Transfer deals haven’t changed too much over the years but you’re going to have to go some to beat the one which saw Manchester United sign Albert Pape in 1925.
The Red Devils aren’t shy when it comes to transfers and have caused some controversy in their time with deals involving John Obi Mikel, Robin van Persie, and others.
But none of them top the move which saw Pape make the switch to Old Trafford, which was detailed superbly by Simon Burnton for The Guardian in 2012.
A good forward, Pape spent time in the Second Division with Rotherham County after war but only managed six league appearances in the First Division with Notts County in 1923/24 before returning to the second tier with Clapton Orient (now Leyton Orient).
His spell in east London wasn’t bad at all, netting 11 times in 24 games before a fateful day – February 7, 1925.
Manchester United had just sold their own striker, Bill Henderson, to Preston North End, who were battling against relegation from the First Division.
A man down, the Red Devils needed someone to get them through, at least until the end of the season, as they attempted to keep their promotion push on track.
Henderson had netted 11 times in the league so it would be no mean feat replacing him.
Manager John Chapman searched the north of England looking for someone to do the job but was repeatedly knocked back.
Until ‘one of the greatest transfer hustles of all-time’ was concocted.
With 24 hours to go before United’s match against Clapton Orient, no one had been found and the club’s directors picked Joe Spence, their star winger of the time, in Henderson’s role.
But before their selection meeting with Chapman ended, Pape’s name cropped up, the forward they were about to face the next day.
Swiftly, a deal was put into place.
Already booked on Clapton Orient’s train in the morning, travel was no issue, while a £1,070 fee was agreed upon.
Once at Manchester Piccadilly, not much past noon, Pape agreed the deal and paperwork was hurriedly sent at 1:30pm and was ratified around an hour before kick-off.
The Manchester Football Chronicle wrote: “When the teams turned out, just before three o’clock, Pape found himself playing against the men he had travelled from London with a circumstance he would not have dreamed of, or his old colleagues, an hour or two earlier.”
Manchester United went on to win the match 4-2 at Old Trafford and, such is the almost inescapable law of the ex, Pape would score their third goal of the game before half-time to down the club he had played for just hours earlier.
Pape made 18 appearances in total, scoring five goals, including a match-winning double against Stockport County and goals in their draws with The Wednesday and Southampton, which helped United finished second and earn promotion to the First Division.
In fact it was another ex-Clapton Orient man who excelled at Old Trafford, with Charlie Rennox signing five weeks later.
The Scottish forward would go on to score 25 goals in 68 appearances, including 17 league goals in the 1925/26 campaign, while Pape was packed off to Fulham after some poor performances, although he continued to train with Manchester United as he was settled with his family near by.
But in another small twist he would score against the team he practiced with in March 26 when the two clubs met in the FA Cup, but that day the Red Devils managed a 2-1 victory, denying Pape a second fairytale match.