Hugo Rodallega – Wigan to FulhamFor a striker whose best return for a season in English football is ten goals in 42 appearances Hugo Rodallega arrived at Fulham with something of a large reputation.
In hindsight it is baffling why his 24 goals in 117 games for Wigan seemed to have attracted the interest of teams like Arsenal and Liverpool at one point, but there you go. And after his failed move to Craven Cottage both clubs will be glad they dodged the £15m rated bullet that was Rodallega at the time.
After arriving at Fulham on a free transfer the Columbian will presumably be available for a much lower fee following his ‘haul’ of three goals for the Cottagers over the course of the 2012/13 season.
Danny Graham – Swansea to Sunderland
This one has to be up there with the worst footballing decision of all time from Mr Danny Graham. Sacrificing a league cup final appearance with Swansea for a move to a supposedly bigger club like Sunderland may seem like a fair compromise at the time, but when you find yourself in a relegation scrap while your former teammates sit comfortably in mid-table the north-east must seem like an even drearier place than usual.
Graham’s mood probably wasn’t improved by the fact that he didn’t manage even one goal during his first half a season with the Black Cats despite Stephen Fletcher’s injury affording him a regular place in the starting line-up.
Scott Sinclair – Swansea to Manchester City
Although many may have predicted the abject failure of Scott Sinclair’s move to Manchester City, most would have been surprised that the former Swansea man only managed to make two Premier League starts all season. That’s right, just two.
Despite the the-defending champions looking worryingly narrow at times last season Sinclair was not trusted to add the required width and pace to Roberto Mancini’s side so found himself confined to the bench, If not left out of the squad altogether.
All of this begs the question; why did Mancini even bother making the signing in the first place? He clearly didn’t rate Sinclair and never really gave him a chance to prove himself despite spending £6m on the 24-year-old. Was it simply another attempt by the Italian to protest against the restrictions he felt were being placed on his transfer budget similar to his positioning of Joleon Lescott up front against Spurs back in April. How most managers would love to be ‘restricted’ to a summer spend of only £54m.
Jack Johnson