The life of a footballer can be very difficult at times, especially when being hurled abuse at from the stands, and more frequently today, on social media.
Players can endure tough periods differently however, with failing a medical one of the reasons as to why a footballer could go into limbo.
A failed medical would have a player puzzles, not knowing what was next, and that was the case for Loic Remy after failing his Liverpool medical in 2014, though he signed for Chelsea just weeks later.
Remy tells the story of how he’d completed almost everything a player would ahead of a move, even taking the pictures where he held a Liverpool scarf.
Remy said: “Signing for Chelsea was the craziest move of my career, that’s for sure.
“I can remember being on holiday, back in my home country, on a small island, and my agent gave me a call to tell me that Liverpool wanted to sign me.
“They were training in Boston for pre-season. That was fantastic news for me, so I asked him about the next steps.
“My agent told me what I needed to do and where I needed to go, but at the time, I didn’t have my passport on me, so I couldn’t make it to Boston.
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“At the time, my agent was the same as Patrice Evra’s – so Patrice’s brother went to Lyon, my hometown, to get my passport, I then travelled all the way to Paris, and met Patrice’s brother there, he gave me the passport and I flew straight to Boston.
“We arrived, me and my agent, and it all felt like a dream – it was happening so quickly. I met all the guys, started doing my interviews, and had a medical, but something was wrong.
“I didn’t know what was wrong, but they said I just needed to wait for a couple of days. At this moment, I was a Liverpool player as far as I was concerned, because I’d done the interviews, and I still have a picture of myself on my phone, holding their scarf!
“It was a very proud moment for me, but two days later I found out that there was a problem with my medical, and the deal was off – they didn’t want to take the risk, and while I was so disappointed, I accepted it and went back to London, ready to start training with QPR again.
“And then, Chelsea called my agent and said they wanted to sign me. They asked if I was available, which I was, and so we went to Cobham to do my medical.
“It’s funny, because just before we signed, my agent had a call from Arsenal, who were asking whether I’d signed or not. “No, no, he’s on his way to sign now. Tell him not to sign – we want him!”
“My agent told me this, and the market was so close to closing, and so he gave me the choice between Chelsea and Arsenal.
“In the end, I went with Chelsea because I just thought that Arsenal should have manifested themselves long before the end of the transfer window.
“I was already at Cobham, ready to sign with Chelsea, had passed my medical, so I decided I wasn’t going to change my mind.
“A mistake, or not? I don’t think it was; at the end of the day, I won titles with Chelsea, but yes, it was a very complicated move behind the scenes!”
Despite Liverpool being the ones to trigger Remy’s £8.5m release clause, it was Stamford Bridge where the Frenchman ended up, scoring 12 goals in 47 games, winning the Premier League under Jose Mourinho.