The transfer window has shut now for many of Europe's major leagues, with some of the game's biggest names making some much talked-about moves. But brimming in the background of the transfers of superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is another incredible story that really will have fans laughing and shaking their heads in confusion.
Serie A side Lazio had made no secret in looking to bolster their squad with the signing of Serbian international Filip Kostic, and so the Biancocelesti had been trying to put together an offer for his current club, Eintracht Frankfurt. Kostic, who has been directly involved in nearly 80 goals (26 goals, 48 assists) in just under 130 appearances for die Adler, was priced at $30 million (€25 million/£21 million), and several other Italian sides, including Scudetto winners Inter and Lazio's cross-town rivals were among the teams looking to secure his services.
Unfortunately, the transfer to Lazio never came to fruition, despite the 28-year-old going on strike last month to try to force a move to the Stadio Olimpico.
The reason? It's pretty incredible, in fact. Italian reports had initially claimed that Eintracht deliberately gave Lazio a fake email address in a bid to block the transfer, but in actuality that never happened.
Rather, Lazio were the ones to make a mistake in their electronic correspondence. Eintracht Frankfurt's email address is eintrachtfrankfurt.de. And according to other reports, the Italian side instead sent their offer to eintrachtfranfurt.de. And it's that spelling mistake, coupled with time running out to explain the situation - apparently they were having issues with putting together their package - that resulted in Kostic's transfer falling through.
It's also possible, of course, that Lazio couldn't (or wouldn't) meet Eintracht's valuation of their player, hence the failure of both clubs to come to an agreement for Kostic's move to the Eternal City for the current campaign.
