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OneFootball

·27 July 2026

OneFootball

·27 July 2026

Just like Yan Diomande’s move to PSG, which broke down even though everything appeared to be almost in place, several other transfers have also collapsed in the final moments of the window.

So, here is a look back at some of the most unforgettable examples.

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Let’s go back to the beginning of 2023, when Paris went through a very quiet winter transfer window with no new arrivals at all. Even so, the Parisians decided to make a late push and turned their attention to Hakim Ziyech, who was struggling at Chelsea.

The two clubs had already agreed on a loan deal for the Moroccan international. The only issue was that the LFP never gave its approval for the transfer, because the player’s contract arrived too late.

PSG, for its part, blamed Chelsea for negligence in sending the paperwork. In the end, Paris did not sign a single player that winter.

On the subject of administrative confusion, this was one that made headlines across Spain for many days.

Although Real Madrid and Manchester United had already agreed on the transfer of the Spanish goalkeeper, the fax confirming De Gea’s arrival was received at 12:02 a.m., three minutes after the transfer window had shut.

The move never took place, and the goalkeeper therefore remained at Manchester United until 2023, when his contract ran out.

One of the most astonishing stories of recent years. While his move to Juventus was almost complete in 2020, it still depended on a naturalisation process. To finish it, the Uruguayan striker had to take an Italian language test, except it was allegedly fixed.

According to Corriere dello Sport, the forward even admitted before Italian magistrates that he had received the test questions and answers by email a week before taking it. Luis Suarez eventually signed for Atlético Madrid.

This could be the most iconic transfer-window saga in French football. In the summer of 2011, Lille were all set to sign Park Chu-Young from Monaco. Everything had been done, the player had completed the first part of his medical and was due to finish the rest the next day before signing his contract.

However, when a club representative reached the hotel early in the morning to collect Park, neither the player, nor his agent, nor the translator was there. They had left during the night without even paying for the hotel room.

The reason? Arsène Wenger had simply taken the player away from Lille by offering more money to Park and AS Monaco. It was a low blow that did not necessarily pay off, because the striker played only seven matches in four years with Arsenal.

In the summer of 2021, Lazio were urgently searching for a winger and set their sights on Filip Kostic. Talks were difficult and continued until the final days of the transfer window.

But the move eventually collapsed because the Roman club’s executives reportedly sent their offer to the wrong email address. The story does not end there, because according to Sky Deutschland and the player’s agent, the German club’s executives had deliberately supplied an incorrect address so that the transfer would not go through.

As a result, the summer transfer window closed in the meantime and the move never happened.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.

📸 JAVIER SORIANO