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Whenever clubs sign players, they expect good returns on the football field. Some players never click, while some, unfortunately never get enough minutes to showcase their talent. But, the worst of all is when players are unable to make any impact because of their injury problems. With big transfer fees and high wages involved, some deals just become very unprofitable for the buyers when the players get sidelined due to injuries. With January being a great time to assess the transfers that were made in the last window, let us look at five signings who have failed to make an impact due to injury.
#5 Mathieu Debuchy
Mathieu Debuchy was signed by Arsenal to be their first choice right-back. He was supposed to be the replacement for his countryman Bacary Sagna, and was touted to make the right-back position his own.
His performances for Newcastle since coming to the Premier League had been very good, and he had been attracting the attention of many big clubs from across Europe. He moved to the Gunners following solid performances for France at the FIFA World Cup. However, since joining Arsenal, he has struggled to feature on a regular basis for the club owing to his injury problems.
Debuchy, who joined Arsenal for rumoured fee of around £12 million, has not had the rub of the green, and suffered an ankle surgery soon after the season began, which ruled him out for the best part of 3 months.
The Frenchman returned to action last month, but as fate would have it, got injured last weekend again during Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Stoke City on Sunday, and reports suggest he will be out for about three months after having undergone surgery on his dislocated shoulder.
#4 Loic Remy
Remy had a pretty good 2013-14 season as he scored 14 goals in 26 games for Newcastle United. He was at the Tyne side club on a season-long loan from his actual owners, Queens Park Rangers. He returned back to his parent club for the new league season but was soon getting offers from big clubs all over the Premier League. The Frenchman eventually decided to join Chelsea, after his proposed deal with Liverpool fell through.
At the time when Remy was signed, it was very certain that he will play second fiddle to another new arrival in the summer, Diego Costa. But he was at least expected to partner him on some occasions when the Blues would have needed extra firepower in attack. And, when Jose Mourinho puts faith in you, it becomes more than your duty to rise to the occasion and take up the challenge when needed.
Sadly, when Chelsea needed Remy the most, during Costa’s struggle with a hamstring injury, the Frenchman was also out injured. The club had to depend on the 36-year old Didier Drogba, who sort of became the back-up to the back-up. Interestingly, Drogba has made more appearances and scored more goals for Chelsea (16 games and three goals) than Remy (10 games and two goals) this season.
#3 Radamel Falcao
Falcao’s move (a loan deal worth £6 million with an option to buy) came as a huge surprise to many, as he had only spent a season at Monaco and had been out injured for the last six months. Prior to his injury though, he was one of the most dangerous strikers in the world, with his combination of clinical finishing and great link-up play making him very difficult to defend against.
He was deemed to be one of Louis van Gaal’s key signings for the 2014-15 season, with his arrival leading to the departure of Danny Welbeck. Even though he is on a loan deal, he racks up an impressive wage (estimated) of £265,000 per week from Manchester United.
Unfortunately, his season has been marked by a series of injuries. and following his recovery, he has been seated on the bench more often than not, thanks to a long-term knee issue. We have seen some small glimpses of his abilities whenever he has got the chance to display his skills but despite all that, he has yet to perform to his full potential.
His injury issues and an alleged difference of opinion with Van Gaal might rob us of the chance of seeing him have a proper season at United These issues have fuelled speculation that Falcao’s stay at United might be temporary. The Colombian has only scored thrice this campaign, and it is now being said that it is almost certain that he will leave the Red Devils at the end of the season.
#2 Alvaro Negredo
The Beast, as he is affectionately known by fans around the world, had a good, but injury-filled campaign with English champions Manchester City last season. A change of scenery was probably the right thing for him, when he signed on loan for Spanish giants Valencia this past summer.
The loan deal also had an “obligatory purchase clause”, which meant that the Spaniard would stay with the Spanish club permanently. Negredo is a player who uses his pace and power to great effect. He fights for every ball and get a lot of goals thanks to his persistence and his ability to catch the opposition by surprise by taking snapshots.
At the time of the loan deal, Valencia took a gamble in signing Negredo as he was injured. But it was expected that he would make a full recovery soon and so would be able to contribute effectively.
Unfortunately, Negredo could only make his league debut for Valencia in late October and has played a total of nine games across all competitions for them so far, having scored only three goals. Clearly, the gamble they took by signing him, hasn’t worked out yet. With Valencia having to pay City €27 million for his purchase in the summer, they would be hoping he rediscovers his goalscoring touch soon.
#1 Thomas Vermaelen
They said Thomas Vermaelen would solve Barcelona’s problems at the back and fill the huge void left by Carles Puyol’s retirement. The Catalan giants swoop for the Arsenal captain indicated that they meant business in the transfer window and were focused on bolstering their defence. The Belgian was signed for £15 million and handed a five-year contract.
Sadly, after the completion of his high profile move, Vermaelen has not even started a single game so far at the Camp Nou. The centre-back is known to be a top class defender with his prime qualities being his speed, aerial prowess and the ability to bring the ball out from the back.
Although he wasn’t a regular first team player at Arsenal the last year or so, he was always regarded as a player who had the ability to organize the team’s defense quite efficiently and his leadership skills were highly rated.
However, since his arrival in Spain, he has been struggling with injuries and has only played for the club’s reserve team and in the Joan Gamper trophy in August. The tragedy of the whole situation is that Vermaelen might not even make his official debut for Barcelona this season, as he is currently recovering from a hamstring injury, for which he underwent a surgery last month. It is expected that he will be out for a further five to six months, which is something that Barcelona fans won’t really be very happy with.
