The TOP FIVE ‘Most Embarrassing’ Transfers In Premier League History (Voted For By Fans)

David Tully

11 months ago

Categories: Galleries, Manchester City News, Transfer News

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

Making a signing doesn’t come without risks for a Premier League team. A new addition may need time to settle in or he may encounter injury problems.

However, if you are paying an eight-figure sum for a player, clubs should not be taking a gamble. They should have done their due diligence before taking the plunge but things don’t always turn out that way.

Some signings can prove to be disastrous and Copybet have commissioned a poll of 2000 fans to determine the “most embarrassing” transfers of the Premier League era.

Press the next page to find out the top five.

5) Romelu Lukaku – Inter to Chelsea – £97.5m (2021)

Re-signing their former player from Inter Milan looked to be a sensible decision by the Blues at the time.

Thomas Tuchel’s side had had their issues scoring goals and the addition of a new striker, who had hit the back of the net 30 times the previous campaign, seemed a good bit of business.

However, it quickly became clear that Lukaku wasn’t the right fit for Chelsea and, within months, the Belgian had spoken out to say that he wished that he had never left Inter.

After just one season, and eight league goals, he returned to the Serie A club on loan. The Blues are unlikely to recoup even a third of his transfer fee if the forward leaves Stamford Bridge on a permanent basis this summer.

4) Ali Dia – Southampton – Free (1996)

This will likely go down as the strangest transfer in football history, with Southampton boss Graeme Souness essentially being a victim of a con artist.

The Liverpool legend agreed to give Dia a trial on the belief that he was George Weah’s cousin or nephew. It turned out that he wasn’t related to the AC Milan legend whatsoever.

However, due to the Saints’ injury problems, he was named on the bench for the game against Leeds, even though Souness knew he wasn’t good enough to play for the club.

When Matt Le Tissier had to be substituted after picking up his own injury, Dia was sent on the pitch. He lasted 50 minutes before being replaced himself by Ken Monkou.

3) Andy Carroll – Newcastle to Liverpool – £35m (2011)

The very definition of a “panic buy”, the Reds decided to splash the cash after losing Fernando Torres just before the 2011 January transfer window closed.

Carroll had been in excellent form for Newcastle, having scored 11 Premier League goals in the first half of the season.

However, the striker signed for Liverpool with a thigh injury, and he only made seven league appearances in the second half of the campaign.

While Carroll did put in one memorable performance against Manchester City, when he scored a brace, it was one of the rare high points. Following Brendan Rodgers’ arrival as manager in 2012, the forward was shipped out on loan to West Ham before joining the Hammers on a permanent basis for £17m; half the fee that he was bought for.

2) Paul Pogba – Juventus to Manchester United – £89.3m (2016)

Considering the Frenchman spent six years at Old Trafford during his second spell at the Red Devils, it is slightly surprising to see him so high up this list.

Pogba scored 39 goals and provided 51 assists in 233 appearances for United, which is certainly not a bad return for a midfielder.

However, much more was expected of a player who cost a British record transfer fee, and his final year in Manchester was blighted by injury.

You would have to say that there are plenty of other players who deserve to be ranked above Pogba in terms of disastrous transfers.

1) Harry Maguire – Leicester to Manchester United – £80m (2019)

There is no getting away from the fact that United overpaid to sign the centre-back from Leicester City four years ago.

At the time, though, it must be said that Manchester City were also keen on recruiting Maguire, but the Red Devils were the only team willing to match his asking price.

The defender had a pretty solid first couple of years at Old Trafford, helping his team to a third and second-place finish. He also played a key role as England reached the final of the European Championships in the summer of 2021.

However, Maguire’s form has dropped off a cliff since then, regularly making mistakes and losing confidence as a result. United will be lucky to get even half of what they paid if they sell the 30-year-old this summer.