Every transfer window has its own curiosities and over the recent years, there were occasions where a player was bought and sold again during the same window. So, will there be some situations in this window when a player will change clubs twice before January 31st? And who were the players (and the clubs) to do it before? Let’s take a look at some of them.(©AFP)Emerson Royal: Real Betis – Barcelona – Tottenham 2021Real Betis right-back had one dream – to play for Barcelona. So when he got his wish in June 2021, he was one happy camper. But, the happiness didn’t last long as his new club was already in deep financial turmoil. Soon, another idea pooped in president Laporta’s head: why don’t we sell Royal to Tottenham, who were offering a lot of money? Easy-peasy. In a matter of days, Royal was summoned to the headquarters at Camp Nou to be told he needs to sacrifice for the good of the club and went to North London.This is our 2021 European-based African best XI – Many top forwards to choose fromDietmar Hamman: Liverpool – Bolton – Manchester City 2006Unlike Royal, Hamman simply had a change of heart in a matter of months. After 7 years with Liverpool, the German midfielder joined Bolton as a free agent after the famous Champions League win over Milan in 2005. He even claimed that his move to Bolton was the best move of his career. But when Manchester City came calling, Haman suddenly changed his mind and signed for the Citizens just a day after he officially became Bolton player, and the club even got the compensation for it. Bolton boss at the time, Sam Allardyce was less than happy, but his club still finished above City that season and even played in the UEFA league. Hamman stayed in Manchester for three more seasons.(©AFP)Martin Demichelis: Malaga – Atletico Madrid – Man City 2014Another player who ended up in Manchester was Argentine center-back Martin Demichelis. He played successfully for Malaga for three years and left for Atletico Madrid as a free agent in 2014. But, his former boss in Malaga Manuel Pellegrini became the boss of Manchester City, which was already owned by rich Arabs (unlike in 2006 with Hamman) and he wanted to bring his former player. Needless to say that new rich owners wanted to show their power and persuaded Atletico to sell him and make a profit for a player who came for no fee. Demichelis played three seasons with City before returning to Spain, where he played for Espanyol and, yes you guessed it – Malaga.(©AFP)Bebe: Estrela – Vitoria de Guimaraes – Manchester United 2010One of the rare misses for sir Alex Ferguson, during his time in Manchester United. Bebe was playing for second division Estrela and then switched over to Vitoria when Ferguson’s assistant Carlos Queiroz recommended the player as the new Cristiano Ronaldo. He was signed from Vitoria and the Red Devils paid the fee but Bebe was not successful in Manchester. He was handed some first-team chances by Ferguson but ended his first season with just two goals in seven appearances. That was his last season for United, as he was sent for a couple of loans before joining Benfica and now plays for Rayo Vallecano. (©AFP)Marc Cucurella Barcelona – Eibar – Barcelona – Getafe, 2019We started with Barcelona, we will end with Barcelona. Current Brighton left-back had an interesting journey before he joined a south England Premier League club. In the summer of 2019, Cucurella finished his loan at Eibar, and the club paid a buyout clause for the player from Barcelona. But, Barca had another buy-back clause in his contract which could be activated at any time. And they did that after just 16 days! But, they didn’t bring him back to play him. No, he was loaned to Getafe who also had an option to buy him, and the club did just that, but this time, Barca didn’t insert another clause of her one, but instead never brought him back. He is now with Brighton, presumably happy.
