11 players who were 'stolen' at the last minute

Malcom (Barcelona and not Roma)

The Brazilian forward had everything in place with the Italian team, including an announcement that a deal had reached between Roma and his former club Bordeaux. Barely 24 hours later, he was officially announced as a Barcelona player.

Jorginho (Chelsea and not Manchester City)

Another text book 'theft'. The player and agent had practically signed everything off with Pep Guardiola's Man City, but Sarri's enquiry on behalf of Chelsea changed everything. Jorginho didn't hesitate in switching to an agreement with the London club.

Alexis Sánchez (Manchester United and not Manchester City)

Yet another time when Man City narrowly missed out when everything had virtually been agreed. The 'Red Devils' acted quickly and offered more to Arsenal so that the player wouldn't join their rivals. €40 million sealed the deal, in one of the most unexpected signings of the window.

Dani Alves (PSG and not Manchester City)

Not City again! Dani Alves had decided to join up with Pep Guardiola for the second time when he decided to leave juventus after a brilliant season in Turin. PSG, with the lure of potentially signing Neymar made contact and managed to secure the full-back's signature.

Pedro (Chelsea and not Manchester United)

Chelsea are the experts at stealing away players at the last minute. Pedro knew that his time at Barcelona was up and was very close to joining Man Utd. However, everything changed in a short space of time and the Spanish international instead opted for Chelsea.

Willian (Chelsea and not Tottenham)

The Brazilian winger decided to leave Anzhi in 2013 and the Premier League was his preferred destination. He had passed his medical at Tottenham and it seemed as though everything was sorted, but Jose Mourinho launched a last-minute offer that was higher than Tottenham's, and the player joined the 'Blues' instead.

Robinho

Chelsea are involved again, but were on the receiving end this time. Robinho decided to leave Real Madrid in order to be the main star at a different team, like Neymar would do years later when he left Barcelona to everyone's surprise. The Madrid player seemed destined to go to Chelsea, but a Man City team that were looking for a world-class player out-bid Chelsea and snatched the player away.

Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United and not Manchester City)

A bizzare 'theft'. The story goes that the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson went to the airport in person to convince the forward to sign for Man Utd and not their rivals, even though he was on his way to sign the contract. The rest is history, as the Bulgarian striker won several trophies at Old Trafford.

Ronaldinho (Barcelona and not Manchester United)

Joan Paorta won the election for the presidency at Barcelona, and it seemed as though he was going to sign David Beckham. However, Sadro Resell convinced the president that he had to sign Ronaldinho. The Brazilian, who already had a deal in principle to join Man Utd agreed, was convinced to change his mind and became one of the Catalan club's greatest ever players.

Roy Keane (Manchester United and not Blackburn Rovers)

This is another story that is almost unbelievable. Irishman Roy Keane, one of the most important player's in Man Utd's history almost never played for the club. He had an agreement to sign with Blackburn Rovers done, but with it being a Friday evening there was no one at the club for him to sign his contract. Ferguson used the weekend to convince the midfielder to change his mind and go to Old Trafford.

Alfredo Di Stéfano (Real Madrid y no Barcelona)

This could be the most important 'theft' in footballing history. The most credible version of this states that Barcelona were about to sign him, but that Real Madrid made an error in a deal for Di Steffano, the best player in the world at the time, would join Real from Barça after a few seasons. The Catalans pulled out of the deal and that left Di Steffano as Madrid's player, as he went on to win several trophies and be a huge part of one of the best teams in history.