Danjuma U-turn follows other hijackings - Dalglish threaten Keane in Ayia Napa

Tottenham have signed Arnaut Danjuma on loan from Villarreal a day after the forward had completed a medical and media duties at Everton.

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The practice of Premier League teams snatching players from under the noses of their bitter rivals has continued to rise in recent years.

But there have been some infamous examples of players who were all set to join one club, only to then sign for somebody else.

Paul Gascoigne

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Danjuma is far from the first player Tottenham have swooped in at the last minute to hijack.

In 1988, Newcastle's Gascoigne had given Sir Alex Ferguson such assurances that he would be joining Manchester United that the legendary Scottish manager went on holiday believing it was a done deal.

However, Spurs, under chairman Irving Scholar, offered to buy Gazza's family a house in order to steer him towards London instead.

"Off I go, and I'm lying by the pool when there is a tannoy for me to take a call," Fergie explained in an interview with the late David Frost.

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"It was [chairman Martin Edwards] telling me Tottenham had [signed him instead] by buying Paul's mum and dad a house in the north east."

Willian

From one player that Tottenham signed at the last minute to another they were gazumped for.

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As the Chelsea chant famously went, Willian was at the Tottenham training ground, before he 'saw the light'.

In reality, the Brazilian had even undergone his medical to complete a £30million switch to Spurs from Anzhi Makhachkala.

But then-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich made a personal call to his fellow Russian oligarch, Suleyman Kerimov, then-Anzhi owner, to offer an additional £2m to hijack the deal.

Jose Mourinho wasted little time poking fun at his future employers, suggesting Spurs paid the price for not doing Willian's medical 'in secret'.

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Dietmar Hamann

This hijacking came so late that the retired German actually joined his new club before moving to Man City.

Hamann signed a pre-contract agreement with Bolton in 2006 after ending his seven year spell at Liverpool.

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But after just ONE day, the Trotters released a statement that the former midfielder 'had since had a change of heart' and Hamann instead went elsewhere.

Former Bolton chairman Phil Gartside explained what went down to the man himself when the two appeared on talkSPORT together.

He said in 2013: "What you never realised was that we never actually countersigned the papers and just put them in the drawer.

"The next thing we know, you came along and told us you'd got this opportunity to go to Manchester City - so we actually sold you without actually signing you; did you know that?

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"We got £400,000 from Manchester City for a player we never actually signed - and that's the truth."

Emmanuel Petit

The Frenchman was in London in 1997 talking to Spurs chairman Alan Sugar about a move when Arsenal got wind of the meeting.

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Arsene Wenger was the man to bring Petit through at Monaco and he managed to convince his former protegee to hear his pitch.

An unawares Spurs paid for a taxi to drive the midfielder back to the hotel where they thought he would mull over their contract offer.

Petit instead took a detour to Wenger's house and the rest is history.

"Tottenham put the contract on the table for me, I needed a couple of days to think about it but they didn't expect what happened after that," Petit told the Daily Mirror in 2018.

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"When the cab came, he took me straight to Arsene Wenger's house, it was the first time I met David Dein and Tottenham paid for the cab to help me sign for Arsenal. It's part of the legend now."

Roy Keane

The legendary Man United captain is famous for his hardman persona, but even he was 'looking over his shoulder' after breaking his word to Kenny Dalglish.

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Keane became British football's record transfer when he left Nottingham Forest for Old Trafford in 1993 for £3.75m.

But Ferguson had only registered his interest at the final stage to usurp Scot compatriot Dalglish - a legend at rivals Liverpool - and Blackburn.

"I agreed a deal and shook hands with him," the midfield man later told the club's website. "I went back to Cork and, on the Sunday morning, woke up and I got a phone-call from Sir Alex to my house back in Cork and he said will you come and meet with me for talks tomorrow.

"I said look, I shook hands with Blackburn and he said don't worry about that! Kenny was fuming!"

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In an interview from 2017, Keane added: "[Dalglish] was effing and blinding 'you're a f****** disgrace' blah blah blah and I said, 'Listen I'm going on my holidays next week,' which I was, and I said 'I'm going to Cyprus next week with my mates and when I come back I'm going to sign for Man United'.

"He said 'I'm going to find you, I'm going to come to Ayia Napa and find you' so every bar in Ayia Napa I was looking over my shoulder waiting for Kenny Dalglish to walk in!"

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John Obi Mikel

Even Mikel's dad wasn't happy when he rejected Man United for Chelsea but the man himself later revealed the selfless reason for the U-turn.

The Nigerian had initially agreed to join the Red Devils from Lyn Oslo in Norway, even wearing a United shirt in a press conference, but Chelsea claimed they'd already struck a deal first.

After a drawn out legal process, United agreed to terminate their agreement and the Blues were forced to pay their rivals £12m, with £4m going to Lyn Oslo.

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"I don't believe it's true that Mikel doesn't want to join Manchester United, I believe he has been forced to say it," Ferguson said.

"His family have been put under huge pressure and the circumstances are very sad. The manner in which he and his family have been treated and pressurised is, quite frankly, disgusting."

Mikel, who enjoyed a trophy-laden career 11-year career at Chelsea, finally cleared up the drama while writing in theplayerstribune in 2018.

"FIFA said: 'Listen, we know you're young and you have these two clubs fighting over you. We can't decide for you. You can only go where you want. You have to tell us.'

"You know what made my mind up? Chelsea had signed three other players from Nigeria along with me. They were staying with me at the house in London to keep me company. These guys … their lives depended on the decision I was making.

"If I went to United, they were gone. If I went to Chelsea, they were going to have a career. No matter how long it lasted, that was important to me. Just to give them a chance, you know?

"I chose Chelsea, and four lives changed that day."

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