The Player: Wesley Sneijder.

Club at the start of the window: Inter.

Interested parties: Liverpool and Galatasaray.

The saga: The 28-year-old was involved in a nasty contractual wrangle with Inter, with the crux of the issue being that the Italian outfit wanted him to take a 30% pay cut on his £5 million-a-year after tax annual salary, which was the highest at both the club and all of Serie A. This led to the player barely being used by manager Andrea Stramaccioni at president Massimo Moratti's behest after he refused these terms, angling for a move away instead.

Having allowed Nuri Sahin to return to former club Borussia Dortmund on loan, cutting short his season-long loan deal from Real Madrid by six months in the process, Liverpool were in the market for a creative midfield player, with the Netherlands international well on their radar.

Sneijder seemed reluctant to move to Turkey and with Galatasaray already having agreed a fee with Inter, the move stalled for a week as he waited for a better offer from England, or a better financial package from Liverpool, but none was forthcoming.

Outcome: Moved to Galatasaray on a three-and-a-half-year deal for a fee in the region of £7m. His annual salary is now £2.7m-a-year, picking up a £3.3m signing on fee, plus a £21,000 bonus for every league appearance he makes during his stay at the club.