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The transfer window represents an opportunity for teams to bolster their ranks. It is a time where clubs that have identified their shortcomings reach into their pockets and sign players who will improve the team. While big clubs are used to making marquee signings, smaller clubs are accustomed to losing their best players.
But that needn't always be the case. Players can move between teams of similar stature. There have also been transfers that have left fans of a team crestfallen or heartbroken. This usually happens when a club hero decides to leave. Worse yet, they could join a rival and strengthen them in the process.
It's hard for football fans to pardon such actions but that's just the way things work out in the transfer window at times. Without further ado, let's take a look at five of the most heartbreaking transfers of all time.
#5 Robin van Persie (Arsenal to Manchester United)
Robin van Persie was signed by Arsenal from Feyenoord in 2004 for €4.5 million. He gradually established himself as one of the finest strikers of his generation and spent eight years with the Gunners.
But in the summer of 2012, Van Persie pulled off the unpardonable as far as Arsenal fans are concerned. He secured a switch to rivals Manchester United on a deal worth €30 million. The prevailing narrative was that the Dutchman had grown frustrated over the lack of trophies at the Emirates and wanted to play for Sir Alex Ferguson.
Van Persie won the Premier League with Manchester United in his first season at the club. He was the recipient of the Premier League Golden Boot as well, scoring 26 goals in 38 appearances. He also provided 15 assists in the league and was a brilliant signing for the Red Devils.
In an interview with Premier League productions in 2020, Van Persie said:
"Ferguson made the difference for me in my choice to choose Manchester United. Because of the way he manages, the stories I heard, because of the players that were there.
"I really wanted to win and when I look at that team of Giggs, Carrick, Scholes, Vidic, Ferdinand they were all winners, they won it all. I was like ‘I want to be part of that’. I was in that period of my life where I felt like a winner but I wasn’t so I had to win. I needed to go to a team that knew how to win."
#4 Roberto Baggio (Fiorentina to Juventus)
Roberto Baggio, also known as Il Divin Codino (The Divine Ponytail), is a Ballon d'Or winner and one of the finest playmakers in the history of the game. After spending five years at Fiorentina and being hailed as a hero there, Baggio moved to bitter rivals Juventus in 1990 on a deal worth £8 million.
Fiorentina fans were infuriated by the move and they took to the streets to riot. 50 people were injured and Baggio was forced to issue a reply to fans. He said:
"I was compelled to accept the transfer."
It was a transfer that neither the player nor the fans really got over. Baggio once refused to take a penalty for Juventus against Fiorentina, claiming La Viola goalkeeper Gianmatto Mareggini knew him too well.
Juventus fans didn't appreciate the fact that Baggio picked up a purple Fiorentina scarf that was thrown onto the field later in the game. The Fiorentina fans loved it. Despite winning the Serie A and the Coppa Italia with the Bianconeri, Baggio has said that deep in his heart, he is always purple (Fiorentina's colour).
#3 Fernando Torres (Liverpool to Chelsea)
Fernando Torres took the Premier League by storm after joining Liverpool from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2007. He was an instant hit, scoring 33 goals and providing five assists in 46 appearances across all competitions in the 2007-08 season.
Torres struck up a wonderful partnership with Steven Gerrard. Buoyed by the Spaniard's incredible talents, Liverpool gradually transformed into title challengers. In the 2008-09 season, the Merseysiders finished second in the title race, just four points shy of eventual winners Manchester United.
But halfway through the 2010-11 season, Chelsea came swooping in for Torres. After the Merseysiders rejected the Blues' initial bid, the Spanish international handed in a transfer request to force the move. Liverpool sold him, leaving the Anfield faithful heartbroken.
The jury is still out on whether or not Torres was a flop at Chelsea. He never hit the same heights at Chelsea as he did at Liverpool on an individual level. But he won the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Europa League.
#2 Luis Figo (Barcelona to Real Madrid)
The Barcelona - Real Madrid rivalry is one of the most heated football rivalries of all time. That is the reason why very few players have crossed the Clasico divide and swapped one club for the other. The most high-profile among those players is Luis Figo.
The Portuguese legend had established himself as one of the best wingers in the world at Barcelona. He was revered by fans and pundits alike. But at Real Madrid, presidential candidate Florentino Perez had made plans to bring Figo to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Madrid met Figo's €62 million release clause and signed him up in the summer of 2000. Figo was branded a traitor by Barcelona fans and he was jeered and abused throughout when he came to the Camp Nou for El Clasicos.
During one of the Clasicos, the severed head of a pig was thrown at Figo as he took a corner kick.
#1 Lionel Messi (Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain)
Barcelona was the only club that Lionel Messi had played for. But after taking stock of the rot in the club's administrative department, he informed Barcelona he wanted to leave in the summer of 2020. However, he was forced to stay as potential suitors were priced out of a deal for him due to a clause in his contract.
Over the course of the 2020-21 season, the Barcelona board resigned and Joan Laporta replaced Josep Maria Bartomeu as the club's president. Laporta maintained that his priority was to make Lionel Messi stay. Up until July, everything seemed to point towards Messi signing a new deal with the club as his previous one had expired at the end of June.
But Barcelona's financial problems were so severe and their wage bill so above the La Liga salary cap that they couldn't keep Messi. They wouldn't have been able to give him a new contract even if he took a 50% pay cut. A player cannot take more than a 50% wage cut when he is handed a new contract, as per the rules.
As a result, Messi was forced to leave his boyhood club. He appeared heartbroken during his farewell speech to the club and has subsequently joined Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona fans and the club are still coming to terms with the fact that the best player in the world doesn't play for them anymore.
