Football supporters are often said to care only about seeing their team win, but there have been times when fan backlash has forced clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain to rethink planned signings.

Many fans are prepared to ignore a player’s off-field flaws if he is scoring goals or helping deliver trophies, yet some proposed transfers are simply a bridge too far.

It has also worked the other way round, with certain players choosing to remain at their club after supporters protested against the possibility of them leaving.

We have picked out seven proposed transfers that collapsed because of fan opposition, featuring everyone from world-class names to some of the least popular footballers of their era.

Manchester United’s urgent search for a striker in the summer of 2022 took them to Marko Arnautovic, and a £7million offer was turned down by Bologna.

Although Arnautovic, formerly of Stoke City and West Ham United, was interested in joining United, many supporters were horrified by the idea of the Austria international arriving at Old Trafford.

It was not only that Arnautovic was advancing in age, but also that he had been involved in a number of racist incidents during his career, prompting several supporters to email chief executive Richard Arnold directly in protest.

The proposed move even managed the unthinkable and left Gary Neville at a loss for words. “I don’t know, I have no comment,” Neville told Sky Sports when he was asked about United’s interest in Arnautovic.

“I’ve got a comment on everything in the world apart from Man United trying to sign Marko Arnautovic, I’ve got nothing to say.”

United soon dropped their interest in Arnautovic without much fuss.

Cristiano Ronaldo has spent the past two decades redefining the limits of goalscoring.

Yet there was hardly a rush to sign him when he made it clear in 2022 that he wanted to leave Manchester United.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel passed on the chance to make the elite marksman his main striker, while Bayern Munich issued two statements distancing themselves from the 37-year-old.

Atletico Madrid, one of La Liga’s established powers, were linked with Ronaldo, but their supporters reacted strongly against the idea of signing a player who had tormented them for years with city rivals Real Madrid.

“In light of the possibility of signing Cristiano Ronaldo, if it is more than a simple rumour without any basis, we express our absolute rejection of his hypothetical joining of our club,” a statement from the Union Internacional de Penas Atletico de Madrid read.

“The aforementioned player represents the antithesis of the values that constitute the hallmarks of our Atleti, such as the effort, generosity, modesty and humility of those who want to defend our values.

“Even in the highly unlikely hypothetical case that a player in steep decline such as Cristiano Ronaldo could guarantee us a trophy, we wouldn’t accept his signing.”

As if that did not make the point clearly enough, Atleti supporters displayed anti-Ronaldo banners during a friendly against Numancia.

Message received.

Steven Gerrard wanted to leave Liverpool for Chelsea in 2005, only to think again once Liverpool supporters began burning his shirt in the streets of Merseyside…

Paul Pogba was regularly linked with a move away from Manchester United during his second spell at the club.

But his enormous talent and World Cup winner’s medal counted for nothing with angry Paris Saint-Germain fans in 2021.

Amid reports of a £43million bid for the France international, one group of PSG supporters placed banners outside the club’s training ground and the Parc des Princes which read: ‘Pogba, you should listen to your mother. She doesn’t want you here, neither do we’.

The midfielder comes from Lagny-sur-Marne, a town around 22 miles from the centre of Paris, but he is reportedly a Marseille supporter and that was enough for PSG fans to oppose any possible transfer.

Pogba remained at United before returning to Juventus on a free transfer in 2022.

He dived, he spat, he mocked injured opponents… it is still hard to explain why El Hadji Diouf was disliked by almost everyone during his time in England.

That did not stop Sam Allardyce, who had previously signed the former Senegal international for Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers, from giving him a trial at West Ham in 2011.

When asked about how supporters at Upton Park might react, Allardyce said: “As most of the fans have taken to him everywhere else he’s been – they’ll love him.

“Dioufy is a quality player who West Ham fans will appreciate if they see him.”

West Ham were in the Championship at the time, but supporters decided they would rather watch Freddie Piquionne labour in attack than see Diouf stain the famous claret and blue shirt.

He was not offered a contract, with Allardyce making the reason plain: “Obviously I had to bear in mind the situation at the club with the fans.”

The controversial forward joined Neil Warnock’s Leeds United later that same year, which somehow felt like a very fitting combination.

Given their reputation for ‘pwopa nawty’ behaviour, it is perhaps surprising that West Ham fans have objected to more than one questionable character joining the club.

And when they learned that Joey Barton could sign in 2015, Hammers supporters united against the prospect of the midfielder quoting Nietzsche and attacking team-mates in their colours.

The club were eager to sign the midfielder after his release by Queens Park Rangers and had even arranged a medical before fan pressure changed the situation.

“I’d like to wish the football club good luck going forward,” Barton said after the transfer was called off. “No hard feelings.”

He was much less diplomatic in an interview with The Mirror a month later, saying: “My playing ability is good enough to cope in that league.

“But people then start worrying about the baggage and how I’ll contribute to the group or how I’ll react if I’m not playing, which is lazy on their behalf.”

And in his 2016 autobiography, he wrote: “ A vocal minority of West Ham fans reacted like they were about to be represented by a serial killer.”

“That’s life and there’s no bitterness on my part,” he added, not especially convincingly.

Back in 2002, in an era of dial-up internet and when smoking was still permitted in pubs, Lee Bowyer was one of the Premier League’s most prolific goalscoring midfielders and close to earning selection for England.

So when he submitted a transfer request at Leeds United, it came as no surprise that Liverpool made a £9million bid which the financially troubled Yorkshire club accepted.

But Bowyer’s contract talks with Liverpool dragged on, while supporters grew increasingly uneasy about the midfielder’s attitude to racism.

His involvement in a widely reported trial over the attack on an Asian student in Leeds — in which Bowyer was cleared of GBH and affray — also added to the controversy surrounding the proposed move to Anfield.

The transfer eventually collapsed, with Liverpool issuing a statement that said: “Manager Gerard Houllier was not convinced the player had either the hunger or desire to play for the club, qualities which are essential for any Liverpool player.”

Bowyer joined West Ham six months later where, in keeping with the pattern, supporters protested against his signing outside Upton Park.

Everton supporters also made their feelings clear when it appeared the club were set to sell Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest for £40m.

It would have been a huge fee for a 19-year-old who had spent time on loan at Preston last season, and seemingly enough to persuade the club’s board. But not the fans.

The idea of losing one of their own sent Evertonians into meltdown. During their match against Bournemouth, they sang: “Don’t sell Armstrong, Harrison Armstrong, I just don’t think you understand. If you sell Armstrong, Harrison Armstrong, you’re gonna have a riot on your hands.”

That riot has now been avoided after Everton chose to pull the plug on the Armstrong transfer, with the sale of Iliman Ndiaye to Tottenham Hotspur viewed as a less painful blow.