ROBIN VAN PERSIE looks set to walk out on Arsenal… to cross the street to Premier League rivals Manchester United this afternoon.
He won’t be the first to provoke fans’ ire after a controversial move; here’s some more.
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Famously, the subject of ‘The Trade’, the greatest ice hockey player discovered he was to be sold by the Edmonton Oilers hours after winning the Stanley Cup in 1988. Canada came to a standstill in protest as Gretzky headed for the bright lights of Los Angeles.
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Denis Law: The Scotsman – a United legend – scored a typically-cheeky back-heeled goal for City against United on the day the Old Trafford club were relegated from the old First Division in 1974. Law remains one of the most famous players in derby history.
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Johnny Damon: One of the beloved rag-tag bunch who brought the Boston Red Sox faithful a famine-ending World Series win in 2004, Damon bunked on to arch-rivals the Yankees the following year. He took out a full page ad in the Boston Globe bidding farewell to the Fenway crowd but they were ready to ‘welcome’ him back soon after.
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Mo Johnston: It’s hard to overplay the effect the arrival of former Celtic striker Johnston at Ibrox had in 1989. The image of Rangers scarves burning outside Ibrox and, the insistence of supporters that they would hand back season tickets because Johnston was a Roman Catholic is a vivid one. He didn’t enjoy a free ride from Celtic supporters either of course. Brave boy.
INPHO/Billy Stickland
Larry Tompkins: A Cork legend having led the Rebels to two All-Ireland wins in ’89 and ’90, the Castlehaven clubman was famously born and reared in Kildare.
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Luis Figo: The Portuguese winger was adored by the socios when he lined out for Barcelona. Amazingly, he was sold to Real Madrid and Figo had to endure torrid nights on returning to the Camp Nou.
(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
LeBron James: ‘I’m LeBron, baby’ was one of Barack Obama’s catchphrases in the high-pressure presidential campiagn in 2008 while the young Cleveland Cavaliers man summed up coolness, skill and integrity. Then… after the last NBA season the player hosted a one-hour ESPN special ‘The Decision’ in which he informed his hometown side and the rest of the world that he was off to Miami. He won his first championship ring last season.
LOST: One iPhone belonging to Michael Conlan
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