6 of the strangest EFL transfers including sheep stipulation and wild party boy

The life of a footballer is unpredictable and can see them whisked off to a random destination when they least expect it.

It can also see them repeat the process many times throughout their career, especially for those players filed under 'journeymen'.

But it's not just the end destination that can be odd - sometimes the deal itself can be stipulated in such a way, and the route to completing a transfer isn't always straightforward.

Here, Mirror Sport have trawled through the archives to look at five of the more eye-raising transfers both to and from EFL clubs down the years.

What's the most bizarre transfer you can recall? Let us know in the comments section

Spencer Prior

Let's start with a transfer that, on the face of it, wasn't really that odd.

Spencer Prior was a defender for Manchester City in the early noughties when he transferred to Cardif for a fee of £650,000.

So far, pretty straighforward. But not when you add in the numerous sheep-related clauses that were inserted into Prior's Cardiff contract.

It had stipulations such as eating fried sheep's testicles, brains and even, er, 'liaising' with a sheep.

The crazy terms were dreamt up by Cardiff 's chairman Sam Hammam.

Perhaps surprisingly, Prior was fair game. He said at the time: "It must be the strangest contract in the history of football. But I'll try anything once."

Tyrone Mears

Back in 2008 Mears was with Derby, having experienced a painful relegation from the Premier League as the club went down with a whimper and a record low of 11 points.

Despite that, he was handed a shock trial by French giants Marseille. He flew to France without Derby's permission and was fined six weeks' wages.

Marseille agreed to loan Mears for the season with an option to buy. He didn't play his first game for the club until January though and featured just seven times in total as the club finished runners-up to Bordeaux that season. They didn't take up the option to sign him permanently.

Paul Merson

Classy veteran Merson had just led Portsmouth to a Premier League return in 2003 when he decided to drop down the leagues.

He was said to have felt too old to play in the top flight and wanted a club nearer his Sutton Coldfield base.

He was duly unveiled by second tier side Walsall that summer with boss Colin Lee declaring him the "club's biggest ever signing".

Despite showing glimpses of brilliance, Merson couldn't prevent Walsall going down. But before the season was out he was made player-manager, after Lee was axed in April.

He was made permanent manager when the season ended and after an initial struggle, he helped them avoid a second straight demotion.

He was sacked in February 2006 with the team fighting near the bottom of the table.

Sergei Yuran

Quite how a Russian striker plying his trade at Spartak Moscow ended up at Millwall back in the mid-1990s is a good question.

Ex-Lions boss Jimmy Nicholl once famously said of Yuran: "The only thing the other players could have possibly learned from him while he was here was how to steal a living."

He notched just one goal in 13 games and was quickly moved on to Fortuna Düsseldorf just five months after arriving.

The forward was said to have enjoyed the party lifestyle whilst in London.

He admitted: "In England, I gave in to my weaknesses and was soon punished for it. Seven or eight months were just crossed out of my career."

Craig Davies

Striker Davies had started out at Manchester City before joining League Two side Oxford in 2004.

He was a regular starter and scorer but hardly prolific, with eight in 48.

It was therefore a surprise to see him transfer to Italian side Hellas Verona. They had ambitions of reaching Serie A and forked out £85,000, handing Davies a five-year deal.

But he would play just once for them before homesickness saw him loaned back to England, with Wolves.

He said of his brief time in Italy: "Family and friends are the main things I am missing, and my old daily routine.

"I am still a bit homesick I suppose."

Oldham then signed him permanently for an undisclosed fee, barely 18 months after his Italian adventure had begun.

Jay Bothroyd

Bothroyd was a free agent having left Coventry in the summer of 2003, when a shock enquiry came in from Italian side Perugia.

The striker impressed in a trial match for the Serie A side and was soon handed a three-year deal. One of his teammates in Italy was none other Saadi Al Ghadaffi - son of Libyan leader Colonel Ghadaffi.

It proved to be a whirlwind time for Bothroyd who spent a year in the time before being loaned to Blackburn. Financial problems at Perugia and Bothroyd's keenness to get home allowed him to join Charlton in 2005 on a free.

He's clearly got a taste for playing abroad though, and after a spell in Thailand he's still playing today in Japan at the age of 39.