15 Weirdest Transfers of decade! – Most bizarre moves (2012-2023)

Weirdest Transfers of decade

Weirdest Transfers of decade? Have you ever wanted to find out which are the weirdest transfers of decade 2012 – 2023? Which players make the cut and how did their move happen? Watch & Bet Football Here =>

Some transfers make perfect sense. The goal-shy title hopefuls spending big on a striker. The injury-racked drop-dodgers drafting in reinforcements.

However, there are certain transfers that cause you to a little double-take. Whether it is a shock that a club has managed to pull off the coup of signing a player you’d have thought was beyond them, or equal disbelief that a club has been daft enough to sign someone clearly unfit to ever wear the shirt. And then there is a third type of weird transfer just in the sense that it is a club and player you would never pair, and the deal has seemingly come totally out of the blue.

Barcelona somewhat surprisingly signed African star Kevin-Prince Boateng in January 2019, but histransfer is not the first time in recent years that the Catalan giants shocked fans and pundits alike with one of their signings. Continue reading to find out the 15 Weirdest Transfers of decade.

15 Weirdest Transfers of decade (2012-2023)

It is actually harder than expected to come up with a ranking list of the Top 15 moves, so we have decided not to rank any transfer – instead, put them in a chronological order.

Bebe (Vitoria Guimaraes to Manchester United, 2012)

You would think that Bebe playing for Manchester United was an entire era ago, but no, it was almost 10 years ago. Bebe’s story was already remarkable, but the scriptwriters clearly got carried away when he made a £7.4million move to Manchester United in 2010, just five weeks after he had signed for Vitoria de Guimaraes.

The Portugese had been impressing in the Portuguese second tier for Estrela da Amadora the previous season and had scored five goals in six pre-season games for Vitoria, but still nobody could have foreseen the move to Old Trafford. Even Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he had never seen the winger play and that he only signed him on the recommendation of his former assistant manager Carlos Queiroz.

Bebe actually played seven times in his first season in England, scoring twice, but he was loaned to Besiktas for the following season and never appeared for United again, spending a further two years out on loan before joining Benfica on a permanent basis in the summer of 2014. He is featuring for Rayo Vallecao at the moment.

Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal to Juventus, 2012)

Lord Bendtner once described himself as one of the world’s best players and if this were true, Juventus would have pulled off a great loan move here. In reality though, it was a total disaster. With several not very prolific strikers already on their books – Mirko Vucinic, Sebastian Giovinco, Fabio Quagliarella and Alessandro Matri – it was a tad strange that, during the summer of 2012, instead of going out of their way to get a proven goalscorer, Juventus opted for Nicklas Bendtner on loan from Arsenal.

Bendtner had just scored eight goals in 30 games on loan at Sunderland in the 2011-2012 season, which hardly seemed like the type of form to earn you a move to the newly-crowed Italian champions, but it was. It took Bendtner until October 28 to make his first start in a 1-0 away win at Catania and then December 12 to make his second, which saw him suffer a thigh injury that was expected to rule him out for two to three months.

The club even revealed they were yet to sell a jersey with his name on it after seven months.

Julio Cesar (Inter Milan to QPR, 2012)

Cesar was one of the best goalkeepers that Inter Milan have ever had. However, his time in Italy came to an end after the entered his veteran years, so Cesar joined Queens Park Rangers from in 2012. By joining, he became only the fourth Champions League winner in the QPR squad, along with Djibril Cisse, Park Ji-sung and Jose Bosingwa.

However, the Brazilian made just one appearance for Harry Redknapp’s side since their relegation from the Premier League, as he was inexplicably frozen out of the team. He left Loftus Road to join MLS side Toronto FC on loan for the rest of the season and played in goal for hosts Brazil during the World Cup with limited success.

Falcao (Monaco to Manchester United & Chelsea, 2014 & 2015)

Ok, so there are two completely different transfers, but then again, both completely the same. Falcao has been one of the world’s most prolific strikers ever but like many before and after him, he has made some mistakes. Such were the two separate loan moves to the Premier League in two consecutive seasons.

Falcao made his name in the Portuguese league while at Porto, where he impressed with his magical goalscoring skills. Then after many successful seasons spent in Portugal and Spain, a call by a French financial powerhouse arrived which he could not refuse. At Monaco, he became the star they have been missing for so long. However, not everything was ideal, as he suffered an ACL injury which ruled him out for several months. Since his form dipped, Monaco decided to send him out on loan to Manchester United.

Man Utd

Falcao’s summer loan was one of the most high-profile transfers in world football, but the Colombian failed to match that billing with his performances. United already had Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie and Danny Welbeck but still decided to strengthen their attack rather than focusing on their defence. His future at the club was put under doubt when his agent, Jorge Mendes, stated at the start of the year that his client “may not be at Old Trafford at the start of next season but will play in one of the very best clubs in the world”. And that is exactly what happened.

Chelsea

After returning in France briefly, he was again shipped back off to the Premier League – this time at Chelsea. The move briefly reunited him with his Colombia teammate Juan Cuadrado and former Atletico Madrid teammates Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois. Another injury turned out to be a setback as he ended his stint featuring just 10 times and scoring one goal for the Blues.

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid to Porto, 2015)

Back in 2014/15, Real Madrid’s goalkeeping situation was of high interest, as Jose Mourinho dropped Iker Casillas from the first team. The legendary Los Blancos goalkeeper was restored by Carlo Ancelotti for cup matches, in the Copa del Rey and the Champions League but Diego Lopez was the man between the sticks for league games. At the time, it did not seem likely that the legendary goalkeeper would depart the club he loves, but it was clear he had not been happy to continue that way.

Then, after much speculation about his future, in summer 2015 Casillas shockingly quit Real Madrid to join Portuguese side Porto on a two-year deal with the option of a one-year extension. Real Madrid’s conduct in his exit was criticized, with Casillas’ parents claiming that he was being forced out of the club by president Florentino Perez, who received calls to quit from fans. It may be the 500 matches Casillas has played for Los Blancos, but it is the end of 2019, and it still hurts to see him wear any other badge but Real Madrid’s.

Victor Valdes (Barcelona to Manchester United, 2015)

Not much went right for Victor Valdes after deciding to walk away from Barcelona. The three-time Champions League winner suffered ligament damage at the tail end of his final season at Camp Nou, in 2013-14, prompting Monaco to pull out of an agreement to sign the goalkeeper. Manchester United eventually came to his rescue but Valdes quickly fell out with then manager Louis van Gaal and, in his desperate search for game time, he joined Standard Liege on loan in January 2016.

It was quite the fall from grace for a man who had been playing in front of 90,000 people at Camp Nou just two years before and, although he got his hands on the Belgian Cup, further ignominy followed when Valdes’ spell with Standard was cut short following the club’s decision to release him in order to create more space for younger players.

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.

Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus to AC Milan, 2017)

His move in July 2017 was a seismic shock to Italy’s footballing order, a bolt out of the blue that saw a mainstay of Juve’s dominance switch allegiance to one of the country’s sleeping giants. Bonucci’s emergence as one of the world’s foremost centre-backs had coincided with the Bianconeri’s return from the wilderness, with the former Inter and Bari man forging a feared defensive partnership alongside Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli as a lynchpin of six consecutive title-winning sides.

Widely regarded as a steal at €45 m despite his advancing years, Bonucci was the crowning piece of AC Milan’s ambitious restructuring. Li had spared no expense to bring in the likes of Mateo Musacchio, Andrea Conti, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Lucas Biglia and André Silva that summer, but Bonucci was the undoubted icon of the new AC Milan – a signing that was as symbolic as it was strategic.

By January, the defender already seemed to be thinking twice about his decision to leave the stability of Turin for the chaos of the Rossoneri. With the financial future under Li shrouded in uncertainty, the club limped to a sixth-place finish, and Bonucci looked on enviously as his former teammates clinched a seventh consecutive Scudetto. Yet the centre-back’s turbulent history with Juventus was to have another twist as it was announced that Bonucci would return to the Bianconeri just 377 days after he had departed.

Paulinho (Guangzhou Evergrande to Barcelona, 2017)

In the blink of an eye, the nouveau-riche Chinese top flight became a high-profile destination for players chasing a handsome payday. Former Tottenham afterthought Paulinho was one of many to head east, penning a four-year deal with Guangzhou Evergrande in 2015.

Surprisingly, Barcelona plucked the Brazilian for €40 million in August 2017. Almost right away, the 55-time capped international became an integral part of Ernesto Valverde’s regime, bagging nine goals in 55 appearances for La Blaugrana. As quickly as he arrived, he was off, returning to Evergrande on a one-year loan with an obligation to buy, with Barcelona somehow turning a €8.5-million profit on the 30-year-old. Something smells fishy.

Eric Choupo-Moting (Stoke City to PSG, 2018)

Eric Choupo-Moting tripped face-first exiting his flat and landed on an unlikely treasure. Imagine being the versatile Cameroonian attacker: You have joined Stoke City and scored five goals to go with five assists at the Potters, only to drop to the second tier following a decade-long stretch in the top flight.

Fear not, Eric, because you have got fortune on your side. Paris Saint-Germain came calling, signing the angular 29-year-old on a free transfer to join a decorated world-class attack. Doubters will say this makes no sense, while those aware of the capital city club’s fears of violating Financial Fair Play rules under Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s opulent reign will nod along in approval. He went from playing alongside Mame Biram Diouf and Ramadan Sobhi to Edinson Cavani, Mauro Icardi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus to PSG, 2018)

Gianluigi Buffon left Juventus last summer after a glittering 17-year career with the Italian giants. He won everything but the Champions League with Juve, and probably didn’t want to retire without having another crack at it.

In 2017/18, the Bianconeri came close to knocking out Real Madrid, but shot themselves in the foot in the last minute when they gave away a penalty which Cristiano Ronaldo calmly fired into the top corner. Buffon’s explosive reaction to the penalty decision got him sent off and rightly so, but also showed just how much he wanted to win the trophy. So, he opted to join a strong side consisting of Neymar, Di Maria, Cavani, Mbappe… However, it all went down the cracks as Paris Saint-Germain were eliminated in the round of 16 by Manchester United.

To make matters worse for Buffon, he was often rotated with Alphonse Areola between the sticks as Thomas Tuchel wanted to let the veteran know that he would have to fight for the starting spot. In an ironic turn of events, after one season away from Juventus, Buffon opted against retiring and returned to his former side. What makes it even more bizarre is the reason behind it – to overcome Serie A’s most appearances record holder, Paolo Maldini.

Kevin Prince Boateng (Sassuolo to Barcelona, 2019)

Probably the most recent one on our list of Weirdest Transfers of decade. Few players have put together as diverse a career as Kevin-Prince Boateng, who has gone from Hertha Berlin to Portsmouth to AC Milan and Schalke and back to AC Milan before a brief stop at Las Palmas and a DFB-Pokal-winning spell at Eintracht Frankfurt. However, Boateng’s 10th club is the biggest of them all. It was also the biggest surprise; their new centre-forward comes from left-field, unforeseen by anyone. The headlines in the Catalan papers came with exclamation marks. Boateng, the “hidden option”, “the surprise”, ran the front pages.

Barcelona had been searching for a back-up striker, someone to take some of the pressure, and the minutes, off Luis Suarez. The criteria was clear and it limited their options: they wanted a player with experience and the personality to contribute from the start, but prepared to be substitute. Someone cheap too, although the cumulative effects of hurried deals costs. And someone who could leave as easily, and fuss-free as he arrived. A short-term solution to a specific problem, which could have been foreseen in the summer.

Boateng struggled at Barca after making just three league appearances and returned to his parent club Sassuolo. He is playing for Fiorentina now.