The January transfer window has mercifully shut, ending an underwhelming month that had no chance of living up to the hype that was forced upon it. And if there was one image to sum it up, it had to be that of defender Robert Huth, sent from Stoke to Leicester on loan until the end of the season, sullenly holding up his new shirt.
And if there were five images to sum it up, the other four would be these of 74-year-old Aaron Lennon…
Aaron Lennon looks delighted to have joined Everton on loan. pic.twitter.com/H05H4Ddtpz
— Eurosport.com (@EurosportCom_EN) February 3, 2015
But Huth and Lennon are far from the first players to look like they just watched Requiem for a Dream before being unveiled by a new club. Here are just a few others.
William Vainqueur forgoes his dream of becoming a pilot to pose with his new Standard Liege shirt in August 2011. He made 89 appearances for the club and moved to Dynamo Moscow in 2014.
Cesar Peixoto holds a Braga scarf after looking up his nasal pain on WebMD in May 2007. He made 44 appearances there and moved to Benfica in 2009.
Ishak Belfodil is unveiled at Bologna on loan from Lyon in February 2012, though he thought he was going to join the Boston Red Sox. He made eight appearances and was sold to Parma that summer.
Lukas Podolski models Arsenal’s away kit while pondering the horrors of animal cruelty in May 2012. He has made 81 appearances for the club, but was loaned to Inter in January 2015. he complained that Arsene Wenger did not say goodbye to him.
Filippo Boniperti swears that he will never eat another vegetable for as long as he lives upon joining Parma in February 2013. He has two appearances for them and has been loaned out three times.
Pablo Garcia and Carlos Diogo agree to a suicide pact that neither of them intend to uphold upon joining Real Madrid in July 2005. Garcia made 22 appearances before being loaned out for the last two of his three seasons with the club and Diogo made 13 appearances before being loaned to Zaragoza and joined them permanently in 2007.
Tarek Elrich regrets being the cameraman for Two Girls One Cup while posing for a Western Sydney Wanderers shoot in June 2012. He made 11 appearances for the club and moved to Adelaide United a year later.
Then there’s Robbie Keane, whose favorite club is every club. He joined the LA Galaxy in 2011 and is still smiling there to this day.
Search Twitter for Ruben Pinto’s photo of his unveiling at Paços de Ferreira on January 7th. He’s on loan from league leader Benfica until the end of the season but he looks scared as shit! Funniest pic from an unveiling ever…