Football

8 Expensive Premier League Transfer Flops

Premier League transfers don’t always end up as magical as you’d wish! So, to remind you of those players, we look at 8 expensive Premier League transfer flops – from Juan Sebastian Veron to Roberto Soldado!

1. Andy Carroll

With Fernando Torres leaving to join Chelsea (we’ll get into that later), Andy Carroll was seen as the answer to lead the Liverpool front – unfortunately for Liverpool this didn’t happen and they pretty much burned the money they received for Torres.

Arriving for a huge £35m in 2011, Carroll only manged 6 goals in two-and-a-half years – making him the biggest of all transfer flops!

2. Juan Sebastian Verón

Joining Manchester United in 2001 for £28.1m from Lazio, this transfer smashed the domestic transfer record at the time – and consequently becoming one of the biggest flops in English football history.

He never adjusted at Manchester United and quite frankly wasn’t good enough to get into an already very successful side. He got another crack at the Premier League through Chelsea in 2003.

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3. Angel Di Maria

Staying with Manchester United, we look at the player they invested in which broke their own club record transfer fee but also the British record at the time! Angel Di Maria joined from Real Madrid for £59.7m and came with massive expectations.

After starting his Man Utd career so brightly, with a few goals and assists, unfortunately for Man Utd fans this didn’t continue and later found himself on the bench regularly for the rest of the season. At the end of the season, Di Maria got his wish to move away from Old Trafford, and joined PSG. 

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4. Afonso Alves

Coming to the Premier League in 2008, Afonso Alves joined Middlesbrough for £13m. This may not seem expensive compared to others in the list – but this was 2008 and Middlesbrough. Breaking their club record fee in the hope of keeping ‘Boro up, the dreams of both the fans and board were very much short lived.

Finishing with 10 goals in 42 games, his time at Middlesbrough can only be described as one big flop (he did score two against Manchester United though!). The following season came and ‘Boro decided to cut their losses.

5. Roberto Soldado

Tottenham fans lost Gareth Bale and needed a new hero, and many thought that man would be Roberto Soldado. How wrong were they? The spanish striker managed seven goals in 45 games.

Joining off the back of some great goal-scoring form in Spain, expectations were high for Soldado – but he just never lived up to it. Although, the real Soldado did show glimpses when faced with a penalty – consequently leaving England with the name ‘Penaldado’.

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6. Fernando Torres

On one side you have someone who played a good role in Chelsea’s greatest ever night when they won the Champions League, and on another you have a £50m signing who scored 20 goals in 110 Premier League games.

Torres never reproduced the form he showed with Liverpool, and even went 732 minutes of football for Chelsea before scoring his first goal for the club.

Over a Playfinder we believe Torres must be on the list – would you class him one of the Premier League’s biggest transfer flops?

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7. Andriy Shevchenko

He was the best striker in the world at the time, so Roman Abramovich gifted back-to-back Premier League champion Jose Mourinho with signing him. Little did they know Shevchenko will only score a mere nine times during his stay at Stamford Bridge. 

The fact he was never wanted in the first place didn’t help Shevchenko, he even managed to contribute to the end of Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. He later left Chelsea, and never rediscovered his goalscoring touch. He did try his hand at politics after retirement, but came up short again.

8. John Stones

John Stones joined Manchester City from Everton for £47.5m and many thought it was exactly what Pep Guardiola needed for his style of play – this wasn’t the case. With only flashes of potential, it was mainly a season of high profile errors, which led to a lot of criticism. 

Many football fans and pundits have been criticising John Stones, which naturally has taken a hit on his confidence, meaning poor performances have followed.

However, former Manchester United and England footballer Rio Ferdinand has come out to defend Stones, saying “the players behind him showed no communication. Stones can do nothing about this. I’d have been fuming”. Luckily, time is on John Stones side – will he be able to turn his fortunes around and not stay on the list of transfer flops?

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