Hero to villain: 5 of the best players to transfer to rival clubs

Undoubtedly the ultimate sin for any footballer from a supporters’ perspective is witnessing a beloved player of their club, ditch the colours of whom they have become associated with and move across a town or city to join up with one of their fiercest rivals.

Here are five occasions where footballer’s have stepped over the line and taken the bold decision to leave for a rival club.

5) Carlos Tevez

Partnering Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney to form an exceptional free-scoring forward trio, Tevez would go onto claim a Premier League and Champions League double with Manchester United in the 2008/09 season.

The Argentine would depart for the summer break a hero, but by the start of the next season he quickly diminished into the villain for fans of Manchester United.

Frustrated by Ferguson’s lack of desire to make his loan spell permanent, Manchester City jumped in and signed the Buenos Aries born attacker for £32.5m, completing the marquee signing the club craved in light of their recent takeover by the Abu Dhabi Group.

The war of words between Tevez and Ferguson flashed back and forth like a game at tennis ball on the Wimbledon greens, with the Scott claiming Tevez wasn’t worth the lucrative fee their city rivals had paid.

Tensions between the two clubs heightened when the infamous unveiling of the now infamous ‘Welcome to Manchester’ billboard just after Tevez’s arrival. And the Argentine proved his worth to the blue side of Manchester by helping them win their first trophy in 34 years with the 2011 FA Cup triumph.

Tevez’s move has since acted as a significant watershed moment in the modern-day rivalry between United and City.

4) Ashley Cole

Having secured back-to-back league titles, Jose Mourinho saw the capture of Ashley Cole as one of the final pieces in his aim to fully conquer English football and in the early hours of the 1st September 2006 it was confirmed that Cole would be heading to Stamford Bridge in exchange for William Gallas and £5million.

Cole went on to achieve his aspirations of competing for the highest honours, something he felt was missing during his time at Arsenal, by picking up nine winners medals throughout his eight-year stay with the Blues.

However, Arsenal fans’ main reasoning for their hatred of the former England international is the quotes released in the defenders’ autobiography, which was released only months after his switch.

Cole revealed in his book the exact moment where he nearly strayed off the road because he heard about the £55,000 a week contract offer Arsenal had offered him, claiming “it wasn’t nearly enough”.

Comparatively, this incident took place just a number of years after Roman Abramovich’s sensational takeover at Chelsea.

The Russian’s vast wealth had now made Chelsea an attractive proposition in European football and many Arsenal supporters pointed at that being the wholesale reason for Cole’s betrayal.

3) Robin van Persie

Third in our list is another player who left Arsenal in search of success.

Robin Van Persie made the move to England in 2004 from Feyenoord and for eight years was Arsenal’s main man.

However, Van Persie’s clinical edge in front of goal was never enough to get Arsene Wenger’s side over the line in pursuit of re-establishing Arsenal at the pinnacle of English football.

Cole’s move had paved the way for more players to leave the Emirates with Samir Nasir and Cesc Fabregas departing for Manchester City and Barcelona respectively.

A transfer battle for English football’s most prolific goalscorer at the time ensued between the two Manchester clubs and it was United who succeeded in securing the Dutchman’s signature.

His impact at the Red Devils was instantaneous, as under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson he would go onto score an exceptional 26 goals and claim that elusive Premier League medal in his debut season at Old Trafford.

2) Johan Cruyff

Seen as one of the best of all time by many, runner up on our list is the late, great Johan Cruyff.

Having joined the Ajax youth ranks at just ten years of age, Cruyff went onto establish himself into the Dutch side’s record books.

During two spells at the club spanning across a combined twelve seasons, Cruyff sustained an unprecedented amount of success at Ajax, which included: eight Eredivisie titles, five domestic cups and three European Cups.

Despite boasting a sublime record of 204 goals in 276 appearances for de Godenzonen, his boyhood club took the contentious decision not to renew the number 14’s contract.

Although he had etched his way onto the hearts of all Ajax fans, it didn’t stop Cruyff from making the switch to sign for their biggest rivals Feyenoord.

The team from Rotterdam had been in the shadow of Ajax for a number of years, yet the addition of Cruyff – albeit one in the twilight of his career – ended Ajax’s grasp on Dutch football.

Alongside a fledgling Ruud Gullit and goalscoring machine Peter Houtman, Cruyff would go onto be a leading figure in capturing a league and cup double in Rotterdam, finishing off his glittering career in emphatic style.

1) Luis Figo

This plucky Portuguese star joined Barcelona in 1995 and for five years was idolised and adored among la Blaugrana faithful thanks to the success he brought to the Camp Nou.

That all changed however in 2000 when Figo controversially made a world-record £37million switch to Barcelona’s arch-rival’s Real Madrid.

It is reported that Luis himself had no intentions of leaving Barca, but rather was forced into a move due to a promise made by then Real Madrid presidential candidate, Florentino Perez, who promised the board that if he were to be elected, he would ensure Figo joined Madrid.

Figo’s move would usher in the beginning of the Galactico era at Real Madrid and Los Blancos would go onto dominate Spanish football for the foreseeable future.

Furthermore, Barcelona fans would have to enviously look on as Figo would pick up the Ballon d’Or just a few months after his departure.

On his return to the Camp Nou, Figo was unsurprisingly met with a barrage of hostility, with one hardcore Barcelona fan even taking the unusual step of throwing a pig’s head at the Portuguese whilst he was taking a corner. How strange.