Before transfer requests were made on Instagram, footballers had far more creative ways of getting what they wanted.
The summer of 2000. Real Madrid were assembling one of the most ridiculous collections of footballers the world had ever seen. Florentino Pérez had arrived, Luís Figo was on his way from Barcelona, and the Galácticos era was beginning.
Meanwhile, in Vigo, a French midfielder named Claude Makélélé was desperate to be part of it.
There was just one problem.
Celta Vigo didn't want to sell him.
Makélélé had spent two seasons becoming one of La Liga's finest midfielders. Alongside the likes of Aleksandr Mostovoi, Valery Karpin and Mazinho, he had helped turn Celta into one of the most entertaining sides in Spanish football.
He was loved by the supporters. He was essential to the team. And Celta had absolutely no intention of making life easy for Real Madrid.
But Makélélé wanted out.
And his agent had a plan.
Not a particularly ethical plan. Not even a particularly believable one.
He was going to throw stones at Makélélé's car.
The idea was simple. Make it appear that furious Celta Vigo supporters had attacked their own player because of his desire to leave. Then use the supposed hostility as leverage to convince the club that keeping him was impossible.
According to his agent Marc Roger, that is exactly what happened.
Roger later confessed in his autobiography that he had personally thrown stones at Makélélé's car windows, with the midfielder's permission.
The pair then filed a police complaint claiming Celta supporters were responsible.
Imagine being a Celta fan.
Your best midfielder wants to leave. Real Madrid are circling. The player refuses to train. And now you're being accused of throwing rocks at his car.
Except the man throwing them was the person negotiating his transfer.
It sounds like something out of a football comedy.
But this was the transfer market in 2000.
Eventually, Celta relented. Makélélé got his move to Real Madrid for a reported €14 million, leaving Vigo behind for the Santiago Bernabéu.
And what followed was remarkable.
While Madrid's superstars collected the headlines, Makélélé quietly became the engine that allowed them to function. He did the running, the tackling, the covering and all the unglamorous work that gave Zidane, Figo and eventually Ronaldo the freedom to entertain.
He helped Madrid win two La Liga titles and the 2002 Champions League.
Then, in 2003, Madrid sold him to Chelsea.
It turned out replacing the man doing everyone else's dirty work wasn't particularly easy.
At Chelsea, he became so influential that an entire position was practically named after him. The Makélélé role became football vocabulary.
But long before the Champions League trophies, the Galácticos, the Premier League titles and the tactical legacy, there was a car parked somewhere in Vigo.
A few stones.
An agent with an extraordinary imagination.
And one of the most outrageous transfer stories football has ever produced.
Football before social media really was a different world.
SATURDAYS FOOTBALL — ALWAYS PLAY FREE.
The Time Makélélé's Agent Stoned His Own Car to Force a Transfer to Real Madrid
Before transfer requests were made on Instagram, footballers had far more creative ways of getting what they wanted.
The summer of 2000. Real Madrid were assembling one of the most ridiculous collections of footballers the world had ever seen. Florentino Pérez had arrived, Luís Figo was on his way from Barcelona, and the Galácticos era was beginning.
Meanwhile, in Vigo, a French midfielder named Claude Makélélé was desperate to be part of it.
There was just one problem.
Celta Vigo didn't want to sell him.
Makélélé had spent two seasons becoming one of La Liga's finest midfielders. Alongside the likes of Aleksandr Mostovoi, Valery Karpin and Mazinho, he had helped turn Celta into one of the most entertaining sides in Spanish football.
He was loved by the supporters. He was essential to the team. And Celta had absolutely no intention of making life easy for Real Madrid.
But Makélélé wanted out.
And his agent had a plan.
Not a particularly ethical plan. Not even a particularly believable one.
He was going to throw stones at Makélélé's car.
The idea was simple. Make it appear that furious Celta Vigo supporters had attacked their own player because of his desire to leave. Then use the supposed hostility as leverage to convince the club that keeping him was impossible.
According to his agent Marc Roger, that is exactly what happened.
Roger later confessed in his autobiography that he had personally thrown stones at Makélélé's car windows, with the midfielder's permission.
The pair then filed a police complaint claiming Celta supporters were responsible.
Imagine being a Celta fan.
Your best midfielder wants to leave. Real Madrid are circling. The player refuses to train. And now you're being accused of throwing rocks at his car.
Except the man throwing them was the person negotiating his transfer.
It sounds like something out of a football comedy.
But this was the transfer market in 2000.
Eventually, Celta relented. Makélélé got his move to Real Madrid for a reported €14 million, leaving Vigo behind for the Santiago Bernabéu.
And what followed was remarkable.
While Madrid's superstars collected the headlines, Makélélé quietly became the engine that allowed them to function. He did the running, the tackling, the covering and all the unglamorous work that gave Zidane, Figo and eventually Ronaldo the freedom to entertain.
He helped Madrid win two La Liga titles and the 2002 Champions League.
Then, in 2003, Madrid sold him to Chelsea.
It turned out replacing the man doing everyone else's dirty work wasn't particularly easy.
At Chelsea, he became so influential that an entire position was practically named after him. The Makélélé role became football vocabulary.
But long before the Champions League trophies, the Galácticos, the Premier League titles and the tactical legacy, there was a car parked somewhere in Vigo.
A few stones.
An agent with an extraordinary imagination.
And one of the most outrageous transfer stories football has ever produced.
Football before social media really was a different world.
SATURDAYS FOOTBALL — ALWAYS PLAY FREE.
New releases
Shop all