He didn't do so bad when he went back did he I don't think?
Worst Transfers of all Time
- Thread starter Classical Mechanic
- Start date
I think most of Arsenal's signings that were supposed to be part of the Starting XI did well, or very well (eventually moving to bigger clubs). It's the "bench signings/depth of squad" that was often abysmal, especially after 2005.
Complete unknown a bit of a stretch then perhaps, I was only 10 so memory might be murky! But with no international or european exp behind him I wasn’t aware he existed versus the likes of Peruzzi, Toldo and even Buffon by that point. Any insight into what went wrong for him at Milan?
Haven't we just signed Maguire on a 6 year deal, with the option for a 7th?!
I still can't get over how far Mendieta fell after leaving Valencia for what was close to a world record fee at the time. I remember him giving Irwin one of the worst days of his life at Old Trafford. Fantastic player.
Coutinho
Di Maria and Sanchez to united
I wouldn't be surprised if the option is exercised with a different contract, that way you avoid the Webster ruling.
I googled the Webster ruling, and couldn't see that as relating to 5 years, just an ability to walk away after a "fixed term". A lot of scared talk of the top players doing it, but it's never happened yet.
However, you look spot on about 5 years being the max length, on some fifa rule list. That may explain why we do all these 5 years +1 jobs. But then doesn't quite explain what we've done with Maguire, or Saul signing on for 9 years!
Still, not something to worry too much about - we know what happened the last time we dished out a 6 year deal!
His is a 6+1. Pogba is on a 5+1.
The webster ruling was a different point about contract management, it's simply not a good idea to let a player enter the 4th year of his contract without extension talks because at that point the player has the uppper hand. As for the reason for these contracts I interpret it as a message of stability sent to followers and players. When you think about Saul's contract, if he doesn't have big escalators, it's stupid to lock yourself that long to an outdated wage value.
Also, people shouldn't treat it as just scared talks because it's a cheaper version of what Neymar did and he should do that next summer.
I know what they are, I'm saying that these options, will be replaced by a brand new contract, probably with wage increase. For example at year 4, I wouldn't surprised to see Maguire with a new 2+1+1 contract.
Aquilaini, Keane, Carroll, Markovic, Ballotelli, Benteke, Charlie Adam, Joe Cole (free agent) but feck we signed a lot wrong before we started getting it right..
Ricky Van Wolfswinkle - Norwich. He scored on opening day and never again I remember.
Alfonso Alves - Boro.
Soldado - Spurs
Dani Osvaldo + Gaston Ramirez - Southampton. Osvaldo quit football not long after and went on to become a pub singer or something.
Ricky Van Wolfswinkle - Norwich. He scored on opening day and never again I remember.
Alfonso Alves - Boro.
Soldado - Spurs
Dani Osvaldo + Gaston Ramirez - Southampton. Osvaldo quit football not long after and went on to become a pub singer or something.
Saido Berahino.
£12m WBA to Stoke City 51 appearances with 3 goals and having to pay him £2.5m to terminate his contract.
£12m WBA to Stoke City 51 appearances with 3 goals and having to pay him £2.5m to terminate his contract.
If I'm not misremembering, FIFA will permit contracts longer than five years, as long as they comply with national laws.
As much as we dislike ADM, he had the 3rd most assists in the league that season getting benched by Young halfway through and not playing as much as the other players with similar numbers. We also recouped the majority of his transfer fee when he was sold.Di Maria and Sanchez to united
Not only has Sanchez been dreadful, his signing completely screwed up our wage structure and it's been impossible to offload him. I'd say Sanchez is comfortably our #1 worst.
Griezmann.
No idea. Just used to watch the highlights.
Besides at Milan he was backup to a very good keeper, Abbiati I think.
Not a bad shout given the fact the he went out of his way to cause discord amongst the squad too.
Not sure about the worst but the funniest must be:
"On the last day, Chelsea made a great proposal and I accepted" (Robinho)
The day he signed for CT.
"On the last day, Chelsea made a great proposal and I accepted" (Robinho)
The day he signed for CT.
I agree that Carroll was a flop, but to be fair, I think you also have to remember the Carroll transfer in context. Torres had just been sold for about 50 million, with only a short time left in the transfer window. Newcastle knew that Liverpool were in desperate need of a new striker, and they only had a short time in which to do business. It made it very easy for Newcastle to drive the price up, as the whole world knew that Liverpool had money in the bank to spend.
And missed a few costly penalties
Have to say the Falcao deal we made has to be right up there.
Mignolet to Liverpool. A really really second rate keeper that held the team back for 5 years. Awful transfer.
Renato Sanches to Bayern has mostly been an unmitigated disaster.
Denilson to Real Betis. Never really paid off the massive transfer fee and to this day it’s still Betis’ transfer record.
He was certainly highly rated before moving across and had performed well at Piacenza and Venezia. Italy had a strong group of goalkeepers around that time and Taibi was up amongst the best of them with his performances in Serie A, particularly around 1995-97. Seemed like a reasonable punt for United to take, as it was always going to be a gamble bringing any keeper to the pressure cooker of United.
Him and Effenberg became scapegoats, but it really wasn't their fault. Fiorentina were great in the first half of the season, second behind Milan, and then it all collapsed. They had plenty of attacking prowess - Batistuta, Laudrup, Baiano and Effenberg all contributed a lot going forward. And Fiorentina's total of 53 goals would normally have been enough to put them in the mixer for a place in the top handful of teams - nobody outside the top 5 scored as many, while 3rd place Parma netted 47. But they were too leaky at the back and couldn't shut up shop to kill games. Good example would have been the 7-3 defeat to Milan - Laudrup caused Maldini all sorts of problems, Effenberg bossed midfield, yet they still conceded 7.
Among the many catastrophic signings of Madrid I would say, for example, Manuel Canabal and Elvir Baljic.
Canabal was a very tall and clumsy striker who Capello wanted and cost 800m pesetas (Suker cost 600). Testimonial presence in the team.
Baljic, the "Rivaldo de los Balcans",high expectations,and a very expensive transfer:3500m pesetas(20m€in 1999) while Barsa paid 4000m pesetas to get Rivaldo just 2 years before.
He didn't do anything special and later had a ACL injury.
In Barcelona, and out of the usual candidates I would say Ciric, who was supposed to be a mega top midfielder and Geovanni, who barely played and was very expensive
Canabal was a very tall and clumsy striker who Capello wanted and cost 800m pesetas (Suker cost 600). Testimonial presence in the team.
Baljic, the "Rivaldo de los Balcans",high expectations,and a very expensive transfer:3500m pesetas(20m€in 1999) while Barsa paid 4000m pesetas to get Rivaldo just 2 years before.
He didn't do anything special and later had a ACL injury.
In Barcelona, and out of the usual candidates I would say Ciric, who was supposed to be a mega top midfielder and Geovanni, who barely played and was very expensive
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I agree with you on Di Maria now that I think about it. And yes Sanchez ruined our wage structure a lot on top of his dreadful performances.
Thanks for putting it into context,but it depends on what a ''worst transfer'' actually means. In terms of pure sporting results, it was the worst possible outcome for Laudrup. If people are speaking just about technical performance, then there have been much worse transfers,sure.
Anyone else feel like Shevchenko's second spell at Milan in 2008-09 was kinda bad ? For me it just feels like it didn't need to happen, as he would never have done what he did when he was competing for ballon'd ors.
Mutu at Chelsea was a disaster.
£22m in 03 and within months was given a 7 month ban for cocaine use....he was subsequently fired from Chelsea and ordered to pay them £15m in damages.
He’s currently the manager of the Al Wahda reserve team in the UAE league.....fecking hell imagine the level of that.
£22m in 03 and within months was given a 7 month ban for cocaine use....he was subsequently fired from Chelsea and ordered to pay them £15m in damages.
He’s currently the manager of the Al Wahda reserve team in the UAE league.....fecking hell imagine the level of that.
The Sanchez one to us has to be up there, just for the expectations of the player & the ludicrous wages, which has damaged harmony with the squad. Shocking transfer, & now can't get rid of him.
Some laughable calls in this thread. This is supposed to be "worst transfers of all time", not "transfer flops".
Definitely Sanchez, screwed us over and doesn't even have the hunger to succeed or bother to try anymore.
Fred for 50 million. Can barely make the bench.
On loan to Man Utd by 7.60M€ after a career wrecking injury doesn't look that bad. It was a punt that in the end didn't work out.
Di Maria was one of the best players in the World at the time.
MOTM in the final game of the previous season - CL Final.
He worth every penny we paid.
In his first few games, when he played without restrictions, he was fantastic and our best player.
The problem happened after the Leicester game, after which LVG wanted us to become a defensive team. Di Maria just did not fit in with that type of playing style.
In a MCFC or LFC team, he'd be dynamite, where players are encouraged to attack.
That's pretty bad, but at that time we bought him, £50M was about right for a CM, who is showing promise and entering his peak.
In saying that, he is a terrible player, who as you said,m can't make the bench. Teenagers are now ahead of him in the pecking order. Heck, we bought a Championship player in the Summer and he is ahead of Fred.
Dreadful player.