Five Deals Derailed by the Docs: When Medical Checks Became Deal-Breakers

Ederson's protracted move to Manchester United shows that medicals are anything but a rubber stamp. The club appears to be renegotiating terms, but it begs the question: what happens when the docs deliver unwelcome news? History is littered with deals that looked done before physios and cardiologists had their say.

Ruud van Nistelrooy's Year-Long Wait

Picture the scene: April 2000, Old Trafford, and Manchester United have just announced they're paying PSV Eindhoven £18.5million for a world-class Dutch striker. The press conference is arranged. Van Nistelrooy's already in England going through the motions. Surely just a formality?

Not quite. United's medical team flagged concerns about an existing injury and wanted further tests on his medial ligament. Neither the player nor PSV would cooperate, so the deal collapsed spectacularly.

The cruel twist? While training with PSV the next day, Van Nistelrooy ruptured his cruciate ligament in the same knee. Out for a year.

Sir Alex Ferguson didn't give up though. Exactly twelve months later, United got their man anyway, this time for £19million. Van Nistelrooy went on to become an absolute force at the club.

Loic Remy's Liverpool Heartbreak

Liverpool dangled their No.7 shirt in front of Loic Remy in 2014. The French striker had already agreed personal terms of £90,000 a week with QPR and jetted off to Boston where Brendan Rodgers' squad were preparing for the season.

Everything seemed set. Then Liverpool started moving the goalposts, initially citing administrative hold-ups. Two days later, they walked away entirely.

The club never officially explained why, but widespread reports pointed to cardiac concerns. After consulting cardiologists, the Reds decided the risk wasn't worth taking.

Harry Redknapp, QPR's boss at the time, was baffled: "I don't see how he could have failed a medical. He had a stringent one here, one at Marseille and at Newcastle and with France before the World Cup. You couldn't meet a fitter lad."

A month later, Chelsea snapped Remy up for £10.5million. Liverpool, meanwhile, pivoted to Mario Balotelli. That particular gamble didn't pay dividends.

Marko Arnautovic's Chelsea Rejection

Chelsea weren't in a gambling mood when they agreed a £12million deal with FC Twente for Marko Arnautovic in 2009. The Austria forward was being touted as the next Zlatan Ibrahimovic—always a dangerous comparison.

The medical revealed a foot fracture, and Chelsea opted out immediately.

Arnautovic's subsequent move to Inter Milan nearly fell apart for the same reason, though the Italians eventually took him on loan. He managed just three substitute appearances during their Treble-winning season before Twente flogged him to Werder Bremen for roughly half what Chelsea had been willing to pay.

Gary Breen's Cruel Milan Fate

In 2002, with a World Cup under his belt, Gary Breen was the toast of Irish football. Inter Milan came calling for the Coventry defender, and Barcelona were apparently lurking in the background.

Breen flew to Milan for his medical. He failed it. An overzealous doctor apparently got it wrong—or at least, that's how Breen remembers it.

Speaking to Off The Ball in 2017, Breen reflected on the disappointment: "When we got back to Dublin, I flew out to Milan, I had the medical, failed the medical, and I still haven't gotten over it. Essentially, the doctor was an idiot. When it didn't materialise, I struggled actually for a little bit after that. I just couldn't get it out of my head but you know, that's life."

He ended up at West Ham instead.

John Hartson's Rangers Gamble

John Hartson was about to sign for Rangers on a five-year deal worth £15,000 a week in 2000. The Wimbledon striker flew to Glasgow on Sir David Murray's private jet alongside Ronald De Boer, arriving to scenes of absolute pandemonium at the airport.

"It was like Michael Jackson was arriving," Hartson later told Open Goal. "There was press everywhere."

Then Rangers' medical team dropped the hammer. Murray was characteristically blunt about it: "His levels of fitness, our doctor told us, was a risk. We did not feel that he had the correct fitness at the time to go straight into the Champions League. No disrespect, but to score against Huddersfield is slightly different to scoring against Galatasaray."

Subsequent medicals torpedoed moves to Spurs and Charlton too. But Celtic weren't about to let fitness concerns get in the way. Martin O'Neill's approach was refreshingly simple: "Look John, unless you've got a hole in your heart, I'm gonna sign you."

Hartson repaid that faith with 109 goals for the Bhoys, including seven against Rangers themselves.