Weirdest Transfers of decade – Most bizarre moves
Joe Hart (Manchester City to Torino, 2016)
It is one of those moves thought you would never see, one of the weirdest transfers of decade. Joe Hart was living his best life at Manchester City. Back in 2010/11, he won the Golden Glove for keeping the most clean sheets throughout the Premier League season and he was a key player during City’s title-winning campaign the next season.
However, with the arrival of Pep Guardiola in 2016, Hart was dropped for selection by the new manager and made only one appearance in the Champions League. It was then that he realized he needed a move away, so which club he picks? Torino! He moved on loan to the less popular Turin club and become the first goalkeeper from the United Kingdom to play in Serie A since the league began back in 1929. Hart ended season 2016/2017 with 36 league appearances and 66 conceded goals before returning to Manchester City, only to be sent on another loan.
Since 2018, he has been a member of Burnley.
Steven Caulker (QPR to Liverpool, 2016)
Former Tottenham academy star Caulker has had a tumultuous career, but it turned odd when the player joined Liverpool on loan in January 2016, which looked bizarre even without the benefit of hindsight. In all fairness, he has come out in the last couple of years to reveal that he has had one or two mental health problems and struggles with addiction. By 2016, though, Caulker was contracted to Championship QPR and having barely featured in a half-season on-loan at Southampton and suddenly, he goes to move to Anfield.
The defender made just three Premier League appearances for the club all as an auxiliary striker. He returned to QPR in the summer, and his next two moves were to Dundee and Alanyaspor.
Alexandre Pato (Corinthians to Chelsea, 2016)
This is one that falls firmly into the list of the Weirdest Transfers of decade. Alexandre Pato was an incredibly talented young player at AC Milan, whose searing pace and sharp eye for goal had marked him out as one of the finest prospects in world football before injuries began to tear apart his hamstring, his thigh and his career.
Pato joining Chelsea for £50 million in 2009 would have seemed perfectly normal, but his arrival in 2016 was rather out of the blue. By that time, the Brazilian had been back playing in Brazil for the last three years, meanwhile Chelsea were enduring a miserable attempt to defend the Premier League title. Pato made just two appearances, scoring once, and despite claiming he was keen to make the move a permanent one, no such deal was ever struck. Now he is back in his homeland seeing out a second chance at Sao Paulo.
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