10 players whose transfer fee didn't match their talents

#2 Andy Carroll - £35m (Newcastle United to Liverpool, 2011)

Liverpool paid far too much for striker Andy Carroll

When Chelsea paid a British record £50m fee to sign Liverpool striker Fernando Torres in January 2011, it left the Reds with a lot of money to find a replacement – and the man they chose was Newcastle United’s Andy Carroll.

A product of the Magpies’ youth academy, Carroll had just turned 22 years old at the time, but despite his clear physical talents, he still appeared to be very raw in terms of his actual striking ability. He’d scored 17 goals in 39 games for Newcastle in the EFL Championship, but in the top flight, Carroll had just 14 goals to his name and had only made 42 appearances.

That didn’t prevent Liverpool from making a £30m bid for him on transfer deadline day – and incredibly, when Newcastle turned that offer down, the Reds quickly returned with a £35m offer that the Magpies had little choice but to accept.

Unfortunately, the young striker’s price tag simply didn’t match up with his abilities at that stage of his career – even if he clearly had potential – and despite showing some flashes of brilliance at Anfield, his time there turned out to be a huge failure due to injuries and his style not really suiting Liverpool’s way of playing.

After spending just one full season at Anfield – 2011-12 – Carroll moved to West Ham on loan, and eventually made the move permanent. He scored just 11 goals in total for Liverpool, meaning each strike cost the club just over £3m!