10 of football's most infamous U-turns
These 10 stars hoped their broken promises would be quickly forgotten. Alas there's nowhere to hide in the glaring public eye of professional football.
Jose Mourinho once said "I would not take the [Tottenham] job because I love Chelsea supporters too much.” Fast forward four years and the 'special one' is now in charge at White Hart Lane.
Strange as the change of heart may seem, Mourinho is not alone. Here are nine other instances where footballers went back on their word.
Luis Figo
Luis Figo became one of the most sought-after superstars in world football during his five years at Barcelona and in the summer of 2000, Barca fans were shocked by reports their star playmaker was on his way out.
Figo moved to put their minds at ease, saying: “I want to reassure fans that Luis Figo, with all the certainty in the world, will be at the Camp Nou on July 24 to start the season.”
Not only did he leave the club weeks later, he signed for fierce rival Real Madrid, prompting fans to hurl a pig's head onto the pitch when Figo returned to Camp Nou for El Clasico.
Sol Campbell
Sol Campbell summed up his Tottenham future with two words – “I’m staying”, after his contract expired in 2001. True to his word, the England defender did stay... in North London, signing for rival Arsenal where he went on to win two Premier League titles in five seasons.
Fabian Delph
Aston Villa captain Fabian Delph was set to sign for Manchester City in 2015, but the England international apparently had a change of heart when he snubbed a medical and made this candid statement to the Villa faithful.
“I’m not leaving. I’m staying at the football club and I can’t wait for the start of the season and captaining this great football club.”
A week can be an eternity in football and during that time, Delph had another change of heart, signing a five-year deal with the Citizens.
John Obi Mikel
John Obi Mikel was a veteran at Chelsea, but few would know Manchester United had struck a deal with the midfielder first. Mikel even posed with a Manchester United jersey and proclaimed ‘It's totally fantastic to come to a club like Manchester United.”
That was until he had his head turned by a Jose Mourinho and Chelsea. The Nigeria international went on to spend 12 seasons at Stamford Bridge.
Alan Smith
Alan Smith publicly vowed to “never play for Manchester United,” but when his beloved Leeds was relegated in 2004, guess who came calling?
The prospect of playing under Sir Alex Ferguson at the Red Devils was enough to sway Smith, and the Englishman will never live down the infamous U-turn.
"I was young, naive and never thought that a) Man United would ever want me, and b) Leeds would sell me. Look how silly I was. Arguably the greatest club manager ever wanted me. How could I turn that down?"
Samuel Eto'o
Samuel Eto'o won six trophies under Jose Mourinho at Inter, but there wasn’t always love and admiration between the two.
Eto'o despised ‘the special one’ after Barcelona lost to Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League last 16 in 2005. After the defeat, the Cameroonian proclaimed “never will I sign for a team trained by Jose Mourinho”
The outspoken striker even slammed Chelsea in the lead-up to the match, saying: "I would rather sell groundnuts in my village than play for a pathetic team like Chelsea."
Eto'o ended up contradicting himself, twice – he played for Jose Mourinho at Inter, before following the manager to Chelsea in 2013.
Gael Clichy
Gael Clichy was quick to criticise fellow Arsenal team-mates Kolo Toure and Emanuel Adebayor when they signed for Manchester City in 2009.
"I really believe that if you're a player who thinks only about money, then you could end up at Manchester City," Clichy said. "You have to think if you want to play for a big club and have your image, or if you want to play for a good club and earn big money.”
Two years later, City showed Clichy the money and the Frenchman obliged.
Matts Hummels
Mario Gotze left his boyhood club for its glittered rival Bayern Munich in 2013, a move which left his former Dortmund team-mate Mats Hummels bemused.
"I don't understand Gotze’s decision and I've told him just that," Hummels said. "Everybody at Dortmund was surprised. Everybody can see how good our team has become. I simply don't believe that there were any sporting reasons to leave BVB.”
Hummels eventually made sense of the decision and followed Gotze to Bayern in 2016. The pair have since returned to Dortmund hat in hand, where they were accepted back by the fans.
Neto
The Roberto Baggio transfer saga fuelled a bitter rivalry between Juventus and Fiorentina. Neto added kerosine to the fire when he left swapped Florence for Turin in 2015.
The goalkeeper was well aware of the treachery at hand, and even promised the Fiorentina faithful he wouldn’t sign for Juve.
"I’d never go there,” he said. "My agent hasn’t said anything, but above all I wouldn’t go because that would be to betray the Viola fans.”
A bold betrayal by the Brazilian.
