A rather unique piece of Premier League history was made when an aborted transfer to West Ham United for a former Chelsea, Aston Villa and Fulham midfielder fell through.
Back in 2011, a new rule forced top-flight clubs into naming a 25-man squad at the end of every transfer window.
That meant Premier League clubs – West Ham United included, although Avram Grant would take them into the Championship a few months later – had to be a little more careful in their squad-building from then on.
As a result, Steve Sidwell saw what The Telegraph called a ‘dream transfer’ from Aston Villa to Upton Park fall apart midway through the 2010/11 season. The move was reportedly agreed around the Christmas period. And Sidwell, a Wandsworth-born talent who grew up in a West Ham-supporting family, was understandably eager to make the switch happen.
But it wasn’t just he who was left disappointed when those Premier League rules scuppered the Hammers’ plans.
In a week when Henrikh Mkhitaryan opened up on Jose Mourinho’s rather brutal attempts to force him out of Manchester United, Sidwell recalls Martin O’Neill doing something similar at Villa Park.
Steve Sidwell admits Martin O’Neill was desperate to send him to West Ham United
Arsenal academy graduate Sidwell fell out of favour under O’Neill at the start of the 2010/11 campaign.
Speaking to talkSPORT, the former England Under-21 international recalls being asked to provide regular updates on the progress of his departure by a manager who made no attempt to hide the fact he wanted him out the door.
Mkhitaryan would find himself in a similar position when Mourinho – who Sidwell worked with briefly at Chelsea – was trying to force through a swap deal with Arsenal superstar Alexis Sanchez.
“When you get a bit ostracised from Jose, that’s it,” says Sidwell. “So, that scenario [with Mkhitaryan], I am sure that the conversation he’s having with the board, they are going, ‘if you want this [Sanchez] deal to happen, he’s got to go’.
“So, he’s going to do everything that he can. You know what Jose is like.
“I’ve had that before with Aston Villa with Martin O’Neill. I used to take my boots home every day because I was going to have a medical at West Ham. [O’Neill] was on the phone going, ‘has it been done yet?'”
One suspects O’Neill would have been delighted to see Fulham come in for Sidwell just days after West Ham gave up the ghost. The now-42-year-old would go on to make over 100 appearances for the Cottagers before winding down his career with spells at Stoke City and Brighton and Hove Albion.
Jose Mourinho took no prisoners with Henrikh Mkhitaryan at Manchester United
As for Mkhitaryan, while his best days came in a Borussia Dortmund shirt, it is probably safe to say that Arsenal got the better end of that ill-fated 2018 swap deal.
“I told [Mourinho], you’ve been criticising me for a year and a half now, ever since I arrived at Manchester United,” the Armenian icon wrote in his autobiography, ‘My Life Always at the Centre’. “[He responded] ‘Get out of here, I never want to see you again.’
“During the training sessions, the coach said nothing to me, he remained at a religious level of silence, but every evening he’d send me a message via WhatsApp. ‘Miki, leave, please.’
“The situation had become grotesque. I’d reply every time with the same copy and paste response. I will leave if I find the right team, otherwise I’ll wait for the summer. Towards the middle of January, the text changed slightly. ‘Miki, please leave. That way I can get Alexis Sanchez.’
“[Agent] Mino Raiola was working on this exchange with Arsenal. So my response mutated too. ‘I am not leaving just to do you a favour, and please stop writing to me. If you want, talk to Mino.’”
“And everyone lived happily ever after.”
No wonder, when pressed on the idea of bringing the Chelsea legend back to the Premier League following his departure from Fenerbahce, the West Ham board made their stance on Mourinho clear from the off.
“What has he done in [recent] years?,” a source for the club’s bosses told Hammers News, before adding in capitals, “And it would be HARD WORK.”
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