Liverpool’s Famous Kop - Source: Unsplash
If you needed a reminder that football is the world’s greatest soap opera, Liverpool’s all-consuming pursuit of Alexander Isak this summer has delivered it. The story hasn’t merely dominated social media and the back pages—it’s set the whole market ablaze, splitting opinion and sparking wild speculation from Merseyside to Tyneside.
Will Liverpool Get Their Man?
Strip away the noise, and here are the simple but seismic facts: Isak, Newcastle’s lethal talisman and one of Europe’s most coveted finishers, slapped in a transfer request, much to the dismay of the Toon Army. The drama escalated as Liverpool, never shy of ambition, tabled a jaw-dropping £110 million bid—a sum fit to turn any head., especially considering their whopping expenditure already this summer.
Yet Newcastle’s response was unequivocal: no deal, not at any price short of a colossal £150 million. As such, the saga continues to roll on, and with the start of the 2025/26 Premier League season not too far away, it remains to be seen whether the Swedish hitman will be wearing black and white stripes or all red on the opening day.
One thing that is for certain, however, is that Lucky Rebel will have fans covered all the way. The upstart new website will be covering the English top flight in depth this season, providing a never-before-seen offering to fans all over the world. However, as mentioned, whether they will be covering Isak at St. James' Park or Anfield remains unclear.
For all the attention, Liverpool’s Isak chase is far from unique in its volatility. If the Premier League has taught us anything, it’s this: the biggest transfers sometimes spawn the wildest collapses. Power struggles, failed paperwork, and last-minute interventions cut through fantasy and fortune alike, forever reshaping clubs and careers. Let’s relive four transfer stories that promised footballing earthquakes, only to end in disappointment.
Wesley Sneijder to Manchester United
This was not your average transfer rumour. For three consecutive summers, the saga of Wesley Sneijder to Manchester United swirled like a storm around Old Trafford. Fresh from engineering Inter Milan’s historic 2010 Champions League triumph, the Dutch maestro seemed the final piece in Sir Alex Ferguson’s evolving masterpiece.
Check the archives: from 2010 to 2013, Sneijder’s name trended on transfer deadline days with the sort of frequency most players only dream of. “Imminent,” some reports insisted, “all but done,” others teased. But for all the clickbait, the numbers told a different, harsher story—Sneijder’s mammoth wage demands always towered above United’s pay structure, and Inter, still competitive in Serie A and Europe, weren’t willing to lose their conductor.
By 2013, with Sneijder’s powers waning and Ferguson approaching his own finale, the dream had faded into the mist. For the United faithful, the saga became a cautionary tale—a transfer mirage only visible at the hottest part of the summer window.
David De Gea to Real Madrid
How often does fate reduce million-pound deals to the whims of obsolete technology? In 2015, it happened live and in excruciating high definition. Real Madrid engineered a dramatic push to bring Spain’s number-one goalkeeper, David De Gea, home from Manchester United. Everything was agreed: fee, personal terms, and a La Liga debut seemingly inevitable.
Yet, as the countdown hit zero on deadline day, a mechanical relic stole the show. Yes, a faulty fax machine meant that United was seconds late with the crucial paperwork. Madrid’s office received the completed documents a moment after the window slammed shut.
The entire saga, tipped to rewrite the shape of elite European football, collapsed because a fax machine jammed at the worst possible time. De Gea, reeling from the failure, extended his Old Trafford stay within weeks, his Madrid dream deferred not by contract terms or bad blood, but by a slice of gloriously mundane bureaucracy.
Steven Gerrard to Chelsea
Football’s great “what if?” moments resonate most when a legend stands on the edge of the unknown. In 2005, fresh from Istanbul immortality, Steven Gerrard very nearly left Liverpool for a Chelsea side turbocharged by Roman Abramovich’s billions.
The move was terrifyingly close. Gerrard, wrestling loyalty and ambition, handed in a transfer request—sending shockwaves through Anfield and headlines crackling with every new development. Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho, at the peak of his persuasive powers, made his pitch. But what stopped the deal?
Not cash or trophies, but the human cost: a tidal wave of fan outrage—including chilling threats—forced Gerrard to reconsider the emotional price of departure. With heart over head, he reversed course, pledging himself to Liverpool. Chelsea lost their prize; Liverpool gained a legend for life. In the end, however, the great Stevie G would end his playing career without a single Premier League title to his name, while the Blues claimed five.
Robinho to Chelsea… then Manchester City
Picture this: Chelsea announces the arrival of Brazil’s Robinho on their official website. The ink is all but dry, Stamford Bridge braces for samba flair… then, chaos. Out of nowhere, a Manchester City flush with fresh Abu Dhabi investment bludgeons their way into the deal.
It was a transfer hijack for the ages. City, marrying bold ambition with unprecedented wealth, outbid Chelsea at the eleventh hour, ushered in the dawn of a new era with one deal. Robinho caught between expectation and confusion, rerouted to Manchester. For Chelsea, so confident they’d already pressed publish, it was a stinging embarrassment; for City, this was the first moment on their road to becoming a global superpower.
