As the most popular league in the world, the English Premier League has always possessed massive buying power when it comes to attracting the most talented players on the planet.
However, despite some of the huge transfer fees that the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City have paid for some of these players, they don’t always live up to their price tags.
Here are five of the biggest transfer flops in EPL history.
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Andriy Shevchenko – £30m
One of the most feared strikers of the early 2000s, Ukrainian goal machine Shevchenko signed for Chelsea in 2006 for a then-British transfer record of £30m.
Expected to combine well with the likes of Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, Shevchenko managed just nine league goals over two seasons, before being loaned back to AC Milan – a disappointing spell in England for the former Ballon D’Or winner.
Harry Maguire – £80m
After starring for Leicester City and England, Manchester United chose to break the world transfer record for a defender in 2019 as they signed six-foot-four centre-back Harry Maguire.
Within six months he had been named club captain but in the years since Maguire has been seen as a laughing stock at times, regularly making errors leading to goals and eventually being replaced in the United defence by Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane, losing the captaincy in the process.
Fernando Torres – £50m
Fernando Torres established himself as one of the world’s deadliest strikers during his time at Liverpool, terrorising defences across Europe. On transfer deadline day in January 2011 Chelsea shockingly bid a British transfer record of £50m for The Reds’ number nine in hope that the Spaniard would replicate his form in London, but this was not the case.
Despite taking Chelsea to the UEFA Champions League final with a historic goal against Barcelona, Torres managed just 20 league goals in 110 appearances for Chelsea and was seen as a massive waste of money.
Andy Carroll – £35m
On the same day as Torres’ signing, Liverpool replaced him with Newcastle United’s Andy Carroll – a young and physical striker who had impressed for the Magpies in the league that season.
Carroll’s £35m transfer fee was seen as a risky investment at the time and proved to be just that – he scored just six league goals for Liverpool in 44 appearances before signing for West Ham United two years later.
Kepa Arrizabalaga – £72m
With world class shot stopper Thibaut Courtois leaving for Real Madrid, Chelsea spent £72m on Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in an effort to rebuild their defence.
In the years since Kepa’s mistakes have cost Chelsea vital points, with his lack of leadership and ability to come up in the biggest moments eventually seeing him replaced by Senegalese ‘keeper Edouard Mendy, who was one of Chelsea’s star players when Chelsea won the Champions League in 2021. It will certainly be interesting to see if Kepa is still in London come the end of this transfer window.
