The most predictable bad transfers for good players

[El Jefe]

There are some players that are just an obvious bad fit for some clubs due to timing, play style, competition for places or general cultural barriers.

Griezmann to Barcelona - His best position doesn't exist at Barca and he lacks the pace or skill to play out wide. This was very obvious IMO.

Jorginho to Chelsea - I watched him a lot at Napoli and while he was good on the ball it was so clear he wouldn't be able to keep up with the pace and physicality of the PL.

What other signings were obvious bad fits for clubs?

 

[Tom Cato]

Fernando Torres to Chelsea had disaster written all over it. And it was.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Malcom to Barcelona. Wonder if expected to start with Messi and Dembele in his position

 

[El Jefe]

Malcom to Barcelona. Wonder if expected to start with Messi and Dembele in his position

I remember thinking that was a mental decision at the time. Not only was he not good enough but there's no way he would have got any decent playing time there.

I suppose it wasn't a surprise to anyone but him and Barca's DoF that after 24 appearances he ended up playing in the Russian league.

 

[pacifictheme]

Di maria to united. Obviously never wanted to come and was never going to cope with being kicked.

 

[Based Adnan]

Joao Felix to Atleti

Anyone could see he wouldn't be utilized to his fullest potential with Atleti's playstyle. Ridiculous 126M EUR fee as well

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Jorginho to Chelsea - I watched him a lot at Napoli and while he was good on the ball it was so clear he wouldn't be able to keep up with the pace and physicality of the PL.

Isn't he doing well, clearly not like at Napoli. But for me, he's keeping up well with the PL's pace and physicality. Better 2nd season, after 1st season tryout, normal progress for some good players.

 

[Lay]

Jorginho is doing well I thought?

 

[Web of Bissaka]

I think some of the examples given here should consider players who are no longer "good players" = past their best after making the move.

Isn't those more of a bad transfer for bad players, or even good transfers because those are good retiring plans to get last high paycheck.

Anyway, Griezmann and Dembele to Barca are perhaps the most predictable bad transfers for good players, though arguments can be made joining Barca is actually good for they can finally win plenty more trophies and higher finances.

 

[Rasendori]

Denílson to Real Betis. Arriving at a world record fee, he was always going to have a tremendous amount of pressure on his shoulders, even more so considering the previous holder was the Brazilian Ronaldo. If in the 80s Brazilians were beginning to gravitate towards the Serie A to showcase their talent with one notable example being Toninho Cerezo who had an extensive stint in Italy arriving from Atlético Mineiro perhaps that was changing with Rivaldo, and R9 with Brazilians looking to play their trade in La Liga, and many idolising the likes of Barcelona. With a player that had his heart set on Barcelona, it was always going to make the mental adjustment to realise he'd be playing for Real Betis which perhaps wasn't the source of pride he was looking for. With the excessive amount he was bound to be a scapegoat for the fans when the fans were looking to build on an 8th place finish and you see an individual trying to dazzle the crowd with breathtaking trickery instead of ruthless efficiency.

He qualifies as a player that wasn't a bad flush by any stretches of the imagination at the time of the acquisition. One of the Brazilians that finished the final with head held high



He did have some good performances at Real Betis


but you'd be hard pressed to find a Real Betis fan that wasn't bitterly disappointed.

 

[Pexbo]

Joao Felix to Atleti

Anyone could see he wouldn't be utilized to his fullest potential with Atleti's playstyle. Ridiculous 126M EUR fee as well

He will come good. He’s a real talent and Simone always gets his strikers kicking on eventually.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Falcao to United, then Chelsea - never had time to recover from injury

Veron to Chelsea - why they thought they could get him to work out in the PL after failing at Utd, god only knows.

Woodgate to Real - no one could have predicted THAT debut. But clearly injury prone and history dictated that he wouldn't be able to stay fit.

 

[Maluco]

Robbie Keane to Inter Milan.

A young prodigal striker who needed game time to develop going to a club with Ronaldo, Vieri, Zamorano, Recoba and Hakan Sukur as options.

It wasn’t the last bad move in his career either. I look at some of his goals and his scoring record for Ireland and wonder what could have been if he had stayed at Coventry for a few years and then chosen a club carefully that would have made him the main man and nurtured his talents.

Many will say he had a good career, but I think he was better than what he eventually produced.

 

[Irrational.]

Hazard to Madrid. He was destined to fail, far too meek as a personality and player and will never hit the heights even close to any of the Madrid greats despite being one of the world record transfers.

 

[Rasendori]

He will come good. He’s a real talent and Simone always gets his strikers kicking on eventually.

Gameiro, Jackson Martinez, and Vietto are "strikers" that Simeone was unable to get kicking on, for whatever reason. I'm not saying he was necessarily the main reason why they struggled, but its by no means a certainty that he will get a talented striker "kicking on eventually". It seems Felix is expected to be a creative shadow striker, a modern day Jari Litmanen if you will. In any case, its not just #9s that have struggled under Simeone but also the likes of Lemar, Vitolo, and Gelson Martins. Just to clarify, I'm not saying its set in stone that he will be a failure at A.Madrid, nor do I think its set in stone that he "will come good". I did predict he would be a contender for flop of the season though, but if he finishes the UCL strongly that could change the perception of his otherwise underwhelming influence thus far

 

[Dancfc]

Matic at United
Luiz at Arsenal
Zhirkov at Chelsea
Cesc at Barca

 

[BigDunc9]

Benteke at Liverpool. Liverpool had been a slip away from the title playing fast high pressing football with mobile strikers and then went and signed Benteke to replace Suarez in the summer. Disrupted the attack and they didn't recover until Rodgers was sacked.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Matic at United
Luiz at Arsenal
Zhirkov at Chelsea
Cesc at Barca

Matic hasn’t been a bad signing. He’s a periods of bad form, but there are at least a dozen worse signings post Fergie than Matic.

 

[Dancfc]

Matic hasn’t been a bad signing. He’s a periods of bad form, but there are at least a dozen worse signings post Fergie than Matic.

Maybe not disastrous but compared to the standards of United and the hype around him (people made out we made a KDB esque error) he's been very underwhelming aside from the first couple of months, in my opinion.

 

[Peter van der Gea]

I can't believe nobody's mentioned Neymar. In a club with no competition, in a league with no competition. I didn't understand the move then and I don't understand it now, what a waste of talent. A lot of those players who go to China in their prime as well.

 

[bosnian_red]

Fabregas to Barca (was never going to be more than a squad player), Griezmann to Barca (painfully obvious he had declined a bit and isnt the same when hes not the main guy), Falcao to United and then Chelsea (fitness), Andy Carroll to liverpool (lol)... main ones off the top of my head

 

[AltiUn]

Coutinho to Barcelona had disaster written all over it, he was vastly overrated by the Liverpool hype machine and Barcelona bought that hype, hook, line and sinker.

 

[RooneyLegend]

Cesc to Barca
Owen to Madrid
Torres to Chelsea
Pienaar to Tottenham

 

[chomsky89]

Veron to Chelsea - why they thought they could get him to work out in the PL after failing at Utd, god only knows.

I think 28 year old Veron would be great for clubs at Chelsea's level, outside the PL. He did not seem to fit this league. All his best performances for us came in Europe also.

 

[Robertd0803]

Neymar wins this thread too.

Pretty much anyone that has moved to Barca in recent years it seems with a few exceptions.

Hazard to Madrid. I dont believe he has ever had that elite mentality like Messi/Ronaldo that he probably needs.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Robbie Keane to Inter Milan.

A young prodigal striker who needed game time to develop going to a club with Ronaldo, Vieri, Zamorano, Recoba and Hakan Sukur as options.

It wasn’t the last bad move in his career either. I look at some of his goals and his scoring record for Ireland and wonder what could have been if he had stayed at Coventry for a few years and then chosen a club carefully that would have made him the main man and nurtured his talents.

Many will say he had a good career, but I think he was better than what he eventually produced.

But Keane went to his boyhood club in Inter Milan.

I think he needed to move from Coventry, but to a better team where he was going to get on. I agree Inter was a bad choice at that time. I think if his Spurs stint had come earlier in his career then he would have built on that and eventually finished much higher regarded if that makes sense.

 

[Infordin]

Griezmann was never going to work in the same team as Messi

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

Matic at United
Luiz at Arsenal
Zhirkov at Chelsea
Cesc at Barca

Matic was a successful transfer.

That the club didn’t build on the signing is the problem.

 

[paraguayo]

i knew sanchez would fail here

 

[Rooney in Paris]

Maybe not disastrous but compared to the standards of United and the hype around him (people made out we made a KDB esque error) he's been very underwhelming aside from the first couple of months, in my opinion.

He had a good first season, an average second one, and has been decent (and at times very good, especially since Jan) this decent. He has been a good signing overall.

 

[Lay]

Balotelli to Liverpool was always destined to fail. Not a player you need for their pressing system under Rodgers or Klopp

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Ross Barkley to Chelsea - simply looks out of his depth, thinks he is better than what he is
Roberto Soldado to Spurs - didn’t think his style of play was suited to the PL and no surprises when he massively flopped

 

[Lay]

Jesus Navas to City. Think he arrived after going a season without a goal or an assist? My memories of Navas from his peak Sevilla days is him beating his man and smashing his cross into row Z. Kanoute and Fabiano always looked annoyed at him.

 

[Maluco]

But Keane went to his boyhood club in Inter Milan.

I think he needed to move from Coventry, but to a better team where he was going to get on. I agree Inter was a bad choice at that time. I think if his Spurs stint had come earlier in his career then he would have built on that and eventually finished much higher regarded if that makes sense.

Yeah, I think that’s what would have been best for him. He was only 20 though, another season at Coventry wouldn’t have been terrible.

If he had gone straight to a team like United from there, I think he would have done really well.

I think he is underrated as a whole and it’s pity he never got a proper run at a big club in his prime.