlético de Madrid to sign with Al-Shabab this summer. The Saudi club had reached an agreement with the Colchoneros and with the player. Everything was closed. Except that in the meantime, Al-Shabab has changed its president and that has turned everything upside down. Result, Morata could not bounce back and chained a new season in Madrid. In Spain, a transfer shocked. This is the departure of the nugget Gabri Veiga. The young Spaniard courted by all of Europe left Celta Vigo for Al-Ahli. A blow for… PSG who were close to signing him.
Negotiations between the parties were progressing very well. So much so that the traditional medical examination prior to the signing of the contract was planned. The 21-year-old midfielder was due to travel to Paris on July 5 to do his tests. But at the last moment, this visit was canceled. Still in Spain, Rayo Vallecano tried the nice trick Sergio Ramos, without success. In the radius of transfers that could have been improbable, in Brazil, Santos tried to recruit Eden Hazard for a last dance in the land of football.
Ounahi and the temptation of Barça
Finally, on the side of our Ligue 1, there has been movement too. Starting with OM player Azzedine Ounahi. At the end of the transfer window, the situation of the Moroccan international, who no longer really plays under Marcelino, was observed by several clubs in England, Spain and Italy. On the La Liga side, FC Barcelona was interested in the player and this great opportunity. With the Catalan club’s limited means, a loan was under consideration in the last days of the transfer window to strengthen the midfield. But it was not interesting for OM who wanted a dry transfer in the event of the player’s departure. Inter Milan was also on the lookout.
PSG could also have recruited another star in attack. While playing on the side of Manchester City, Riyad Mahrez, tracked insistently by Saudi Arabia, was a possibility for PSG. But Luis Campos felt that this track was too expensive for the capital club. Finally, the Algerian international signed at Al-Ahli against 35 million euros… For their part, OL thought of Sergio Akieme on the left in the event of Tagliafico’s departure while Youssouf Fofana refused Nottingham Forest despite the agreement written between Monaco and the English club (who eventually recruited Sangaré from PSV). To conclude these crazy stories, Tottenham were close to being doubled by Chelsea for Brennan Johnson. The Blues had an agreement with Nottingham for the transfer of the striker plus players including Callum Hudson-Odoi. But the deal fell through. Finally, Callum Hudson-Odoi joined the Reds well but Brennan Johnson signed with Spurs against 52 million.
