9 transfers out of nowhere: Campbell, Robinho, Ravanelli…

It's harder than ever to keep an inbound transfer secret, but Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United have all done it in the past.

In the age of social media and 'in the know' accounts, Liverpool surprised everyone with their quick acquisition of Darwin Nunez, while Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Manchester United last summer was a blow thunder.

We identified nine other transfers that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Sol Campbell

The king of all surprise transfers.

By the end of the 2000-01 season, it was clear that Campbell had overtaken Tottenham - he was one of the best centre-backs in Europe while Spurs floundered in mid-table.

His contract had expired and Campbell was expected to join an elite Champions League club overseas. Around the same time, Arsenal announced a press conference to unveil the signing of goalkeeper Richard Wright.

The scenes where Campbell came out instead were unprecedented. In an interview with Spurs Monthly magazine, the England defender said he would never play for Arsenal and the reaction from Tottenham fans was apoplectic.

Campbell himself said: “[Arsenal vice-chairman] David Dein made me feel protected. He was going to help and promised to be there for me. Come to our house, he said, and you will be part of our family. We will protect you."

‘Judas’ ended up winning two league titles and three FA Cups at Highbury for which Spurs fans never, ever forgave him.

Robinho

It's August 2008. Manchester City are aggressively mid-table, their new manager is Mark Hughes and their star summer signing was £18m striker Jo. The shadow of the English and European champions at Old Trafford looms on the horizon.

But what is it? A mysterious billionaire decided to buy the club and Robinho agreed to join him. Robinho!

It's entirely possible we'll never see such carnage on transfer deadline day again, with newly minted City buying the shiniest bauble on offer like a mad lottery winner.

For his part, Robinho was thinking of joining Chelsea. At least he had heard of it.

The Brazil international never lived up to expectations and lasted just two years in England. But anyone who saw the initial move coming is a pathological liar.

Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano

Unprecedented, infamous and fucking brilliant.

READ: Why the shady deals between Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano should be celebrated

Antoine Martial

"I didn't buy Martial for myself, I bought him for the next Manchester United manager."

These were the words of Louis van Gaal when signing Martial in September 2015, lamenting the £36million transfer fee as proof of the 'crazy world we find ourselves in' and how United was regularly quoted "£10m more" for players than other clubs.

It's a move that surprised United fans this season. Martial was making a name for himself at Monaco but no one expected the teenager to move to Old Trafford for a record transfer.

The reaction in France was bewilderment. Journalist Phillipe Auclair told the BBC: "Is it worth that amount of money? If you ask people back in France, they'll say no, it's not. That amount of money leaves people voiceless in France."

Things may have fallen apart for Martial at Old Trafford, but 79 goals in 269 United appearances is a good investment for United.

Fabrice Ravanelli

Middlesbrough was gloriously bonkers in the 90s, with superstars like Juninho and Emerson lining up alongside the more prosaic Phil Stamp.

But Ravanelli still managed to stand out. After winning the Champions League with Juventus, the Italy international moved to Teeside for £7million in the summer of 1996 and...