Riyad Mahrez is back at Leicester and could face Man City this weekend… but who else has had to return to their clubs to face the music – and the fans?
Leicester star submitted a transfer request but was denied a move last month - but it's not the first time a player was desperate to leave
RIYAD MAHREZ is back - and could even play this weekend.
The Leicester winger went AWOL after seeing a move to Manchester City fall through on transfer deadline day.
It was the second time the Algerian had demanded a move away from the Foxes.
Last summer he submitted a transfer request, but no clubs came in to meet the valuation.
SunSport checks out seven other players who either demanded a move, or seemed to engineer it at least - and how they had to return to face the music.
Pierre Van Hooijdonk - Nottingham Forest
Let Pierre van Hooijdonk's situation be a warning to Mahrez.
The Dutch striker had been a marvel since signing, helping the team get back to the Premier League at the first attempt in season 1997/98.
The powerful striker, famed for his spectacular free-kicks, scored 34 goals that season.
He was then selected to play for the Netherlands in the 1998 World Cup, came back to Forest to find a host of their best players had been sold.
Pierre was gutted, and slapped in a transfer request, that was promptly rejected.
He then went on strike, only to return three months later.
Infamously, he netted against fierce rivals Derby only for his team-mates refuse to celebrate with him, instead going to the crosser of the ball, Scot Gemmill.
He finally got a move - but not the big one he perhaps hoped for but back to Holland with Vitesse Arnhem.
Rio Ferdinand - Manchester United
Rio Ferdinand had the Man United fans in uproar after he was pictured in a restaurant with 'the enemy'.
Back in 2005, the centre-half was in negotiations for a new, and massively improved, contract with the Red Devils.
But one night, the England man was snapped with his agent Pini Zahavi and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon at a restaurant close to Stamford Bridge.
To this day Ferdinand sticks by the claim that the meeting was between the agent and Kenyon, and nothing to do with him, and that he merely "said hello".
It led to Ferdinand being booed by United fans during the pre-season friendly games, right up until he eventually agreed a new four-year, £90,000-a-week deal
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Carlos Tevez - Manchester City
Carlos Tevez first signalled his intention to leave Manchester City in December 2010, citing a relationship breakdown with senior figures at the club, believed to be namely manager Roberto Mancini.
The transfer request was rejected and City, fearing that Tevez could refuse to play for the club, re-iterated that he would not be sold and threatened to fine him if he went on strike.
He later pulled the transfer request and all was fine and dandy - until one fateful night in 2011.
Boss Mancini claimed Tevez refused to come on as a substitute in a Champions League game against Bayern Munich in September 2011.
Tevez denied it, but the club found him guilty of gross misconduct and fine him more than £750,000.
He refused to return from Argentina, was fined again, and didn't end up returning to the club until February 2012.
But through all this, the fans seemed to stick with their cult hero, and when he eventually did leave for just £12m to Juventus in the summer of 2013, there was instant regret.
Wayne Rooney - Manchester United
Manchester United fans were left stunned in 2010 when Wayne Rooney announced his intention to leave the club.
Although he never handed in an official transfer request, he told the club he didn't want to sign a new contract and wanted the opportunity to try his luck elsewhere.
Chelsea, and more worrying for United fans, Man City, threw their hat into the ring for the England striker.
Rooney says that announcement was the "biggest mistake of his life" - angered by a loss of form and a persistent ankle injury.
It's fair to say, fans fell out of love with their marksman, but just days later he had signed a new deal and all was forgiven.
Fast forward three years later, and Rooney wanted out again.
Then boss Sir Alex Ferguson said that the striker had "put in a transfer request" after he had become frustrated at becoming a bit-part player towards the end of the 2012/13 season.
Chelsea were interested again, and were prepared to pay around £40million to land him.
But the transfer window closed, Sir Alex ended his magnanimous tenure at Old Trafford, and life continued for Rooney at United.
Yaya Toure - Manchester City
Yaya Toure wanted to leave Man City because he did not get a birthday cake.
Ok, so that story made wonderful headlines, but it was probably the tip of an iceberg that led to the Ivorian feeling under-appreciated at the club.
At the title celebrations held after City won the Premier League title in 2014, it was reported that no-one at the club wished Toure a happy birthday.
His agent Dimitry Seluk said at the time: “Yaya gives everything to his club and is probably the best player in the team — and the club do not protect him anywhere.
“What happened at his birthday meant the club don’t care about him. It was proof.
“They can say whatever they want, ‘Oh we like him but we forgot’.
“Forgot? About Yaya? The player who helped you to be two-times Premier League champions?"
But he stayed, and the fans also stayed on side with him, even making sure he was "wished a happy birthday" at a game the following season.
Then came his fallout with Pep Guardiola, who omitted him from the Champions League squad for the 2016/17 season.
The two were at a stand-off, with agent proactive in criticising Guardiola in the media.
But Yaya apologised on his behalf, as well as for other 'misunderstandings' - and he's still at the Etihad now.
Philippe Coutinho - Liverpool
He finally got his dream move to Barcelona last month, but in truth it was always coming for Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian handed in a transfer request in the summer amid growing interest from the Catalans - a club he said he had always dreamed of playing for.
But Liverpool held firm, not wanting to lose one of their best players.
The fans showed their support for Coutinho, taking banners to games begging him to stay.
Barca came calling again in January, and a £145m bid was finally accepted, and his dream had come true.
Considering Coutinho had gone as far as to hand in a request to leave the club, Liverpool fans never fell out of love with him.
It was probably due to his brilliance and how he could single-handedly win games, but there didn't seem to be too much hatred around for him when he upped sticks and headed to La Liga.
Steve Gerrard - Liverpool
In 2005 Liverpool fans were faced with heartbreak that was even greater to that suffered when Coutinho departed for Barcelona.
Local lad, hero and captain Steve Gerrard had caught the eye of Chelsea, with the London club determined to get their man.
Jose Mourinho called up the midfielder three times that season in a bid to convince him to leave his boyhood club so that he could "win trophies".
Former Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has spoke since saying that Gerrard came "way too close" to leaving Liverpool for their Premier League rivals.
He was undoubtedly faced with a dilemma. Could he see himself winning the Premier League in the red shirt, or would he have more chance in West London?
Despite the answer being obvious to most, Gerrard spurned the interest, and stuck it out on Merseyside.