Back in 2003, football's obsession with transfers, Sky's eternal quest for eyeballs, the wealth of Premier League clubs, and the introduction of summer and winter windows combined to create a monster: Deadline Day.
The biannual circus was first broadcast 23 years ago and has steadily descended into a parody of itself as awkward ex-pros and excitable reporters somehow fill endless dead air with bland opinions about deals that may or may not happen.
Nothing, however, fuels the hysteria like a chaotic final day transfer fumble – for 2026, step forward Everton, and their embarrassing attempt to sign a new striker. Below are some prime examples of when last-minute deals go bad.
Folarin Balogun
The US men's team striker enjoyed a stellar World Cup right up until he booted Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemovic and suddenly found Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino involved in his business – an extremely unpleasant place for anyone to be.
As if that controversy wasn't enough, he was this week at the centre of deadline day 2026's most comical sideshow when he belatedly came to his senses and realised that leaving the opulent tax haven of Monaco for the Hill Dickinson Stadium and Everton wasn't his brightest idea.
Once the Premier League club had reportedly used alleged adverse medical findings to renegotiate the deal, you couldn't really blame him. After all, another 12 months on the Cote d'Azur wasn't exactly the worst Plan B. It left Everton looking like total amateurs and with just one striker, the raw but improving France U21 forward Thierno Barry, until at least January.
Malick Fofana
Balogun wasn't the only Ligue 1 star having an eventful Tuesday. The Belgian winger Fofana found himself at the centre of a Premier League transfer tug-of-war and facing the near impossible task of choosing between Wearside and Croydon.
At one point, Fofana was said to be undergoing a medical in France while having no idea for which club. Eventually, he opted for Sunderland over Crystal Palace, so at least the Black Cats avoided an Everton-like humiliation and got a deal over the line.
Peter Odemwingie
Perhaps the most famous saga of this type involved the Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie, whose misfortune in January 2013 created the ultimate deadline day meme before football memes were really a thing.
Odemwingie thought he was sealing a move from West Brom to QPR so excitedly jumped into his car and drove himself down to London to complete the formalities.
Little did he know that the transfer had fallen apart while he was en route, and the Sky reporters delighted in showing a confused Odemwingie hanging about outside Loftus Road in his car.
Willian
Everton are not the first club to be burned in the final days of the window. Tottenham, for one, will be able to relate.
It was also back in 2013 that the Brazil winger Willian famously absconded midway through his Spurs medical when he discovered London rivals Chelsea were also interested in him. Willian couldn't get to Stamford Bridge quickly enough.
Ross Barkley
Another bad day for Everton came in August 2017 when academy product Barkley did a real number on them. The midfielder agreed a move to Chelsea for £35 million and even completed a medical, only to back out at the last minute.
He only had 12 months left on his deal at the time, and then sat out the next six months injured before joining Chelsea the following January for £15m, effectively doing his boyhood club out of £20m. Never has the rat emoji been so liberally used.
Fabian Delph
Back in 2015, Delph managed to anger both Aston Villa and Man City before eventually concluding a move to the latter.
Boyhood Villa fan and academy player Delph didn't bother turning up for his City medical and declared proudly that he was staying with his hometown club.
Villa fans rejoiced and lauded his integrity, but two days later he was being unveiled by City after yet another U-turn.
Steven Gerrard
It's not strictly a deadline day drama, but Liverpool fans don't like to be reminded that their hero Gerrard pushed to leave the club on more than one occasion.
The closest he came was in the summer of 2005 when, just weeks after the glory of Istanbul and captaining Liverpool to Champions League success, he told the club he was off to join Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.
The Londoners tabled a £32m bid, massive at the time, and Gerrard told Mourinho he was on his way.
However, facing intense pressure and a severe backlash from Liverpool fans in his home city, Gerrard reversed his decision and signed a new contract at Anfield.
David Unsworth
This bizarre transfer tale predates the pantomime of deadline day, but you can only wonder what they might have done with it. It's also actually one that ended in Everton's favour.
Unsworth signed for Aston Villa from West Ham for £3m in 1998, only to find out at the last minute that his former club, Everton, had been keen to re-sign him.
Unsworth immediately asked for a transfer and sealed a move back to Goodison Park for the same fee, having spent mere days as an Aston Villa player.
Furious Villa manager John Gregory suggested Unsworth's wife was behind the botched move, telling the Birmingham Mail: “It's quite clear that it's David's missus who wears the trousers in their house.”
