Harry Kane left Tottenham Hotspur as a legend but a ‘stunning move’ to Chelsea puts him at risk of joining the exclusive Judas list of hated players…
The England international leaving Spurs for a Premier League rival would have been hard to accept, so last summer’s move to Bayern Munich was a not-as-painful alternative for their supporters.
Having left Tottenham to boost his chances of winning team trophies, Kane appears to be cursed as Bayern Munich are in disarray and Thomas Tuchel is leaving in the summer as the German giants succumb to the brilliance of Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen.
Kane’s ‘unhappiness’ at Bayern is reportedly growing amid a run of three consecutive losses across all competitions. This has sparked Chelsea into life as they plot an audacious summer transfer.
While some would argue that there’s no chance this transfer happens because of Kane’s affiliation with Spurs, Mauricio Pochettino’s presence at Stamford Bridge and a future trophy haul set up by Todd Boehly’s eye-watering spending will give Chelsea fans a little bit of hope (albeit false) that this shocking deal can go through.
And if it does, Kane would join this Judas list of players who went from being loved to hated by one of their former clubs. On this occasion, we’re focusing on direct transfers only, but Paul Ince and Michael Owen can maybe get a mention in a future piece which includes indirect deals. We shall see. But for now, here is this version which Arsenal and Manchester United dominate…
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal to Man City)
“I think the fans can forget what happened in 2009 when I ran the length of the pitch…”
Are you sure about that, Emmanuel?
The Togo international headed to the Etihad a year after the Sheikh Mansour-led regime gained control of the Premier League club in 2008. A move from Arsenal to Man City is not usually enough to earn the Judas tag but Adebayor’s handling of the whole thing ensured that was the case.
Nowadays when players score against their former teams, many refuse to celebrate but we suggest they take a page out of Adebayor’s book in future…
After netting in City’s 4-2 home win over Arsenal at the start of his debut season at his new club, the striker sprinted to the opposite end of the pinch just so he could do a kneeslide celebration in front of the visiting Gunners supporters. Sh*housery at its finest.
To worsen Adebayor’s relationship with Arsenal even further, he later had a four-season spell at arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur. His response to scoring against the Gunners for Spurs was not quite as dramatic as in 2009, so he perhaps grew with age.
Sol Campbell (Tottenham to Arsenal)
Campbell may be hoping that Kane heads to Stamford Bridge so the striker can join him in being labelled a Judas by Tottenham supporters…
And it all started so well for the centre-back at White Hart Lane. After making 250 appearances for Spurs and captaining them to their League Cup triumph in 1999, his contract was up in the summer of 2001.
Tottenham chiefs were willing to break the bank to keep Campbell but despite the defender previously offering assurances that he would stay (and never play for Arsenal), he joined the Gunners on a free transfer before the 2001/02 campaign.
You have to admit, it was a bit of a snakey move from Mr Campbell. But he will not be bothered one jot as he played a significant role in Arsenal’s dominance in the coming years, which included them becoming invincible in 2003/04.
Ashley Cole (Arsenal to Chelsea)
Arsenal may not have liked Adebayor’s celebration, but their hate for him did not come close to what they felt towards Cole.
A product of the Gunners academy, Cole – alongside Campbell – enjoyed immense success under Arsene Wenger as he established himself as one of the best left-backs in the world.
But after being on track to go down as an all-time great at the Emirates, Cole soon became known as ‘Cashley’ among Arsenal supporters as he joined London rivals Chelsea in the summer of 2006.
A huge fine and allegations of Arsenal making Cole a “scapegoat” preceded his switch to Chelsea as the England international was at the centre of a heated transfer dispute, which resulted in owner Roman Abramovich paying £25m for his services.
Cole is understandably still hated by Arsenal but is lauded as a Chelsea legend and given the trajectory these clubs headed following this saga, this controversial transfer certainly was an upward career move for the defender.
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Luis Figo (Barcelona to Real Madrid)
The Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry is heralded as one of the best in world football and Figo’s shocking move to the Bernabeu only added to their hatred for one another.
Few players have played for both Spanish giants but Real Madrid took the matter out of Barcelona’s hands when they paid the Ballon d’Or winner’s buy-out clause and eventually signed him for a then-record fee of €62m (£53m).
Which side of the El Classico fence you sit on will determine how you view this transfer and how it contributed to President Florentino Perez’s Galactico obsession, which is still in force to this day with Kylian Mbappe expected to join Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid.
Rio Ferdinand (Leeds United to Man Utd)
Leeds United’s prolonged period in the shadows following their relegation from the Premier League in 2004 has got in the way of their heated rivalry with Man Utd, but the two clubs still despise each other.
So it is pretty frowned upon to leave Leeds for Man Utd. Kalvin Phillips swerved this career route when departing Elland Road in 2022 but 20 years before, Ferdinand could not help himself.
Ferdinand was a product of West Ham’s academy and he joined Leeds for a British record fee of £18m in 2000 so he would not have felt as close to the Yorkshire club as Phillips, but their supporters still did not take too kindly to him joining Man Utd two years later.
His move to Man Utd saw him involved in another British record transfer. With Leeds strapped for cash, their board sanctioned his exit for around £30m. He went on to win a boatload of trophies with the Red Devils and became an average pundit…
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Carlos Tevez (Man Utd to Man City)
‘Welcome to Manchester…’
For much of their history, City were elbowed to the outside as Man Utd focused their attention on their rivalries with Leeds United, Liverpool and Arsenal, but Mansour legally (or not) ensuring the Citizens have dominated English football has intensified their rivalry with their neighbours.
And Tevez, who was no stranger to a controversial transfer or two during his career, added fuel to the fire in 2009 as he signed for City after failing to come to terms on a deal with Man Utd.
On the pitch, Tevez was hugely successful and – after a few bumps on the road – he contributed to Man City winning their first Premier League title in 2011/12. But off the field, he was a nightmare to deal with and made suave Italian manager Roberto Mancini go grey sooner than he would have anticipated.
