Manchester United's move for Tyrell Malacia, stealing ahead of Lyon has revived memories of other transfer hijackings by Premier League clubs.
Malacia had looked all set to move to the Ligue 1 side from Feyenoord before it was announced United had agreed a £13million fee with the Eredivisie side. New boss Erik ten Hag pushed to bring in the left-back, gazumping Lyon, as he bids to rebuild the United squad in his own image.
It is far from the first deal that has seen a Premier League club swoop in at the last minute to sink another team's move. Here, Mirror Football looks back at six of the other transfers that had come from a last-minute hijacking.
Alexis Sanchez
Four impressive years at Arsenal, but without a real Premier League title challenge, led to Alexis Sanchez seeking an exit from the Gunners. Manchester City appeared to be his most likely destination, with Pep Guardiola keen to link back up with his former Barcelona star.
But that's when Manchester United made their move and their willingness to match his astronomical wage demands led to City pulling out. The transfer ultimately proved to be a disaster, with Sanchez scoring just five goals before he joined Inter Milan.
Carlos Tevez
Having formed a dealy strikeforce with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, it was expected that Carlos Tevez would join Manchester United permanently. The Red Devils offered him a five-year contract that would make him one of the club's highest earners.
But instead, the Argentine would end up at City, in a British record deal, to become the first player to move between the two Manchester clubs since 1999. To rub salt into United's wounds, City then erected their infamous 'Welcome to Manchester' billboard with Tevez in the background.
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Willian
Willian went as far as completing a medical with Tottenham before Chelsea stole in with a last-minute meeting to sign him instead, leaving Daniel Levy reportedly furious. The Brazilian later went on to reveal that Spurs had threatened to report him to FIFA as he ditched them to join the Blues.
"My objective was to go to Chelsea, but since Chelsea don't want, then we're going to Tottenham. Then we’re going in the van, on the way, get to the training centre my agent is already down there. I got out of the van, he said ‘Chelsea made an offer’. I said, ‘So make do, I’ll get back in the van, you’ll make do and I’ll go to Chelsea, I will not sign with Tottenham'," he said in 2018.
"I stayed there for eight hours in the training centre. Tottenham's director said 'I'm going to report you to FIFA, fans here in England will boo you'. They made up a lot of things. I got stuck there for eight hours then I left and went straight to meet the Chelsea people to sort the details and sign."
Dimitar Berbatov
Having scored 46 goals in just two seasons at Tottenham, Dimitar Berbatov became incredibly sought-after. Manchester City agreed a fee with Spurs for the striker, but United beat their rivals to the punch and secured the Bulgarian for £30m, with Berbatov later claiming he was never close to moving to the Etihad.
"In my mind, it was never [close to a City move]. Because in that time, for me, it was about reaching my personal top, and that was Man United at that time. My agent said, 'We have the interest from Man City' but I said, 'Man, please, you know where I want to go, just one way'," Berbatov told MUTV in 2020.
Robinho
The signing that signaled the birth of Manchester City as a Premier League force almost didn't come to pass. Robinho joined City in a stunning £32.5m move from Real Madrid in September 2008.
But the Brazilian was left surprised that the club he was moving to wasn't Chelsea. The Blues had even stated they were 'confident' of wrapping up a deal, but Robinho revealed that it was Real Madrid's fault that City were able to hijack that move.
“I wanted to go to Chelsea. Scolari told me that I could make the difference for him in the team. However, Real Madrid ended up badly with them, they didn’t like the way that Chelsea sold shirts with my name on them before the deal was done," he told FourFourTwo.
Cristiano Ronaldo
One of the sagas of last summer was the future of superstar attacker Cristiano Ronaldo. Juventus were ready to move on the Portugal captain as he entered the final year of his contract in Turin.
He was all set to join Manchester City, with Ronaldo even telling his Juve team-mates the Etihad would be his destination, until the Friday before the transfer window ended, when United again entered the race. The lure of a return to Old Trafford, coupled with interventions from Sir Alex Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand, was enough for Ronaldo to snub Guardiola and join the Red Devils.
