"He did not deserve our city, to wear our jersey or the values that represent it," Fiorentina said of Dimitar Berbatov in an official statement after what seemed like a done deal to bring him to the Serie A club went strangely awry. The Berba was on a flight to Florence, paid for by Fiorentina, to wrap up his transfer from Manchester United, but when the connecting flight arrived he wasn't on it.

From Football Italia:

Instead, he stopped off in Munich and agreed terms with Juventus, then eventually settled on Fulham — all within the same day. "I am happy he didn't arrive," blasted Fiorentina director of sport Daniele Prade on Radio Blu. "I've never seen anything like it. We want the airplane ticket refunded and will certainly demand that reimbursement from his agent."

Though it wasn't very nice of Berbatov to skip out on his connecting flight like that, Fiorentina should chalk this expense up to lessons learned. Namely: always put potential signings on direct flights so they don't have time to change their minds or the chance to escape your clutches. Especially a man of such fine tastes as Dimitar Berbatov. Anything below a private jet fully stocked with mayonnaise and a sexually liberated flight crew is strictly peasant class to him.