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So far this season, many signings from the summer have failed to impress at their new clubs despite the money paid for their services in the summer. However, with 3 months of the season still to come, certain players will feel as though they have plenty of time to prove themselves in order to avoid being named as a flop. But this is a fate that some players can not and will not avoid after signing for record fees in the summer and failing to live up to the billing ever since.
With that being said, here are 5 of the biggest transfer flops so far this season.
#5 Luka Jović
Stats: Games 23 | Goals 2 | Assists 2 | Transfer Fee £54 million
After scoring 27 goals last season for Eintracht Frankfurt, Luka Jović left Germany for Spain and Frankfurt for Real Madrid where he would have been hoping to replicate his Bundesliga form. Fast forward 6 months and the Serbian has seen more of the bench than the pitch.
One of those reasons for the Serbian's disappointing start is the fact that he has been given limited game time and therefore limited opportunity to impress Zinedine Zidane. In fact, Jović has made just 15 appearances in La Liga with just 4 starts out of a possible 23 games.
He was meant to be the man to replace the aging Karim Benzema this season, but due to both the Serbian's disappointing debut season and Benzema's consistent form, this hasn't been the case and Jović now spends most of his time on the Madrid bench instead of the pitch.
Luka Jović will be hoping to endure a better second half of the season than the first and in doing so, begin to pay back the £54 million paid for his services in the summer.
#4 João Cancelo
Stats: Games 22 | Goals 1 | Assists 1 | Transfer Fee £58 million
After signing for Manchester City in the summer for just over £58 million, many people expected João Cancelo to improve an already extremely talented side.
However, since his arrival, Cancelo has failed to impress, resulting in just 10 Premier League appearances. With Cancelo in the back four, Manchester City have struggled when defending. In fact, in the 10 games that the Portuguese defender has featured in, City have conceded 8 goals and kept just 2 clean sheets. By contrast, Kyle Walker has kept 5 clean sheets.
This is one of the many reasons why Cancelo has failed to progress under Pep Guardiola with the likes of Kyle Walker ahead of the former Juventus man in the pecking order, therefore limiting the right back's game time.
Adding to this, when buying João Cancelo, Pep Guardiola would have been hoping to add the perfect modern-day full-back to his side with defensive awareness as well as being an attacking threat. But Cancelo has been the exact opposite of this and has been poor both defensively and offensively this season which the stats further highlight.
#3 Eden Hazard
Stats: Games 13 | Goals 1 | Assists 4 | Transfer Fee £100 million
With 2 Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup to his name, Eden Hazard finally departed Chelsea in the summer after 7 years at the club. The Belgian opted to leave Chelsea for Real Madrid for a fee of around £100 million to form the transfer of the summer. Many Madrid fans believed that they had finally found their Ronaldo replacement with Hazard's star quality similar to that of Ronaldo's.
However, the Belgian has not lived up to expectations at Real Madrid and after returning to pre-season training overweight, things didn't improve for the former Chelsea man. The Belgian went on to endure a difficult spell of form before being hit with an injury that has kept the winger on the sidelines since November. Hazard is nearing a return and may even feature against Manchester City in the Champions League where he will look to kickstart his Madrid career.
What's more, the transfer of Eden Hazard could yet prove to be a successful one for Real Madrid. But after a season plagued with bad form and injuries, Hazard's debut season in Spain will forever be remembered as disappointing.
#2 Nicolas Pépé
Stats: Games 27 | Goals 5 | Assists 4 | Transfer Fee £72 million
After signing for Arsenal for a record fee of £72 million in the summer, Nicolas Pepe would have been hoping to impress in his debut season with the Gunners. Although, it seems as though the Frenchman arrived at Arsenal at the wrong time with the club going through a difficult spell, resulting in three managers this season.
Pepe has been among several players who have disappointed this season at Arsenal, leaving the Gunners 11th in the table and on course for their worst-ever Premier League finish.
Pepe has, in fact, scored the same amount of Premier League goals as he has had managers at Arsenal this season which sums up the Frenchman's career in England so far. It also seems as though Pepe has fallen out of favour with the new manager, Mikel Arteta who has opted for the likes of Reiss Nelson ahead of the former Ligue 1 winger.
Nicolas Pepe will be hoping to kick on next season after an eventful yet disappointing first season in England.
#1 João Félix
Stats: Games 24 | Goals 4 | Assists 2 | Transfer Fee £126 million
After becoming Atlético Madrid's record signing at the tender age of 20 in the summer, many Atleti fans would have been hoping to have found an instant replacement for the departed Antoine Griezmann. However, Félix has done everything but replace the goals of Griezmann this season.
Félix's failure has been down to several reasons but perhaps the main reason is Diego Simeone's defensive system. Félix is often seen feeding off scraps, especially in big games, as Atlético look to implement a defensive tactic, staying compact, and behind the ball.
This will be a concern for Diego Simeone and his side who are just one point ahead in the race for Champions League football having played one game more than 5th placed Sevilla. .
To conclude, many teams would have been delighted with their business last summer. However, now 6 months later, they may regret the signing of certain players who have failed to impress despite the big money paid for them before the start of the season.
Also read: Top 5 biggest spending European Clubs of 2019 transfer window
