When transfers go bad
At the beginning of the season I had the idea to write to write this blog with Robin van Persie included on the list. Unfortunately, the Dutch Skunk has played exceedingly well for Manchester United and therefore is not a bust as he is justifying the £24 million fee that was paid for him. Regardless, let’s take a look at some of the most famous transfer flops in the Premier League era.
Juan Sebastian Veron – £28 million
In 2001 Juan Sebastian Veron completed a blockbuster move from Lazio to Manchester United. After an outstanding spell at Lazio, Veron struggled to adapt to the pace of the Premier League. We see it so often, a player who excels in other leagues in Europe but fails to adjust to the Premier League’s frenetic pace. Maybe this is why his most successful and impressive appearances for Untied came in the Champions League. There were flashes of his magnificent talent but it is widely considered to be one of the most expensive transfers flops. Ferguson famously defended his marquee player in a hilarious tirade when questioned on the Argetine’s performance: ‘Veron is a fucking great player. You’re all fucking idiots’. Brilliant.
Numerous injuries didn’t help either and Veron was soon shipped off to Chelsea after two seasons for £15 million. He didn’t fare much better at Stamford Bridge making only seven appearances for the club. Incredibly, Veron’s accumulative transfer fees, from Parma to Chelsea, adds up to a whopping £77 million. Money well spent.
Andreiy Shevchenko – £30 million
Sheva, Sheva, Sheva was as deadly as a professional sniper during his time in Italy with AC Milan. I bet he wishes he stayed there because when he arrived in London as Roman Abramovich’s finest signing his powers evaporated. Shevchenco was a shadow of his former self and only managed 9 goals in 48 appearances during his time at Chelsea.
We all know why Roman signed him, though, because and Andriy are good mates and he was doing him a favour. Probably share each other’s yachts or something like that. Chelsea loaned him back out to AC Milan when it became apparent that Sheva wasn’t going to adapt to life in England and his career came full circle when he re-joined Dynamo Kyiv in 2009.
Stewart Downing/Jordan Henderson – £20 million. Each (I know).
Two signings that make up part of the Kenny Dalglish Transfer Hall of Fame, it is widely considered that Liverpool paid slightly over the odds for this duo. King Kenny made some slightly strange decisions with regards to his transfer policy and unfortunately for Liverpool fans they are stuck with these two.
I can the reasoning behind signing Henderson, paying for all that ‘potential’ but Downing wasn’t even that good for Middlesborough and he has suffered from a real lack of confidence during his time at Anfield. He only scored one goal last season and Brendan Rodgers isn’t even bothering to play him on the wing, relegating him to second string left-back. Ouch. Henderson may yet justify his transfer fee but he is struggling to break into Liverpool’s starting XI.
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