After Pep Guardiola became the manager of "Manchester City," there was no place left for Joe Hart in his team, so a new job had to be found for him. After such events, Goal.com decided to remember 10 cases when team stars became unnecessary to coaches and were forced to leave the team.
Bastian Schweinsteiger - "Manchester United" The story of the last representative of this list is still unresolved. Schweinsteiger should undoubtedly leave the current team, after the team's coach Jose Mourinho kicked him out of "United's" first team. The Portuguese, plagued by injuries, does not see the player in his future vision, and the footballer was sent to train with the reserve team on his birthday.
Iker Casillas - "Real" Casillas, who had been the main team goalkeeper for over a decade, was forced to leave the team when the club tried to buy David de Gea. He later attacked Florentino Perez for his inappropriate behavior, and Barcelona legend Xavi criticized the team's leaders as ungrateful. Casillas joined Porto, while "Newcastle" was relegated from the highest league last season, suggesting that the club made a mistake choosing the side to defend.
Hatem Ben Arfa - "Newcastle United" After reports of disputes with captain Fabricio Coloccini and coach Alan Pardew, the player who became a fan favorite in 2014 was forced to leave the team. Now, after a fantastic season in Ligue 1, he has joined PSG, while "Newcastle" dropped out of the highest league last season. This suggests that the club made a mistake in choosing the side to defend.
Deco, Ronaldinho, and Samuel Eto'o - "Barcelona" In 2008, when he took over the reins of the "Barcelona" team, Pep Guardiola immediately said goodbye to club stars Deco and Ronaldinho. The former was sold to Chelsea, while the latter was sent to Milan. Eto'o stayed in the club for years, but ultimately, not receiving the same role as before, he was forced to leave the team and decided to continue his career at Inter.
Roy Keane - "Manchester United" Not afraid to speak his mind, Keane was involved in numerous conflicts with his teammates and coach Sir Alex Ferguson. Eventually, his criticism of his teammates in an interview for MUTV became his last career episode in the "United" ranks. Midway through the 2004-2005 season, an agreement was reached with Keane to terminate his contract, and a few months later, he moved to Celtic.
Raul - "Real" Although his departure from the team did not seem full of anger or conflicts, and the player himself claimed that his team did not want him to leave and simply wanted to give more playing time to other strikers - Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Gonzalo Higuain, the fact that the club legend did not receive a proper farewell always becomes an unpleasant memory for longtime fans of the team.
Alessandro Del Piero - "Juventus" The aging striker spent his last season in the ranks of "Juventus" on the bench, but the club legend, who had the opportunity to score a couple of important goals at the end of the season, helped the team fight for the "Serie A" title. His farewell brought special emotions to all football fans who witnessed it.
Fernando Llorente - "Athletic" After a couple of great seasons, Llorente attracted interest from many football giants, and therefore, the striker asked "Athletic" to pay him a higher salary. However, the team's leaders not only refused to meet his request but also took him out of the starting lineup and kept him on the bench for a year, with the striker coming out onto the field only in rare, short intervals. After such a season, he left "Athletic," but has not returned to the form he demonstrated at that time.
David Beckham - "Manchester United" At a time when footballers had not yet received such media attention, rumors circulated that Sir Alex Ferguson was not satisfied with Beckham's status in society and the player's behavior in public, leading to conflicts between them. Eventually, Beckham decided to leave where his status would not cause any problems - to Real Madrid.
Richard Witschge - "Ajax" The conflicts with coach Co Adriaanse during the 2000-2001 season were very strong and frequent. Eventually, when the coach decided to give a young midfielder Rafael van der Vaart playing time instead of him, Witschge stated that the coach could "go to hell" and asked to be sold. These conflicts were ongoing, and the coach accused the player of not trying hard in training when talking to journalists. Such statements in the media certainly did not help the relationship filled with conflicts.
