With COVID seeming an everyday topic, and the news constantly spouting depressing drivel. I thought that today I would also take a look on the darker side of life and discuss some of the biggest flops in premier league football. Talking about the stars of the game is boring and I thought it would be much more fun to compile a list of players that have subsequently cause their teams fans and owners misery after they had signed for their clubs with the ambitions of stardom and trophies weighing heavy on their shoulders.
But what do I consider to be a flop? Well my criteria is quite simple. I have taken into account how much the players were signed for, what wages they were playing on and also what expectations were put on them when they were signed. I have also decided to not include players who have only recently signed for their new teams. I have done this as I feel many of them may turn their careers around. I’m looking at you and crossing my fingers Romelu Lukaku! I have also decided not to rank each individual transfer, this is as I believe being on this top ten list shows you how bad of a signing it was. It doesn’t need to be quantified periodically and maybe you can do that yourself. So let’s get into the list.
Honourable mentions:
- Adrian Mutu, Parma -> Chelsea £15 million
- Winston Bogarde, Barcelona -> Chelsea Free Transfer
- Bebe, Vitoria Guimaraes -> Man Utd £7 million
- Ali Dia, Dijon -> Southampton Free Transfer
- Ben Gibson, Middlesbrough-> Burnley £15 million
Saido Berahino, West Brom -> Stoke £12 million
After an impressive 2014/15 season where he scored 20 goals in all competitions, the young striker seemed to be on an upwards trajectory to stardom. However, an unsuspected dry spell came in front of goal and he did not find the back of the net in over 900 days. During this spell Stoke City decided to acquire the players services for £12 million. The following season the Potters were relegated to the Championship and Berahino was released from the club after only scoring 5 goals in 54 games. At the end of the 18/19 season, the Burundi international was realesed from the club with 3 years still remaining on his contract.
Fernando Torres, Liverpool -> Chelsea £50 million
For many year the Fernando Torres transfer to Chelsea in the winter of 2011 remained the most expensive transfer in the January windows history. Coming off some incredible seasons in Merseyside where he made appearances in the World Team of The Year twice, the hype for the World Cup winning international was palpable. However, as I’m sure everyone knows, Torres was a major bust in West London. After scoring 65 league goals in just 102 appearances for Liverpool, the Spanish striker scored an abysmal 20 more in a total of 110 league games for Chelsea. The signs were there from the beginning that the transfer wasn’t going to work out. Even before the deal was made, Torres was just coming back from a serious knee injury, where he was even struggling to find form with Liverpool. But that didn’t stop Roman Abramovic and then manager of the Blues at the time Carlo Ancelotti from making the blockbuster signing. Although never living up to the price tag, Torres did have some good moments with Chelsea that fans will look back on fondly. From scoring in the Cam Nou in the semi final of the Champions League, to scoring the opening goal against Benfica in the Europa League semi final. Those good moments were few and far between and after 3 and a half seasons with the club, he was sent out on various loan spells before finally signing with Athletico Madrid in July of 2016 for nothing.
Alberto Aquilani, Roma -> Liverpool £18 million
Being the man to replace Xabi Alonso at Liverpool is certainly no easy feat, and for fellow Spaniard Aquilani, unfortunately it was a task too big. After signing in 2009, Alberto played only a single season in Merseyside, where he managed 26 appearances in all competitions. Although his play wasn’t actually all that bad, the following season, new manager Roy Hodgson shipped him off on loan back to Italy. A couple of seasons later, after appearing for Liverpool a total of 0 times in 2 years, he finally made a permanent move to Fiorentina for £1.8 million. He subsequently then went on to have a pretty stellar career.
Alexis Sánchez, Arsenal -> Man Utd swap deal
Alexis Sánchez had an outstanding career playing for both Arsenal and Barcelona. The Chilean contributed to 85 goals in just 122 league games for Arsenal and picked up a heap of accolades in doing so. These included 2 FA cup wins, and was given Arsenals player of the season award twice. Although life seemed sweet at Arsenal, Sánchez had a desire to play Champions League football and eventually pushed for a move to Manchester United in January of 2018. The deal saw United winger Henrikh Mkhitaryan go the other way in a straight swap, no fee deal. On first glance this may appear a good deal for United, and how could someone who came for near to nothing be considered a flop? Well, on arriving in Manchester, Sánchez put pen to paper on a 500k a week deal. This made him by far the highest paid player in the league. Injuries had caught up with the Chilean as he only managed to find the net 3 times in 1 and a half seasons and he was finally sent out to Italy in order to reduce the wage bill. It was reported however that United still paid nearly half his wages. 2 years after the disaster out transfer, Sánchez was finally allowed to leave on a free to Inter.
Jack Rodwell, Man City -> Sunderland £10 million
3 time capped England international Jack Rodwell had a strong start to his career. Breaking his way onto the scene with Everton in 2008, strong performances would eventually land him a blockbuster move to newly found rich club Manchester City. A couple years of mediocre football later and the midfielder found himself signing with relegation candidates Sunderland. You could say this flop falls more on the Black Cats themselves as they handed Rodwell a £70,000 a week contract. This contract followed the team all the way down into Division One after back to back relegations. During this time Rodwell played a total of 2 games due to injury and an overall bad lack of form. Sunderland were finally able to get out of the contract in 2018 and the whole saga seemed to be a strong indictment on the club and how it was run.
Juan Sebastián Verón, Lazio -> Man Utd £38 million
£38 million these days can net you an up and coming star or a reliable veteran. Back in 2001, if a club were to pay £38 million for a player, you’d expect them to be one of the best in the world. Indeed Argentinian Veron was just that when he signed for Alex Ferguson’s United over 20 years ago. An all rounded midfielder, Veron had just come to England off the back of winning the Serie A with Lazio and had big expectations put on his shoulders. However, Verón struggled to climates to life in England and struggled to find a role in the United system amongst the greats such as Scholes and Keane. After only playing 51 times across two seasons, United cut their losses on the player who they had broken the British transfer record for just two years prior and shipped the midfielder off to Chelsea for £15 million. After an injury hit season with the Blues, he finally left England for good in the summer of 2004.
Andriy Shevchenko, AC Milan -> Chelsea £30 million
There just seems to be something about Chelsea and signing big name strikers for extortionate fees. The signing of Andriy Shevchenko in 2006 epitomises this. Arguably one of the best players in the world at Milan, the Ukrainian had won the Ballon D’or in 2004 and the Champions league back in 2002. Scoring 127 league goals in Italy, Shevchenko was marked as one of the top finishers across Europe. This lead to Roman Abramovic breaking their transfer record on the then 29 year old. Certainly no spring chicken, Shevchenko struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League. Outshone by teammate Didier Drogba, the Ukranian quickly found himself short on minutes and was subsequently shipped back out on loan after scoring just 9 goals in 48 appearances for the Blues. A massive wast of money for the Londoners.
Andy Carroll, Newcastle -> Liverpool £35 million
Scoring 11 goals in 19 games to end the 10/11 season for Newcastle was enough for Liverpool to believe Carroll would be the man to replace Fernando Torres at Anfield. A transfer record for a British player at the time, the Merseyside club had high hopes for the 6ft4 target man. Oh were they wrong about that. During the same summer Liverpool also splashed the cash on Ajax forward Luis Suarez, and there couldn’t be a larger disparity over how their careers ended up. From the start the Carroll transfer was doomed. Arriving with a pre existing knee injury, it took till March of the next year for him to have his full debut with the club. Injuries piled up throughout his tenure with the Reds and he only managed to find the back of the net 6 times in 44 league games. 2 years after signing, he was shipped off to West Ham on loan and then subsequently sold for £15 million the following season.
Eliaquim Mangala, Porto -> Man City £42 million
In August of 2014 Manchester City broke the British transfer record for a centre back to sign French international Eliaquim Mangala from Porto. Mangala had all the physical attributes to be a top defender. However, the player lacked in footballing ability and after Manuel Pellegrini (the man who brought him to the club) was sacked and replaced by Pep Guardiola not long after the Frenchman’s arrival, he was quickly frozen out of the first team. Making only 9 league appearances for the Spaniard, City decided to cut their losses and loan him out to both Everton and Valencia to get him off the wage bill. Finally in the summer of 2019 Mangala made the move to Valencia permanent on a free transfer, meaning £42 million was essentially thrown down the drain.
Danny Drinkwater, Leicester -> Chelsea £35 million
So far on this list I’ve shied away from ranking the other 9 players on this list. But as a Chelsea fan I can’t help but put Danny Drinkwater in the thoroughly deserved number one spot. Signing for the Blues in the summer of 2017 and coming off winning the League with Leicester only the season prior, there was expectation that the England international could rekindle the partnership he once had with N’golo Kante. Things didn’t pan out that way and Drinkwater made 12 appearances in his first season. Shortly after the season, manager Antonio Conte left and the Englishman found himself out of favour with both managers Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard. Drinkwater has made one competitive appearance since his debut season and has been shipped off on 4 different loan spells, most recent Reading. Luckily for the Blues, they have entered the final year of the midfielders 100k a week contract, so their nightmare may finally be over.
Forgotten Footballers 