10 Most Memorable Failed Transfer Sagas
3. John Terry - Chelsea To Man City
Often proclaimed as Mr Chelsea, the 32 year old club captain bleeds dark blue. However, despite his years of servitude to his boyhood club, the colour coursing through his veins came so close to changing to that of a lighter texture in the summer of 2009. With Manchester City ready to flex their financial muscle in their first full summer transfer window, Mark Hughes was intent on upgrading the centre-back partnership of Micah Richards and Richard Dunne.
The club would eventually stump up a combined worth of £41 million to bring Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott to the club, but for almost six months, it was the Chelsea captains signature that the Man City chiefs craved. With Chelsea having finished third in the league, the back pages were dominated with reports of Terry feeling unsettled and disillusioned at the direction the club was heading in.
With reports having first emerged in February that Terry was feeling swayed by Citys proposed £250,000 p/wk offer, the Mancunians were willing to test the Stamford Bridge sides resolve with a £40 million bid for the cornerstone of their club. In the end, Abramovich completely rejected the offer, with a club statement stating that they would not entertain any conversation on the subject.
Terry subsequently committed himself to the club, signing a new £150,000 p/wk deal at the club, with Man City seemingly used as a cynic ploy to earn him a bumper pay rise.