5 of the biggest transfer flops in Premier League history

With the 2018/19 Premier League season now well and truly over, the summer transfer window is in full flow with clubs hoping to sign some top talent over the next couple of months as they look to bolster their squads for the 2019/20 campaign.

All Premier League clubs will be hoping their signings are successful but that’s not always proven to be the case, even if you do spend big.

Here are just some of the Premier League’s biggest transfer flops over recent years:

Fernando Torres to Chelsea

Torres set the world alight after joining Liverpool from Atletico Madrid for the 2007/8 season, scoring 24 league goals and breaking many records along the way. In his debut season he knocked Ruud van Nistelrooy off his perch, becoming the latest foreign import to score the most goals in his debut season in England.

His stunning form continued for the reds and he was named in ‘The 50 greatest Liverpool players’, he scored 65 goals in 102 games for Liverpool and became a fan favourite on Merseyside, especially after his ‘5 times’ celebration at Old Trafford in a famous 4-1 win.

However, on transfer deadline day 2011 Torres made the controversial £50 million (then a British transfer record) move to West London to join Chelsea, much to the disgust of Liverpool fans at the time.

However, the switch to the capital really didn’t work out for Torres; he didn’t score during his first 14 games for the club and his time at Stamford Bridge can probably be summed up with that famous open goal miss at Old Trafford.

Angel Di Maria to Manchester United

Before transferring to Old Trafford from the Bernabeu in 2014, for a British record £59.7 million, the Argentine winger was considered to be one of the best creative players in the world, with a Man of the Match performance in the 2014 Champions League final against city rivals Atletico. During his time at Los Blancos di Maria won 1 Champions League, 1 La Liga, 2 Copa del rey’s, 1 Spanish super cup and a UEFA Super Cup, scoring 22 goals in 124 games.

However, he never really settled in in Manchester and his performances suffered as he failed to reproduce anything like the sort of form his price tag demanded. United fans tried to convince themselves the Di Maria of Madrid was back when he scored a few flukey goals, but ultimately his career at United never took off and he exited Old Trafford after scoring just 3 goals in 27 games.

He transferred to PSG in 2015 for £44 million where he has begun to kickstart his career again.

Andriy Shevchenko to Chelsea

Before transferring to Chelsea in 2006 for a cool £30.8 million, breaking Chelsea’s and English football’s transfer record at the time, the Ukrainian was a successful and well-known player in world football.

In his 7 years at AC Milan he won 1 Champions League, 1 Serie A, 1 Italian Cup, 1 Italian Super Cup and 2 UEFA Super cups, scoring 127 goals in 206 games in the process. The Ukrainian hit man even won the Ballon D’or in 2004.

However, it all started to go a bit pear-shaped for Andriy at Stamford Bridge. He failed to hit the ground running in London and netted just 9 goals in 48 games over a 12 month period which led to him being loaned back to the Rossoneri.

Andy Carroll to Liverpool

Carroll was a fan favourite up in the North East playing for Newcastle; he was a local lad from Gateshead and the Toon Army adored him as he scored 31 goals in 80 games.

Deadline day 2011 saw him transfer to Merseyside the same day Fernando Torres left for Chelsea and lots was expected of the big striker.

Carroll transferred for a then club record fee so exceptions where high to see how he could perform alongside another new signing, one Luis Suarez. However, it’s safe to say both players had widely contrasting experiences at Anflield. Suarez flourished on Merseyside whilst Carroll struggled, failing to hit the mark and scoring only 6 goals in 44 games for the reds.

The injury-prone Carroll was loaned out to West Ham in 2012.

Paul Pogba to Manchester United

There was a time not too long ago when Man U dominated English football. Every week under Fergie you felt they would win and if you used to follow acca tips closely, they would regularly be identified as ‘banker of the weekend’.

Fast forward a few years however and oh how times have changed, and this is the second time the Red Devils feature in our list.

This time the transport flop: Paul Pogba.

Before transferring back to Manchester where he played in the academy before moving to Juventus in 2012, Pogba was regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world; making the game look easy with his passing and scoring some sensational goals. During his time in Turin the Frenchmen won 4 Serie A titles, 2 Italian Super Cups and 2 Italian Cups, scoring 28 goals in 124 games.

In 2016 Pogba returned to former club, Manchester United, on a five-year contract for a then world record transfer fee. United paid Juve £89.3 million, surpassing the existing world record transfer fee that was rocked up when Real Madrid splurged on Gareth Bale.

However, his performances so far in Salford have never really matched the ones in Turin and some Man U fans claim Pogba seems more bothered about his haircuts and social media accounts than football.

His poor form and lacklustre showings have been heavily criticised but could he turn it around if he does indeed stay at Old Trafford?

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