The 5 costliest flops in world football

The transfer windows are the crazier times in world football. In the 2017 summer transfer window, an estimated £1.62 billion was spent by Premier League clubs in transfers, as they completed 469 deals. The other European leagues were not too far behind. Serie A saw 444 deals completed, spending £1.03 billion, whereas La Liga clubs spent over £1.03 billion. Ligue 1 clubs completed 365 deals, spending approximately £931.3 million, while Bundesliga clubs recorded a total of 274 deals, worth £720 million. In the Premier League, the total spending since the first transfer window in 2003 (January) till 2017 had already crossed £10 billion.

This summer, the Premier League clubs were paralysed by an early withdrawing transfer window, yet managed to spend £877.9m in total. The European clubs still have till the end of the week to complete their business, and so it is hard to rule out further signings. But even though quality in football, just like anywhere else, has its costs, situations often arise where the players fail to live up to the expectations.

These players join a club for diabolical amounts of money and they find the going pretty tough. Sometimes it is a change of country or league, sometimes it is the change of tactics or team mates, but once in a while and occasionally even more often, players with proven track records fall flat on their face after a new transfer and fail to justify their price tag. We take a look at five of the costliest failures in the world of football at present.

---

#5 Eliaquim Mangala (£32m) - Porto to Manchester City

Mangala cost City a lot of money and gave little in return

Mangala had 2 stellar seasons for Porto before he joined Manchester City. At Porto, he played 95 times and scored 13 goals, winning back to back Primeira Liga Titles in 2012 and 2013. In the summer of 2014, Mangala joined Manchester City from Porto for a reported fee of £32m. Unfortunately, he never showed the defensive stability required in the Premier League, even though he was involved in 70 games for City and Mangala was sent out on loan to Valencia in the 2016/17 season. He returned to feature in nine games last season for City, but was again sent out on loan, this time to Everton, in the January window. He played two games for the Toffees, before injuring his knee and being ruled out for the rest of the season. He is currently recovering from injury.

To make matters worse, leaked documents later revealed that he might have cost City in excess of £40m, which makes him one of the costliest flops in the world.

#4 Christian Benteke (£32.5m) - Aston Villa to Liverpool

Benteke could not fit in at Anfield

Benteke played for Aston Villa for 3 seasons, featuring in 101 games and scoring 49 goals. It was enough to catch the eye of Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers. In the summer of 2015, Christian Benteke joined Liverpool from Aston Villa for a fee in the region of £32.5m.

He played 42 times for Liverpool in the 2015/16 season, scoring 10 goals and never hit the form that made him famous in Aston Villa. He was thus branded a flop and when Crystal Palace showed interest in him, he was sold in the summer of 2016. He still plays for the Eagles, where he has played 73 games and scored 20 goals.

#3 Andy Carroll (£35m) - Newcastle to Liverpool

Carroll could not fulfill his potential at Liverpool

Andy Carroll started his senior football career at the Magpies and was pretty decent in the five seasons he played since coming up from their youth ranks. He featured in 91 games in total, scoring 33 goals. In the summer of 2010, Carroll joined Liverpool from Newcastle United for £35m. He spent two seasons at Anfield, playing 58 games and scoring just 11 goals, a meagre return for his huge transfer cost.

He was sent out on loan to West Ham in the 2012/13 season and West Ham decided to make his loan move permanent ahead of the 2013/14 season. Carroll still plays for the Hammers, featuring in 128 games so far, scoring 33 goals, but he never fulfilled his potential or lived up to the expectations that his huge transfer fee had generated.

#2 Fernando Torres (£50m) - Liverpool to Chelsea

Torres forced his way to Chelsea but left his form behind at Anfield

Torres was the darling of Anfield once upon a time. He had played 142 games and scored 81 goals for Liverpool since joining from Athletico Madrid. He was one of the most feared strikers of the Premier League, yet in January 2011, after a failed Chelsea bid, Torres handed in a transfer request that rocked Anfield, which was rejected. Torres eventually joined Chelsea from Liverpool for a then British record £50m transfer fee, perhaps taking the most fatal decision of his career.

Even since joining Chelsea, it has been a downward slide for him. He played 172 games for the Blues, scoring 45 goals, but looked a shadow of the once clinical striker that the world revered. He then had unsuccessful loan spell at AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, and has now joined the J1 League side Sagan Tosu.

This is a clear case of one wrong decision that changed your life, only here, it made Torres, the second most costly flop in the football world.

#1 Angel Di Maria (£59.7m) - Real Madrid to Manchester United

Di Maria seemed perfect for the Number 7 at Old Trafford, but could not live up to the hype.

Manchester United shattered the British transfer record when Angel Di Maria joined the Red Devils from Real Madrid for £59.7m. Di Maria was already a household name before, and United seemed to have finally found the superstar fit for their coveted No. 7 Jersey. However, even though he showed his class initially, Di Maria never settled down at Old Trafford, for varied reasons.

He played 32 games for United under Louis Van Gaal, scoring four goals, but could not adjust himself to the Premier League. United ultimately sold him to PSG next season and the fairy tale ended without too much fuss. He currently plays for the Ligue 1 side and has scored 52 goals in 135 games, redeeming some old his old reputation, but unfortunately, he shall still be known as one of football's costlier flop, until of course, someone else breaks his record in the near future.