Moises Caicedo took interest in his services into his own hands this week by making a shock statement on social media.
The Ecuadorian - of interest to Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool - appealed to his current club Brighton to accept any bids for his signature. The Seagulls have understandably been left furious and have now told the 21-year-old to stay away from training until after the January transfer window.
Whether he remains at the AMEX Stadium or eventually seals the move that he desires remains to be seen but he might only need to look to his predecessors for what can happen. A number of players have attempted to force through transfers both in January and the summer window to varying degrees of success.
Here are 10 of the most infamous examples of players attempting to manufacture a move and what happened next...
Riyad Mahrez
One of the stars of Leicester’s 2015/16 title win, it did not take long for Algerian wideman Riyad Mahrez to eye a move away from the East Midlands. Just 18 months after helping the Foxes to one of the most unlikely of Premier League victories, he was keen on a switch to Manchester City.
Mahrez was left in an airport waiting lounge ahead of the 2017/18 season on deadline day as he awaited news of an upcoming move. However, no such agreement came to fruition with the winger then forced to return.
He then repeated the trick in the January window as he went on strike for two weeks. Again, his action was unsuccessful as the Foxes held firm before then finally agreeing to sell their star to Manchester City the following summer.
The now 31-year-old has been a huge success at the Etihad Stadium having added a further three Premier League titles to his collection, as well as a host of other trophies.
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Pierre van Hooijdonk
Sticking in the East Midlands, Dutch forward van Hooijdonk had developed a reputation of a lethal forward with Nottingham Forest. After firing the Reds back into the Premier League, he was dismayed to see a number of his teammates sold on.
He then lodged a transfer request of his own before going on strike. Forest remained firm over his future and only agreed to let him leave after the season.
Having failed to keep them in the top-flight, Van Hooijdonk left for Vitesse and continued to score goals with regularity in his homeland.
Carlos Tevez
Arguably one of the longest strikes in Premier League history, Argentine striker Carlos Tevez was initially banned by Man City having refused to come on in a Champions League tie with Bayern Munich. He was eventually put onto gardening leave by the club.
It was thought that Tevez would be allowed to move on with AC Milan interested during the January transfer window but after the Italian side refused to meet City’s £25m asking price, he was forced to return.
A hat-trick against Norwich City - and an infamous golf celebration - endeared him once more to the City crowd and Tevez would eventually end up with a Premier League winners’ medal come the end of the campaign. He eventually left for Juventus in 2013.
Dimitri Payet
Having shone for West Ham during the 2015/16 campaign, Hammers’ boss Slaven Bilic was left stunned after Dimitri Payet lodged a request to leave the club just a few months’ later. The Croatian expressed the midfielder’s desire in a shock press conference.
Payet then refused to play for and even train with West Ham until they accepted an offer for his services. The Frenchman did eventually get his wish of a move away from West Ham.
A £25m return to former club Marseille was rubber-stamped with Payet remaining with the side until now.
William Gallas
From one Frenchman to another now, the defender enjoyed an excellent stint at Chelsea having helped the Blues to two Premier League titles and a League Cup. That would not help him in his attempts to leave the club however.
He lodged a transfer request in May 2006 amid interest from Italian clubs only for Chelsea to refuse. Gallas then replied in kind having refused to return to Stamford Bridge.
Relations continued to sour with the Blues claiming that he had threatened to score own goals - something that defender disputed. He eventually left under a cloud having been involved in a deal that saw Ashley Cole arrive from Arsenal.
Sebastien Squillaci
Another who went down the industrial action route to force through a move to Arsenal, the French defender refused to appear for former club Sevilla in a Champions League qualifier against Braga. The reason behind that was that he wanted to avoid being cup tied should he complete a move to North London.
He eventually got his switch to Arsenal but proved to be a disastrous signing. The defender would make just 39 appearances over three seasons and eventually left the club on a free transfer.
Diego Costa
A two-time Premier League winner, Diego Costa’s marriage with Chelsea came to an explosive end in the summer of 2018. Despite having scored 22 goals, he was told by Antonio Conte that he was not in his plans for the forthcoming campaign.
That left Costa disgruntled and he spent the summer in Brazil after hitting out at his manager for “treating him like a criminal”. A move to Atletico Madrid was most fancied by the striker and he eventually got his wish.
The switch ended up being somewhat of a waste of time with Costa scoring just 12 league goals during his second stint. He has gone on to represent Atletico Mineiro and is now back in the Premier League with Wolves.
Antony
One of the more recent examples on this list, Brazilian wideman Antony was at the heart of an £85m move to Manchester United from Ajax. In moving to Old Trafford, he was reunited with former manager Erik ten Hag.
It wasn’t an easy move to facilitate though with the Brazilian forced to go on strike in Amsterdam. He refused to play for Ajax until his future was resolved.
That effort appears unlikely to have been worth it. He has been hit with inconsistency since his switch to Old Trafford having netted just five goals in all competitions so far.
Harry Kane
Despite now being Tottenham ’s joint-record goalscorer of all time, Harry Kane threatened to ruin his relationship with the North London side in the summer of 2021. Manchester City were strongly linked with a move for his serves - albeit Daniel Levy remaining firm over his future.
Kane was a no-show for Tottenham’s pre-season testing but confirmed that he was stopping short of going on strike. Spurs continued to refuse to sell him, with the striker remaining in North London.
The England captain is now at the heart of yet more speculation with Man Utd having apparently prioritised a move for him in the summer.
Dimitar Berbatov
On the topic of a Spurs striker making a move to Old Trafford, Bulgarian hitman Dimitar Berbatov found himself in that exact situation in 2008. The Red Devils had long admitted their admiration of the frontman.
Sir Alex Ferguson revealed his desire to sign Berbatov, leaving Spurs furious. Things then went from bad to worse with the Bulgarian benched by the North London side, whilst he then refused to travel for matches against Sunderland and Chelsea.
Tottenham eventually relented after selling their star man for over £30m. He would score 56 appearances in 149 outings for the Red Devils, winning two Premier League titles in the process.
