Manchester United's transfer disaster and Liverpool's panic among January's worst signings

Mykhailo Modric could claim the crown for Chelsea in years to come but Manchester United’s worst January signing will take some doing.

Weapon: Kiba Diaora
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can see Dennis Bergkamp’s FA Cup semi-final penalty miss as Arsenal’s double point to Manchester United’s treble in 1999. was gone, but the sliding door moment still came.

The two sides were separated by goal difference in the last two games of the Premier League season, and both faced difficult fixtures. United travel to Blackburn and host Tottenham, while Arsenal travel to Leeds and face Aston Villa at Highbury.

Arsenal blinked first. United were held to a 0–0 draw at Ewood Park 24 hours before they were beaten 1–0 by Leeds, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scoring. Effectively crowning United champions.

But the game will always be remembered for the incomprehensibility of crossbar challenge champion Kaba Diawara, who was nearly thwarted four times by Woodwork and Nigel Martin in a 19-minute substitute cameo.

The striker joined for £2.5million this January, and has been billed by Arsene Wenger as the next Nicolas Anelka. Fifteen games, no goals and 123 days after moving to north London, he was traded back to France and never played for the Gunners again.

The next Nicolas Anelka was not him.

Aston Villa: Jane McConnell
“He has played in the Champions League. He will be a good asset for the future,” said Gerard Houllier when he paid £6.2million for his old Lyon man Jean Macon in 2011.

He was not a good asset for the future. A month later he was sent off for a lunge on Blackpool’s DJ Campbell and things never improved, with the Cameroonian eventually playing just eight league games for Villa before leaving for Olympiakos on loan and Then Rennes followed the new Villa manager on a permanent deal. Paul Lambert said they “had no clue what he looked like”.

Even Philippe Coutinho made a big impact. And that was Bobbins for Villa.

Bournemouth: Lewis Griffin
Eddie Howe reacted to his first January transfer window as a Premier League manager with all restraints. Neil Custos in a debate with Jim White. Josh King ended his first top-flight season as top scorer with seven goals, suggesting they need a striker, but Juan Atorbe, Bank Afobe and Lewis Grabban have hardly responded for a combined £18m. .

Iturbe was a loan, and Afobe was vaguely comprehensible, a Premier League maiden Championship inspired by Wolves. But the deal for Grabban was just weird. Bournemouth signed the forward for £300,000 in 2012, sold him for £3m in 2014, then scored one goal in six top-flight games for Norwich before deciding to part with £8m to bring him back. Saw it happen.

He scored one goal in 22 appearances for the Cherries before finally leaving again in 2018.

Brentford: Neil Shipperley
Long before the Premier League Bees signed the likes of Christian Eriksen, they were collecting buckets to raise money for the wages of veteran striker Shipperley, who at Griffin Park looked as if he was out of contract at Sheffield. The latter was on buckets at FC. United was cancelled. In 11 League One games, Shipperley failed to net before taking the hint and retiring.

Brighton: Jurgen Locadia.
Brighton broke their club transfer record in 2018 to sign the Dutchman for more than £14m from PSV after an impressive half-season in which he scored nine goals in 15 Eredivisie games.

“He is a strong, powerful and quick centre-forward with a real eye for goal, and will add to our attacking options in the second half of the season,” said Chris Hughton, Lucadia’s goalscorer. Time must have been quite pleased with itself. His first start from the bench; It would be the first of just three goals in 34 Premier League appearances.

He had two loan spells with options to buy – FC Cincinnati and Bochum chose not to – before Locadia was allowed to leave without a job in the winter of 2022. He was last seen at CF Intercity, bottom of Spain’s third-tier Primera Federacion.

Chelsea: Juan Cuadrado
We’re currently reserving judgment on Mihailo Modric and although Fernando Torres is another obvious answer, especially since his transfer fee was twice that of Cuadrado, his impact is three or four times that of the Colombian. It was more.

Torres can at least claim to have played a huge role in the club’s Champions League and Europa League wins. Cuadrado started four Premier League games and assisted one goal in the title race after arriving in January 2015. He was loaned to Juventus that summer, then in August 2016, and left Stamford Bridge to make his Turin permanent in May 2017. .

But things aren’t looking good for Mudryk..

Crystal Palace: Valerian Ismail
It took until the arrival of Dwight Gayle in 2013 for Crystal Palace to finally and completely banish the lingering ghost of Valerian Ismail. The defender signed for a club record 15 years after joining from Strasbourg for £2.75million in Steve Coppel’s ill-fated bid to retain their Premier League status. The Frenchman played 13 games, left after nine months for less than £2.75m and was playing for Bayern Munich within seven years. His coaching career has been less than stellar.

Everton: Cenk Tosun
Then-manager Sam Allardyce (still sounds weird) hailed him as “the best in Europe” in 2018, at a price of £27m. It never felt right and 11 goals in 61 games for Everton can be cited as overwhelming evidence.

It took four years for the Toffees to snap up Tosun, who eventually dropped off the payroll after four years when he returned for another stint at Besiktas.

Fulham: Kostas Metroglu
come on Tell the Steve Sidwell story.:

“In January, the relegation battle, we needed a striker. So they went and found Kostas Mitroglou, I think his name was. At that time, he did not stop eating. Honestly, he did, I’m telling you now, he didn’t stop eating. He was a big boy. And you know the protein bars, every time you see him, he’ll be walking around the training ground with a protein bar.”

What Sidwell didn’t say: The Greek striker was signed for £12m in January 2014 and went three games without scoring before Fulham were relegated. He eventually left the club in 2016, with Fulham somehow recouping half of their investment from Benfica. who then turned the striker over to Marseille. He was last seen in the German amateur leagues.

Ipswich: N/A
Try as we might, we couldn’t find a January transfer turkey for Ipswich. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Light us up, Tractor Boys…

Leicester: Adrian Silva
As FIFA received the relevant paperwork 14 seconds after the summer transfer deadline, it technically stands as a winter signing for Leicester. It wasn’t even worth the trouble as Silva started 16 games over almost three years before being released from his contract.

Liverpool: Andy Carroll
Ben Davies’ Strange Purchase Carroll from Preston follows closely, but can only be one.

No laptop guru worth his charger would likely have approved a £35million move for the 22-year-old striker, who has a career-high 14 goals, yet Liverpool were nervous about such a move in January 2011. . Chelsea, with Fernando Torres, had to source a replacement. Newcastle were so stunned that Carroll had been selected that they rejected an initial bid of £30m. Liverpool somehow came back with an extra £5m to get their man.

Carroll became the eighth most expensive footballer – and the most expensive British player – at the time. He didn’t make his debut until March, didn’t score his first goal until April, netted just 11 times in 58 games overall, and was sold in 2013 for just £15m. At least Steven Kalker and Ozan Kubic were on loan.

Manchester City: Wilfried Bony
Before Harry Kane officially made it a thing, Wilfried Bony was busy writing ‘Top Premier League scorer in a single calendar year with 20 goals in 2014’ under the achievements section of his CV. And it worked well, as Manchester City were so impressed with the Swansea forward’s productivity that they parted with £25m to sign him and oust Edin Dzeko. Ten goals in 46 games hardly convinced new appointee Pep Guardiola that he could lead the line.

Manchester United: Alexis Sanchez
Remember when Manchester United fans went crazy about it? Remember when swapping the slow, pea-hearted Henrik Mkhitaryan for street fighter Alexis Sanchez was seen as a no-brainer deal? Remember the piano and happiness? Less than three years later, they allowed him to leave on a free transfer (and pay for it himself), realizing that only offering Chile a higher wage than Manchester City would lead them to the trophy. Doesn’t count.

Newcastle: Jean Alain Baumsong
In a transfer so inexplicable that it formed a key part of Stevens’ inquiry into football corruption, Newcastle outdid themselves in January 2005. Jean-Alain Boumsong was available as a free agent just six months before Graeme Souness signed him from Rangers for £8m. On a five-and-a-half-year contract.

“The fans are going to enjoy watching him play,” Scott said. “He’s probably the top guy on our football team. I think he expects to be up there with the likes of Terry and Ferdinand.

Wogan and Anton, probably.

Nottingham Forest: Rafiq Jibour
Jebor Jessore. The 30-year-old Algerian joined Forest on a two-and-a-half-year deal from Olympiakos in January 2014 and scored on his debut against Juve. But that was as good as it got. He failed to find the back of the net in seven other matches before being dropped by caretaker manager Gary Brazile for poor effort and attitude in training. At the end of the season, both sides realized they were done and agreed to go their separate ways.

Southampton: Guido Carrillo
Arriving on the scene like a firefighter armed with a water pistol, Guido Carrillo was the last thing the Southampton doctor ordered. The striker started more games (five) than had shots on target (four) in the Premier League, offering the club’s successful battle against relegation the same as Mark Hughes.

Carrillo eventually left for Southampton on a free transfer (for Elche) in October 2022 without scoring a single goal. A reminder: he’s worth £20m. And that alone puts him just ahead of Mislav Orsic’s six Premier League minutes for £8m.

Tottenham: Ricardo Rocha
The story of Tottenham’s 2006/07 season should be part of the national curriculum. From finishing fifth in the Premier League to reaching two quarter-finals and a semi-final, Paul Robinson also had a goal, his fifth joint Player of the Month award, and Edgar Davids’ Andy Barcham and Doreen Derwitt. were playing with League Cup Round of 16 Tie.

Just to cement his legacy, Ricardo Rocha joined Tottenham and Benfica for £3.2m plus two friendlies, with the Portuguese club keeping all the gate receipts. He would start just 16 games over three seasons.

West Ham: Savio Neserico
The worst January Premier League transfer ever. Despite being a club-record signing for West Ham for four-and-a-half years, Savio has faked his own abduction of goals in England. The Hammers believed they had stolen a march on the rest of Europe when they brought in the forward for £9m, Savio was named in the 2008 Under-19 Euro team of the tournament. Yet there was barely a hint of shock when a player who scored three career goals in 22 games for Serie B side Brescia was lost in the crowd. After making just one Premier League start, he was sold to Fiorentina for £3m after six months.

Wolves: Eggert Johnson
Signed by Mick McCarthy and forgotten in the Premier League by Terry Connor, Eggert Johnson actually outlasted not only his first two Wolves managers, but Steele Solubkin and Dan ‘The Scout’ Sanders in the championship. The midfielder played just seven times before being released from a contract with two years remaining in 2013.

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