'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the site.
Bosko Balaban
Aston Villa signed Balaban in 2001 for £5.8 million but the striker failed to impress in his first season. He made only 9 appearances (7 as a substitute) and failed to score a single goal. He was sent back to Dinamo Zagreb on loan in his second season and eventually released from his contract in 2003. He was later named in the Times newspaper’s 50 worst footballers.
Marouane Chamakh
Arsenal are lucky they signed Chamakh for free in 2010. Although the French striker had a good start to his Arsenal career, he has since become somewhat of a joke, scoring just 8 times in 40 appearances. He made just 11 appearances in the 2011-12 season and scored only 1 goal. He is currently on loan at West Ham where he’ll hopefully do better.
Stephane Guivarc’h
Kenny Dalglish signed Guivarc’h for Newcastle United for £3.5m from Auxerre in June 1998. He played only 4 league games and managed to score on his debut vs Liverpool but was sold to Rangers by new manager Ruud Gullit in November 1998. He was named the Premier League’s worst ever striker by Daily Mail.
Serhiy Rebrov
The once prolific striker was signed by Tottenham Hotspur in 2000 for a whopping £11 million. He scored just 10 goals in 60 appearances for the club in his first 2 seasons and was consequently sent out on loan for the remainder of his contract to Fenerbahce, where he continued his dreadful form. West Ham United signed him on a one-year deal once his Spurs contract expired, but the striker’s form didn’t improve, scoring only 1 goal for West Ham in the league in 27 appearances.
Andriy Shevchenko
Although Shevchenko is considered to be one of the top players in the world, his spell in the Premier League with Chelsea was nothing short of woeful. Signed for £30.8 million by Jose Mourinho in 2006, the once prolific striker scored only 9 goals for the Blues in 48 appearances. He was sent back on loan to Milan after two seasons with the Blues but he never truly regained his form. He later joined Dynamo Kiev where he had a better time.
Steve Marlet
Probably one of Fulham’s worst signings ever, costing a whopping £11.5 million, the Frenchman was the club’s biggest signing until 2008. He scored only 11 goals in 54 games. His form was so bad that club chairman Mohammed Al Fayed actually took the manager responsible for signing him, Jean Tigana, to court for overpaying for the Frenchman. The charges were eventually dropped and the striker later joined Marseille.
Francis Jeffers
Although he had a decent spell at Everton for 4 years, Francis Jeffers definitely didn’t live up to the £8million that Arsenal paid for him in 2001. Dogged by injury and unable to get a start ahead of Thierry Henry, Jeffers scored only 25 goals in around 109 appearances. He was sent off in his last game against Manchester United and was loaned back to Everton a few days later. He never truly regained his form, his most recent club being Floriana FC from the Maltese Premier League. He left Floriana after just 2 games.
Andy Carroll
Probably one of Liverpool’s biggest transfer mistakes, Andy Carroll was bought on deadline day in 2011 for a whopping £35 million. The transfer made him the most expensive British footballer of all time! Quite why Liverpool spent so much on him is still a mystery, considering he had only scored 31 goals in 80 appearances for Newcastle. Assuming he was brought in to replace Fernando Torres, the striker failed miserably, scoring only 6 goals in 44 appearances for the Reds. He is currently on a season long loan at West Ham United.
Fernando Torres
Torres signed for Chelsea on transfer deadline day in 2011 for £50 million, making him the 6th most expensive player in the world. His first goal for Chelsea came after 903 minutes of playing on 23rd April 2011. The following season was equally bad and consisted of a 24 game goalless drought. As of Jan 2013, Torres has scored only 14 goals in 72 appearances for Chelsea! Now that’s what I call a waste of money!
Ali Dia
Probably the most hilarious story and another one of Graeme Souness’ managerial gems. Ali Dia, a Senegalese player who had played 1 game for non-league club, Blyth Spartans, was signed by Souness in 1996. Souness is believed to have signed Dia without checking any of his supposed “credentials” after receiving a phone call that was supposedly from Liberian legend and former FIFA World Player Of the Year, George Weah. The phone call was actually from Dia’s agent. Dia went on to actually play for Southampton for 20 minutes against Leeds! Dia’s contract was terminated after 2 weeks.
