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We duped City into paying £400,000 for Hamann when we didn't own him, reveals Bolton chief GartsideBy Graeme Yorke
PUBLISHED:11:17, 29 August 2013| UPDATED:14:16, 29 August 2013 62 shares
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Bolton chairman Phil Gartside has admitted that he duped Manchester City into paying for Dietmar Hamann in 2006.
Hamann had agreed to move to the Reebok Stadium in a pre-contract arrangement but after less than 24 hours he was sold to City for £400,000.
But Gartside admitted that the paperwork on the midfielder's switch to Bolton from Liverpool was not completed when he was sold to City - meaning the Manchester club would not have had to pay a penny as he never actually signed for Wanderers.
Scroll down to listen to Phil Gartside's interview
Throwing money away: Dietmar Hamann (right) signed for Manchester City in 2006 from Bolton, whose chairman Phil Gartside (below right) admitted they got £400,000 for a player they didn't actually own 
Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside (R) Hamann was in the talkSPORT studio and Gartside was speaking on the station as he recalled: 'The full story never actually came out.
'What happened was Didi signed for us on a free transfer from Liverpool, came in, signed the papers, and then, for whatever reason, decided it wasn’t for you and that you wanted to reconsider.
'We said to you, "I’m sorry about that, but you’ve signed" but what you never realised was that we never actually countersigned the papers and just put them in the drawer.
City slicker: Hamann spent three years at Eastlands'The next thing we know, you came along and told us you’d got this opportunity to go to Manchester City – so we actually sold you without actually signing you, did you know that?
'We got £400,000 from Manchester City for a player we never actually signed. And that’s the truth.'
The Hamann deal was sometimes referred to by then-Bolton manager Sam Allardyce as 'the best he has ever done.'
Hamann seemed understandably surprised in the studio and mumbled: 'I didn't know that, we might need to get in touch with City.
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