Player lied to move to Premier League

Pierre van Hooijdonk has angered Celtic fans.

Over its more than three-decade history, the Premier League has seen many controversial transfers. However, according to The Times , the most "deceitful" transfer took place in 1997, when Pierre van Hooijdonk moved from Celtic to Nottingham Forest.

Van Hooijdonk was playing for Celtic in the Scottish Premier League at the time. The Dutch striker was keen to leave Celtic and join Nottingham Forest, who had just been promoted to the Premier League.

To achieve his goal, Van Hooijdonk was accused of lying about his injury status, in order to put pressure on Celtic to accept his sale. Specifically, throughout the 1996/97 season, he often made excuses about pain or lack of fitness to play, even though Celtic's doctors found no serious problems.

This action made the Celtic board suspect that he was deliberately "acting" to get out. Van Hooijdonk was accused of lying so much that the doctors at Celtic had to cry out to the board and assure that their medical expertise was fine.

Nottingham Forest, then managed by Dave Bassett, were also accused of inciting players to lie. They were keen to sign Van Hooijdonk because of his impressive goalscoring record (52 goals in 69 games for Celtic).

Eventually, the pressure paid off, and in March 1997, Celtic agreed to sell Van Hooijdonk to Forest for £4.5 million. Upon joining the Premier League, the Dutchman quickly proved his worth, scoring 34 goals in the 1997/98 season, despite the club being relegated.

Van Hooijdonk also rebelled at Forest after just one season.

However, the story did not end there. After Forest were relegated, Van Hooijdonk caused controversy again by refusing to return to training with the team in the summer of 1998, demanding another transfer.

He publicly criticised the Forest board for failing to keep their promise to strengthen the squad, and went on a three-month strike. Forest fans branded him a “traitor”, but the incident cemented the image of a player who would resort to any means – including lying and pressure – to achieve his transfer targets.

Van Hooijdonk’s case stands out for the brazenness with which he manipulated his way into the Premier League. From lying about his injury at Celtic to his later actions at Forest, he has left his mark as one of the most controversial players in the history of the Premier League’s transfer market.

Source: https://znews.vn/cau-thu-noi-doi-de-chuyen-den-ngoai-hang-anh-post1542505.html