Transfers and signings are a very crucial aspect in the game of association football. Various clubs spend a lot of money on different which they feel would level up their game.
Sometimes these clubs go out of their limits to get their hands on these players and spend more than what should’ve been the near ideal case. Sometimes these players turn out to be a great success.
However, it is not the case most of the time. Even after spending so much time and money on some players, they are not able to produce results and underperform. Let us take a look at some of such transfers and know more about the Top 10 worst signings in football history.
10. Paul Pogba to Manchester United
After having a great time at Juventus, Paul Pogba was seen making a move to his former club Manchester United. Man U signed Pogba for a then-record transfer fee of £89.3 million plus a bonus.
His debut season for the club was great but gradually the club couldn’t get much value from the player. They eventually agreed with his previous club Juventus on a free transfer for the player this year.
9. Angel Di Maria to Manchester United
An integral part of the Argentina national football team, Angel Di Maria is an exceptional attacking midfielder who knows his way with the game. Maria had a good 4-year run with the La Liga club Real Madrid.
Seeing his performance, the Premier League club Manchester United showed interest in the argentine and came to an agreement to get their hands on the player with Real Madrid. Man U paid £59.7 million to cut out a 5-year deal to get the player on their roster.
However, the player failed to catch a flight for the pre-season scheduled on 25th July 2015, not even a year after him joining the club. And the next thing we knew was that the player had been seen moving to the Ligue 1 club PSG not even a week later.
8. Mario Balotelli to Liverpool
FC Sion’s current jersey number 45, Mario Balotelli is an amazing striker with great strength and goal-scoring abilities. Balotelli had a great season with AC Milan in 2014-2015 in which he scored 26 goals in 43 matches.
Seeing his stunning performance, Liverpool made it their priority to sign Balotelli to their roster. Liverpool paid a heft sum of £16 million to AC Milan to make this transfer possible.
But things went differently with Liverpool. Mario couldn’t perform given his controversial nature off the field. He was seen going back to his former club AC Milan on a loan deal for a year before making a move to Ligue 1 club Nice.
7. Jonathan Woodgate to Real Madrid
Woodgate’s story is one of the tragic ones among our top 10 contenders. The player had a great time with Leeds United and Newcastle United before it was announced that he would be joining the La Liga side with Real Madrid.
Real Madrid paid £13.4 million to obtain this player from Newcastle. It was not a very risky move by Real because at the time of the negotiations on the deal Woodgate was suffering from injury.
This was just the start of a chain of other injuries on the line. Woodgate was very few seen playing for the club. After two years and only 9 matches played for them, Real decided to send the player to Middlesbrough before finally signing him off to them.
6. Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United
The star forward for Chile national football team, Alexis Sanchez was also a great performer when playing for Barcelona and then Arsenal. He scored 60 league goals in 122 matches for Arsenal before leaving them in 2018.
It was the rival Premier League club Manchester United that signed Sanchez as their new player. It was even though a free signing with their midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving to Arsenal.
But as soon as Alexis reached Man United his charm just disappeared. He was not able to perform with the new team. After some time the player was sent to Inter Milan on a loan transfer and ultimately made a permanent move there on a free transfer.
5. Romelu Lukaku
Belgium’s star striker, Romelu Lukaku played for many big-shot clubs throughout his career. He played exceptionally well for the Italian club Inter Milan where he scored 47 league goals in just 72 matches.
Seeing his performance, Chelsea signed Lukaku in 2021 for a £17 million 5-year contract. However, Lukaku wasn’t given much chance and was always seen as a substitute player.
A year later Lukaku was sent on loan to West Bromwich Albion and then to Everton. Finally, Lukaku was seen making a permanent move to Everton in 2014.
4. Fernando Torres
One of Spain’s greatest strikers of all time, Fernando Torres had a great run with Liverpool in which he scored 65 league goals in 102 matches. He was instantly signed by Chelsea after his end of the contract with Liverpool.
Torres signed a 5 year deal with Chelsea at a cost of £50 million from their pockets. However, this huge fee didn’t motivate Torres enough that he just scored a total of 20 goals in 110 matches throughout his 4-year tenure with the club.
3. Philippe Coutinho
The amazing attacking midfielder from Brazil, Philippe Coutinho was a star player when playing for the Premier League club Liverpool. He played 152 matches with the club and scored 41 goals.
Barcelona wanted this player so bad that they paid a hefty amount of £142 million to Liverpool to get their hands on Coutinho. However, this transfer didn’t turn out the way Barca expected.
Coutinho had a decent first year at the club before he was sent off on loan to Bayern Munich and then to Aston Villa who finally took the player as a mainstay for their club for just £17 million.
2. Antoine Griezmann
One of France’s important players, Antoine Griezmann is also one of the most profound players in the football world. He makes it to the list for his move to Barcelona from Atletico Madrid.
He had an amazing spell with Atletico before he was signed by Barcelona who paid €120 million to make this transfer possible. Griezmann however was not able to produce results with the new rival club.
He has played only 74 matches for the club until now and has scored 22 goals. He is currently on a loan to his former club Atletico Madrid again.
1. Eden Hazard
One of the greatest players of all time, Eden Hazard currently plays for the La Liga dominators Real Madrid. The Belgium star player had a great 7-year run with the Premier League club before he made his move to Spain.
Hazard played 245 league matches for the club and scored 85 goals. Real Madrid signed a €146.1 million deal with Chelsea to obtain Hazard on their Roster. However, Hazard’s performance was hampered because of his regular injuries and struggles.
