9: Robert Jarni, Juventus, Upper Deck Juventus F.C. – Campioni d’Italia 94/95

Today Emlyn Jones brings us a story that has everything a 90s football nostalgic could want. Political turmoil? Check. Serie A success? Check. Real Madrid shithousery? Check. Coventry City? Oh most definitely check. What a time to be alive. Over to Emlyn.

Andy Carroll's unexpected arrival on a relatively meagre wage of £1,500 a week has been a rare glimmer in Reading's miserable season. Strong performances have made him an unquestionable bargain, being trumped in the value stakes only by Dani Alves re-joining Barcelona at 38 on a salary of €1 per month.

Bizarre and unexpected transfers could be articles all of their own; scouting failures such as the infamous Ali Dia, Sir Alex Ferguson declining to watch Bebé in person, or Arsène Wenger playing a bit too much Championship Manager 4 and deciding to sign Kim Källström despite him having a near broken back. Occasionally top teams pick up duffers, such as Jonathan Woodgate's ill-fated Real Madrid stint, or the same team inexplicably loaning in West Ham United squad player Julian Faubert. Nobody expected Juventus to swoop for Nicklas Bendtner on loan, or for Fabio Borini's seven goals in 50 games for Sunderland to catch the eyes of AC Milan.

Of course, the opposite can be true, with high-profile players signing for low-profile clubs. Often, this will turn out to be a transitionary move, with the players rapidly moving on to more prestigious sides in the same nation, such as Claudio Caniggia hopping to Rangers via Dundee, or West Ham controversially snaffling Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano before they moved on to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively.

These strange stop overs can occasionally be far briefer, with the tale of David Unsworth a classic example. Today's subject managed to do the opposite of the established week in the sun, leaving sunny Spain for a week's break in the midlands with Coventry City. He didn't annoy Neil Warnock as much as Tevez and Mascherano managed to, but nonetheless wasn't immune from conflict over the course of his career.

Robert Jarni was snapped up from his hometown club in the then Yugoslavia, MTČ Čakovec, by Hajduk Split in 1985. A marauding wing back with a strong shot, he notched up 17 goals for the club before Serie A came calling, with Bari signing the player ahead of the 1991/92 season. After two strong seasons, he moved North – first to Torino, before crossing the city to Juventus. After a single season, he was on his way to Spain, signing for Real Betis in 1995.

By this time Jarni was well regarded internationally. He had debuted for Yugoslavia in 1990, before playing for the newly established Croatian national side. His international career was briefly notable for a particularly harrowing looking exchange; in a politically charged 1999 qualifier between Croatia and Yugoslavia, Zoran Mirković went down dramatically under Jarni's innocuous challenge. In response to chiding from Jarni, Mirković grabbed the unfortunate Croat by the balls and twisted, receiving a three-match suspension that saw him miss Euro 2000. Testicular assault aside, the undoubted highlight of Jarni's international career was the 1998 World Cup, with the unfancied Croatia, still only eight years in existence as an independent nation, going on to a third place finish while wearing one of the truly great kits.

In the aftermath of the hugely successful World Cup campaign, Real Madrid made overtures to sign Jarni, however Betis were reluctant to sell to Madrid; and the wily Gordon Strachan pounced, thrilling Coventry's fans when he snapped up the player for £2.6m. Jarni was spotted in the crowd for a pre-season friendly looking snazzy in his dark suit and sunglasses.

However, within a week of his signing, Jarni was on his way again... to Real Madrid. It's never been confirmed how the transfer process played out; one rumour held that Jarni's wife immediately demanded they return to Spain on seeing Coventry in the flesh, while the official line from Coventry was that the offer from Madrid was too good to turn down. The generally held view is that Coventry were a handy conduit and made off with a million pounds to keep everyone happy. Which they promptly spent on Marc Edworthy.

Unfortunately Real had a fairly handy left back already in Roberto Carlos, and Jarni made only sporadic appearances for the side in his first, and ultimately only, season at Los Blancos. He dropped down a division to Las Palmas for two seasons before a swansong season in the Greek Premier League with Panathinaikos. He performed well but retired aged 33 at the end of the season following a head injury and reduced playing time.

He initially played Futsal for five seasons in his retirement, before taking on his first managerial role as an assistant with Hajduk Split. He has subsequently had a slightly nomadic managerial career, most recently with NorthEast United in the Indian Super League. He can look back over a career in which he played for some of the biggest teams in the world, and was only sent to Coventry for a week. He was also instrumental as Croatia established themselves into the major international force they continue to be today. Worth the singular instance of ball grabbing, perhaps.