Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United have all welcomed former players back with open arms in the past – but it doesn't always go to plan.
David de Gea is the latest being linked with the infamous second spell. He remains a free agent after leaving Manchester United, but reports suggest the Red Devils could offer him a short-term deal.
We've looked back at 23 players who let bygones be bygones and rejoined their former club. Note: we've not included the likes of Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas, who never made a first-team appearance for Barcelona before returning to the Nou Camp later in their careers.
Angel Di Maria
Di Maria reportedly turned down a reunion with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami to return to Benfica this summer.
The Argentina World Cup winner left the Portuguese club for Real Madrid in 2010 and has gone on to become one of the best wingers of his generation.
He's been electric since returning to Lisbon, with five goals and two assists from his first six league outings.
Thierry Henry
It couldn't have been more beautiful really, could it? Alright, it was only Leeds United in the FA Cup, but after making himself Arsenal's greatest ever goalscorer in his first spell, Henry returned five years later for just one more embrace with North London.
That image of Henry looking as delirious as the Arsenal supporters after coming off the bench to score a late winner at the Emirates will remain one of the sweetest in the club's history.
Didier Drogba
As far as last kicks for a club go, scoring the winning penalty in the Champions League final is about as good as it gets, and Drogba chose to leave Chelsea on a high after securing the club's first European Cup in 2012.
Later that year, the striker was named the club's greatest ever player, but he couldn't resist one more season at Stamford Bridge two years later upon the return of Jose Mourinho.
Drogba ended that spell in equally glorious fashion, chaired off the pitch by his team-mates after winning a fourth Premier League title.
Paul Pogba
When Sir Alex Ferguson saw Pogba depart Manchester United after seven first-team appearances to join Juventus, he told MUTV: “Pogba signed for Juventus a long time ago as far as we're aware. [It] is disappointing. I don't think he showed us any respect at all, to be honest.”
He added: “I'm quite happy that if they carry on that way, they're probably better doing it away from us.”
It's a shame he wasn't still in charge when United paid £89million to re-sign the midfielder, really.
His second spell in Turin has been largely disastrous, following on from a sour end at United. The Frenchman is awaiting the outcome of an investigation that could see him banned for breaching doping regulations.
Shinji Kagawa
Under Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund, Kagawa was part of the side which claimed back-to-back Bundesliga titles, including a league-and-cup double in 2012, leading to a move to Manchester United – coincidentally at the same time Pogba left Old Trafford.
The Japan international showed moments of promise for the Red Devils – including one of the calmest hat-tricks in Premier League history – but he returned to Dortmund only two years later, adding another German Cup to his honours list.
Carlos Tevez
Returning to Boca Juniors after 11 years his initial departure was a true romantic homecoming for Tevez.
“My heart's exploding with happiness! Thanks for braving the cold and waiting for me. I'm already back home,” he wrote on Twitter after leaving Juventus to rejoin his boyhood club in 2015.
It would probably have been slightly more romantic if he hadn't left after a season to move to the Chinese Super League for an astronomical salary in what he himself described as a “vacation”.
Still, he went back for a third go. In the words of Diego Maradona: “He filled Santa's sack with dollars and now he has returned to Boca.”
The third stint was good, too, with Tevez helping the Xeneize to two more Argentinian titles.
A true love story.
Mathieu Flamini
Now spending his time preparing to save the world by producing sustainable alternatives to oil-based products with his company GF Biochemicals and having to deny reports he has €30billion in his bank account, Flamini also used to play for Arsenal.
The Frenchman made over 150 appearances in his first four years for the club, earning a move to Milan when they were still pretty tasty, and returning in 2013 for another three years and almost 100 more appearances.
Nemanja Matic
Matic's first spell at Chelsea consisted of three first-team appearances and an obligatory loan to Vitesse before he moved to Benfica as part of the deal which saw David Luiz move to Stamford Bridge.
Three years later, he moved back to London in a £21million move. Two league titles, an FA Cup and a £40million transfer to Manchester United suggest the Blues actually got some decent value out of the whole thing.
Mario Gotze
Another player who shone at Klopp's Dortmund only to find life much harder elsewhere, Gotze reached the pinnacle of the game in 2014 when he scored the winner in the World Cup final, but never truly established himself at Bayern Munich.
“I can understand many fans could not accept my decision,” he said, reflecting on his move to Bayern upon his return to Dortmund in 2016. “I wouldn't reach it today either.”
Fitness and health issues mean he never really recaptured the form that made him such a prodigious young talent and in 2020, he moved to PSV, but is now back in Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Mats Hummels
Bloody Bayern, always nabbing Dortmund's best players, even when they initially passed up the opportunity to have them.
Hummels made just two first-team appearances for Bayern in 2006-07 before going on to establish himself as one of the best defenders in the world at Dortmund.
Almost a decade later, the centre-back rejoined his former club in what is a fairly long line of kicks in the bollocks which BVB have suffered over the years.