Goal counts down the transfers that have surprised over the years in the world's most popular sport

The appointment of college football coach Ted Lasso as Richmond FC's new manager might be one of the more bizarre signings in football, but the sport's history is littered with shock transfers – successful and infamous…

• Getty
  

  Table of Contents

  Toggle

  20Ronaldinho – AC Milan to Flamengo

  In 2011, Ronaldinho had a whole host of admirers when he was leaving AC Milan.

  His transfer to Flamengo was not exactly a shock as he returned to his homeland, but the real head-scratching moment was the fact that Brazilian rivals Gremio were so sure they had they had re-signed their former player that they held a celebration with their fans before Flamengo came in and snatched him from under their eyes.

Advertisement

• Marco Luzzani
  

  19Andrea Pirlo – Juventus U23 to Juventus

  Andrea Pirlo was no stranger to a shocking switch, having first traded Inter for AC Milan and later joined Juventus on a free transfer, prompting Gianluigi Buffon to claim "God exists".

  However, in 2020, he went one step further, taking over as coach of Juventus's Under-23 side without any coaching experience before being promoted to the top job just a week later following the sacking of Maurizio Sarri.

• Getty Images
  

  18Julien Faubert – West Ham to Real Madrid

  French winger Julien Faubert had an unexpected career journey. He went from Cannes to Bordeaux to West Ham before stunning the world when Real Madrid came in with a deadline day loan offer for him in January 2009.

  He played just twice for Los Blancos, even being pictured sleeping on the bench during a game and missing training as he got his day off mixed up.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty
  

  17Edgar Davids – Retired to Barnet

  In 2012, former Ajax, Juventus and Netherlands legend Edgar Davids came out of retirement to play for his local London club.

  But rather than a Premier League giant, the Champions League winner was appointed joint player-coach at… League Two side Barnet.

  There, he wore the shirt number 1 and would not travel to away games if the team was required to stay in a hotel overnight.

  Barnet were relegated but Davids stayed on and managed the team in the Conference. He left in 2014 and has not had a managerial job since.

Tags: Futebol
Category: News