10 Most Shocking Hijacked Transfer Deals In Football History

Manchester City have also gotten one over Chelsea in the past. The Premier League champions made their first big signing, after coming into that oil money, 10 years ago at the Blues' expense.

Brazilian star Robinho, who was at Real Madrid at the time, was looking for a move away. Chelsea entered negotiations with the player and things were moving smoothly given his desire to join the Londoners and The Telegraph announced that he had agreed personal terms. Shirts bearing the name Robinho on the back were even printed as fans awaited the announcement.

City managed to creep up and sign the attacker for £32.5m, taking Chelsea by surprise, much to their embarrassment. A move to Stamford Bridge had been so close, Robinho declared that he had signed for Chelsea following a "great proposal" just after penning his deal with the Sky Blues.

"You mean Manchester, right?" a reporter asked. "Yeah, Manchester, sorry!" was the reply. Things hardly worked out at the Etihad, however, and the player was loaned to his former club Santos just two years later, before moving to AC Milan in a £15m deal.