Diafra Sakho is the Peter Odemwingie of 2017... West Ham striker's trip from Rennes to Chelmsford Racecourse joins list of bizarre deadline day stories

• e-mail

It is fair to say that the summer transfer deadline day of 2017 will be remembered more for the deals that failed to go through than any business that was completed, in England at least.

While the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Virgil van Dijk and Ross Barkley stole the headlines with their high profile on-off moves away from their respective clubs, Diafra Sakho did his best to steal the limelight.

The West Ham striker was due to report to the club's Rush Green training ground at 11am on Wednesday, but instead boarded a flight to Rennes as he sought to push through a deadline day move.

Sakho was keen to join Rennes but had a medical in France without West Ham's permission

Sakho's transfer talks with West Ham were held up due to his agent's horse racing

Sakho, who came on as a substitute for the Hammers in the 3-0 defeat by Newcastle at St James' Park last Saturday, appeared to take matters into his own hands by travelling to France where he had a medical and agreed personal terms with the Ligue 1 club.

The striker then hoped to outline his 'off-field personal issues' with West Ham, but the saga took a bizarre twist when he turned up at Chelmsford Racecourse on his return to England.

The Senegalese international arrived back in the early afternoon on Thursday, but took a detour before meeting West Ham bosses so his agent, Mark McKay, could watch a racehorse he owns in action.

The diversion paid off as 9-2 favourite Siege of Boston won the 3.20 - and Sakho's £100 bet on his agent's horse earned him a £550 win. 

Sakho landed at Southend Airport on Thursday at 2.20pm and headed for Chelmsford

The striker watched on from the car park, phone in hand, while winning a nice little profit

Having been on the phone to West Ham in a car park during the race, Sakho was then driven to the London Stadium where he and his representatives attempted to find a solution.

The situation was complicated further by David Gold and David Sullivan being away on holiday, meaning the player could not speak directly about his problems on his return with West Ham's co-owners.

But after talks, Sakho may now be in line for a new contract with the Hammers after being handed reassurances over his personal issues, with the player stating his 'total respect' for fans while understanding the reasons for staying put.

Sakho's is not the first bizarre transfer deadline day whirlwind adventure, as Sportsmail revisits a few classic tales from bygone years. 

Hammers co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan were not in England during the saga

The Senegalese international sorted out his problems to commit his future to West Ham

Peter Odemwingie (West Brom to QPR, January 2013)

Still the undisputed champion of deadline day's power play, Odemwingie took it upon himself to drive to London from West Brom and spoke of his excitement about joining QPR.

He rolled down his window and told Sky Sports: 'It's a new chapter to start in my life. I love West Brom and always will. I think every football fan is excited to see if we're going to make it or not but we're optimistic about it.

'We have some good players here and I'm happy with the trust that Harry Redknapp is giving me.' 

Unfortunately, the Nigerian would discover his club hadn't given him permission to speak with Redknapp, and the striker returned to The Hawthorns with his tail between his legs.  

Peter Odemwingie wished West Brom the best for the future as he headed to complete a move

But the Nigerian did not join QPR with no fee agreed between themselves and West Brom

Benjani (Portsmouth to Manchester City, January 2008)

Portsmouth striker Benjani deserves his place on any list of bizarre deadline day goings-on after inexplicably missing two flights from Southampton airport to Manchester - because he fell asleep.

The nap nearly cost the Zimbabwean his move to City, but having rubbed the sleep out of his eye, the striker dashed up north to complete his medical and sign on the dotted line for an initial £3.87m. 

Portsmouth's then director of communications Gary Double said at the time of his departure: 'Benji's as strong as an ox and never misses a day's training.' Perhaps all that exertion explained the fatigue.

Benjani's protracted move from Portsmouth to Manchester City was resolved via a slight glitch

The 29-year-old striker signed a two-and-a-half year deal at City but missed two flights

Robinho (Real Madrid to Manchester City, August 2008)

The Brazilian joined City in a ground-breaking £32.5m deal on transfer deadline day in August 2008, gazumping original moneybags Chelsea to seal his signature on the same night they had been pipped by Manchester United for Dimitar Berbatov.

But after such a great coup, City fans may well have wondered if they'd grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory as Robinho then announced: 'Chelsea made a great proposal on the last day and I accepted'. 

When asked if he meant Manchester City, Robinho replied: 'Yeah. Manchester. Sorry!'

Robinho caused consternation among Manchester City supporters upon signing for £32.5m

The Brazil striker apologised for his slip of the tongue immediately upon signing for City

Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid to Tottenham, August 2010)

The signing of Rafael van der Vaart proved a masterstroke by Redknapp as the Tottenham boss managed to sign the Dutchman for just £8m from Real Madrid, but the deadline-day deal was not without its problems. 

With the chimes of Big Ben approaching, the Premier League approved Van der Vaart's move from Madrid despite paperwork being lodged late. The reason: a dodgy fax machine. 

Papers had reached the League two hours late but Spurs claimed technical difficulties relating to a computer used in the transaction between the two clubs, hampering efforts to complete the administration on time. 

Tottenham were thankful to the Premier League for ratifying a move for Rafael van der Vaart

Spurs only moved for the Dutchman after learning that a deal with Bayern Munich was off

Ryan Babel (Liverpool to London, August 2010)

Who can forget the Babelcopter. The Liverpool winger was spotted getting in a helicopter bound for London on deadline day in 2010 but a move away from Merseyside failed to materialise.

The Dutchman's tale captured the imagination of football fans across the land, but despite travelling in a Chinook (we're assuming) to an unknown round of contract negotiations, a transfer failed to take off.

It turned out to be nothing but yet more noise and confusion, and the mystery remains unanswered to this day. Perhaps he was just filming a rap video all along.    

Ryan Babel wrote his way into deadline day folklore travelling by helicopter to London in 2010

A helicopter which Babel may or may not have been in during deadline day seven years ago

David De Gea (Manchester United to Real Madrid, August 2015)

One of the more acrimonious transfer sagas involving players currently active in the Premier League involved Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, who looked set to join Real Madrid two years ago.

The Spanish stopper was set to be involved in a swap deal with Keylor Navas, but the £29.3m deal fell through. The Spanish league said the relevant paperwork was not sent in time and Real blamed United for holding up the transfer.

It is believed that De Gea was denied his dream move to the Santiago Bernabeu because United took eight hours to make minor modifications to the agreement.

It later emerged that Madrid had been unable to open documents sent to them by United, scuppering any hopes of an 11th hour deal being struck.

David de Gea looked set to join Real Madrid from Manchester United in the summer of 2015

But De Gea and Keylor Navas both stayed put after Madrid were unable to open a document