3 shocking last-minute hijacked transfers

#1 David Beckham to Real Madrid & Ronaldinho to Barcelona (hijacked from Barcelona & Manchester United respectively)

David Beckham & Ronaldinho later became teammates at AC Milan

These hijackings directly affected each other and so deserve to be mentioned together. In the summer of 2003, David Beckham had publically fallen out with Sir Alex Ferguson and it seemed certain the superstar would leave Old Trafford.

Clubs around Europe were linked with the midfielder, however, Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid led the race to capture his signature. It seemed Barcelona had beaten their eternal rivals when a statement was released by Manchester United confirming a bid had been accepted for Beckham.

However, Beckham personally preferred a move to the Bernabeu and Manchester United accepted a bid from Los Blancos just days later, leaving Barcelona embarrassed and infuriated with the Manchester club. After promising to bring David Beckham to the club, Barcelona reacted by snatching the Red Devils' number one target from under their noses.

United had been heavily linked with Ronaldinho that summer. The Brazilian was at the peak of his game and itching for a move away from Paris Saint-Germain. While many top European clubs were vying for his signature, it seemed Man Utd had won the race for the Brazilian superstar.

However, in retaliation to losing out on Beckham, Barcelona swooped in with a last-minute record €30 million bid to steal the playmaker from the grasp of Ferguson and United. According to Ronaldinho, he was "on the brink" of flying to Old Trafford before the Catalans came calling.

Beckham went on to achieve superstardom at Real Madrid, Ronaldinho flourished at the Nou Camp winning multiple titles and individual awards, while Manchester United instead signed a young raw talent by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo.