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Dutch Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven would have been happy to secure a bit of January transfer deadline day business. The club have been in search of a left-back ever since Jetro Willems left for Frankfurt last summer. 

PSV had found their answer. The Dutch club had reached an oral agreement with Lumor Agbenyenu, a 21-year-old year old defender who was playing in Portugal for Portimonense. The wheels were in motion, all Agbenyenu needed to do now was fly in for a medical. PSV even sent a camera crew to welcome the Ghanaian at Schiphol airport. Imagine their confusion when the player never arrived. 

Instead of flying to the Netherlands, Agbenyenu was busy putting pen to paper on a 4-and-a-half year contract with Sporting CP. PSV had been beaten to the punch right at the last minute.

Sporting were themselves looking for a replacement left-back after Jonathan Silva left the club to sign for AS Roma. Likewise, Roma had just lost their left-back in Emerson Palmeiri who has joined Chelsea.

Agbenyenu's deal with Sporting will cost €2.5m.

So it seems that in this long trade-off of left-backs, PSV have come out the losers. PSV are currently top of the Eredivisie table, seven points ahead of Ajax. Some defensive reinforcements may have helped them maintain their title push heading into the latter stages of the season. 

Head coach Phillip Cocu has come out and expressed his disappointment that the deal could not be done. 

"We have been looking for a left defender for a long time, and it is annoying that things are going wrong at the last minute, Cocu told FOX Sports (via NOS). "We could and should have done this better."