The Top Five Worst Signings From The Bundesliga In Premier League History

David Tully

3 years ago

Categories: Galleries, Manchester City News

Tags: Arsenal, aston villa, Chelsea, Everton, leeds, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Southampton, spurs, West Ham, wolves

Following our look at the worst signings from La Liga last time, this week we switch our focus to the Bundesliga.

Players from Germany have not always lived up to expectations, and they are even a few examples this season, such as Kai Havertz and Timo Werner at Chelsea.

Our list does comprise of some expensive failures, and most of these signings lasted only a couple of seasons before leaving England with their tails between their legs.

Press the next page as we count down the five worst players to have signed from Bundesliga clubs.

5) Sebastien Haller (Eintracht Frankfurt to West Ham – £45m)

The Ivorian was snapped up for a club-record fee from Frankfurt, after a season where he had bagged 20 goals in all competitions for the Bundesliga side.

However, Haller failed to impress during his 18 months in England, scoring just seven league goals in his first campaign for West Ham before being sold to Ajax in January for a loss of £25m.

4) Joelinton (Hoffenheim to Newcastle – £40m)

Another club-record buy that has failed to live up to expectations, with the Brazilian having scored just six Premier League goals during his two campaigns with the Magpies.

Although not an out-and-out striker, Joelinton’s goal return is extremely poor and, while he can still improve at 24 years of age, Newcastle are very unlikely to get their money back.

3) Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United – £17m)

The Japanese international wasn’t exactly an expensive purchase by the Red Devils but the disappointment stems from the fact he had been a very good player for Dortmund before his arrival at Old Trafford.

Kagawa scored 17 goals and provided 14 assists in 43 appearances during the 2011/12 season but he managed just six goals in 57 games for United over a two-year period before returning to Dortmund in 2014.

2) Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United – £30m)

The attacking midfielder had looked like a decent purchase when he first arrived at United in 2016, having scored 23 goals in his last season with Dortmund.

However, Mkhitaryan struggled terribly with the pace of the Premier League and, while he looked more comfortable in the Europa League (scoring in the final against Ajax), he was unable to make any impact in domestic matches. He was swapped for Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez in January 2018.

1) Baba Rahman (FC Augsburg to Chelsea – £22m)

After a standout season in the Bundesliga for little-fancied Augsburg, Chelsea opted to splash the cash on the Ghanaian left-back in 2015.

However, during his first season with the Blues, Baba played just 23 times and never established himself as a regular starter. Astonishingly, due to loan spells and injuries, he is still on the club’s books despite having not played for the first team since 2016.