Steve Morison – Norwich City to Leeds United
While the two clubs are not geographically linked, there is certainly no love lost between Leeds United and Millwall, so the arrival of ex-Lions star Steve Morison at Elland Road from Norwich City in January 2013 caught many by surprise.
Morison joined the Whites as part of a swap deal that saw Luciano Becchio move in the opposite direction to Carrow Road, and manager Neil Warnock predicted that supporters would soon forget any reservations they had about the signing of the striker, but that did not prove to be the case.
The 41-year-old scored just five goals in 42 appearances for Leeds either side of a loan spell with Millwall, and after an underwhelming stint in West Yorkshire, he returned to The Den on a permanent basis in August 2015.
Striker Gary Madine is perhaps best known for his time at Sheffield Wednesday, for whom he scored 28 goals in 113 appearances during a four-and-a-half year spell at Hillsborough between 2011 and 2015, so it was a huge surprise to see him join the Owls’ rivals Sheffield United on loan from Cardiff City in January 2019.
Blades manager Chris Wilder had previously accused Madine of a “lack of respect” in 2017 after a video surfaced on social media of him criticising Billy Sharp, which made his arrival at Bramall Lane all the more unexpected, and after completing his move to United, the 34-year-old insisted the perception that he did not like the club was “not true”.
Madine proved to be a useful addition for Wilder’s men, scoring three goals in 16 appearances to help them win automatic promotion to the Premier League, and that certainly did not go down well on the other side of the Steel City.
Midfielder Alex Pritchard’s career was at something of a crossroads when he joined Sunderland in the summer of 2021, but his move to the Stadium of Light proved to be a good one for all parties.
Pritchard won promotion from League One and reached the Championship play-offs during his time with the Black Cats, scoring nine goals and providing 24 assists in 115 games for the club, but his relationship with supporters soured after speculation emerged linking him with a reunion with former manager Tony Mowbray at Birmingham in January 2024.
