Worst Transfers of all Time

Robertd0803

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Surely Neymar's would be looked back on as the worst. Surely. Someone should work out how much PSG paid per goal and per game Neymar has played for them so far.
I thought he was doing alright for them? Aside from the dodgy sister birthday business I mean. Not worth the fee obviously, but not a flop either.
You could argue that on pitch he has added nothing to them they didnt already have/were going to win. They would walk the league without him anyway and he failed miserably to bring them the champions league because he will miss the second round every year because of his sisters birthday.

Now they cant wait to get rid of him and looks like he is going back to Barca. Maybe not the worst transfer but definitley not worth the hassle.
 

Classical Mechanic

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Bitter failure. 36 Liga matches (13 goals) in 2004-2005. No titles. Left that season. Bitter disappoinment for Real fans, he was a Ballon d'Or and looked like the new Shearer.
He was on the bench a lot of the time, his scoring rate there was a goal every 1.61 games which was decent in those days. Forlan and Eto’o were top scorers that season with ratios of about 1.5. He was physically broken by then but always managed to bag when he played.
 

Halds

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Bitter failure. 36 Liga matches (13 goals) in 2004-2005. No titles. Left that season. Bitter disappoinment for Real fans, he was a Ballon d'Or and looked like the new Shearer.
The little twat did fine at Real. He had the best goal per minute ratio in La Liga 04/05. And they got double up on what they paid for him after one season. Excellent transfer for Real Madrid.
 

Kajus

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You could argue that on pitch he has added nothing to them they didnt already have/were going to win. They would walk the league without him anyway and he failed miserably to bring them the champions league because he will miss the second round every year because of his sisters birthday.

Now they cant wait to get rid of him and looks like he is going back to Barca. Maybe not the worst transfer but definitley not worth the hassle.
So that's what I said essentially. He's not worth the fee because of all the bullshit he brings, but surely not the worst ever.
 

Shakesy

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So that's what I said essentially. He's not worth the fee because of all the bullshit he brings, but surely not the worst ever.
Well, what's worse?
  • Bad + almost free + massive wages + hardly ever plays (Sanchez)
  • Goodish + massive fee + massive wages + plays rarely (Neymar)
  • Bad + cheap + low wages + laughing stock + never played (Bebe)
How does on define "worst transfer"? It all depends. I've nonetheless been swayed. Neymar's isn't the worst.
 

Reiver

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Rafael Scheidt. From Wikipedia:

Rafael Felipe Scheidt (born February 10, 1976 in Porto Alegre, Brazil) is a Brazilian footballer. He was signed by the John Barnes/Kenny Dalglish management of Celtic from Grêmiofor £5 million and failed to make an impact. Plagued by injury and finding it hard to settle he started one game in the 1999–00 seasonagainst St Johnstone[1] and was let out on loan to Corinthians by new manager Martin O'Neill after just five appearances. Indeed, Scheidt later admitted that following an umimpressive showing in a pre-season friendly O'Neill had told him "I like footballers who are not like you", further adding "I like footballers who play well."[2] The Guardiannewspaper called Scheidt the second worst transfer in the history of soccer, behind Steve Daley, in an article published in 2001.[3]
 

simonhch

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Ali Dia has to be in with a shout. Not because the actually bought him, or because he cost anything; but because he got onto the field in a premier league game by pretending to be George Weah's cousin.

In fact, scratch that; he made Graeme Souness look like the world class plonker that he is - so in fact best transfer ever.
 

BobbyManc

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Mendy from Monaco to Manchester City is pretty fecking appalling, given it's the 50th largest transfer of all time, and he's been massively shite the whole time.
Out of all City's transfer flops, you suggest Mendy? His only problem has been injuries. Last season he had five assists within about seven or eight games before he got injured and was a huge asset going forward for us. If he can eventually keep fit I have no doubt he'll be a good player for us. He's not even comparable to someone like Mangala, Bony, Rodwell or Jo.
 

simonhch

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Out of all City's transfer flops, you suggest Mendy? His only problem has been injuries. Last season he had five assists within about seven or eight games before he got injured and was a huge asset going forward for us. If he can eventually keep fit I have no doubt he'll be a good player for us. He's not even comparable to someone like Mangala, Bony, Rodwell or Jo.
Yes. He cost 50m, has been injured all the time, and clearly lacks professionalism. Guardiola seems at his wits end with him.
 

Charlie Foley

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Owen is a twat but he doesn’t belong in this conversation in relation to his Real move. I know it’s about opinions but that is a bad one. His issue, after an admittedly slow start, was playing time behind Raúl and Ronaldo. He had the best goals per minutes ratio in the league that season. Also Sid Lowe accidentally told the Spanish press he was gay.
 

GhastlyHun

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One time we signed that defender Breno, who played around ten matches for us, ten matches on loan for Nürnberg, then was jailed for setting fire to his rented house in Munich suburb Grünwald.
 

Classical Mechanic

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Out of all City's transfer flops, you suggest Mendy? His only problem has been injuries. Last season he had five assists within about seven or eight games before he got injured and was a huge asset going forward for us. If he can eventually keep fit I have no doubt he'll be a good player for us. He's not even comparable to someone like Mangala, Bony, Rodwell or Jo.
Yes. He cost 50m, has been injured all the time, and clearly lacks professionalism. Guardiola seems at his wits end with him.
I add to that my brother has an ST at Eastlands and holds a very different opinion on him. Him and his mates think he's absolute rubbish, a massive liability defensively and that Zinchenko is better.
 

Schneckerl

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Wikipedia has a list with the British transfer records - some which didn't turn out all that well:

1979 David Mills from Boro to WBA
1986 Mark Hughes from United to Barca (1 season just 5 goals in 36 games)
1987 Ian Rush from Liverpool to Juventus
 

Schneckerl

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Well, what's worse?
  • Bad + almost free + massive wages + hardly ever plays (Sanchez)
  • Goodish + massive fee + massive wages + plays rarely (Neymar)
  • Bad + cheap + low wages + laughing stock + never played (Bebe)
How does on define "worst transfer"? It all depends. I've nonetheless been swayed. Neymar's isn't the worst.
PSG could get a decent return (roughly equal to his initial fee) for Neymar too, while we can't get rid of Sanchez for free.
 

KirkDuyt

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I see your point, but not really. 100 million is a good deal for CR, even as a 33-35 yo.
Of course, and his presence alone is probably something good, but still, they would probably win the serie A with me playing up front. He's there to win em the CL and if he doesn't do that, meh.
 

Classical Mechanic

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Of course, and his presence alone is probably something good, but still, they would probably win the serie A with me playing up front. He's there to win em the CL and if he doesn't do that, meh.
It's a massive gamble on their part as the number as crippling their accounts. If he gets injured or declines they're screwed. If they win the CL this season then all is well.
 

foolsgold

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Oleg Kuznetsov to Glasgow Rangers, 63 caps for the Soviet Union signed from Dinamo Kiev for what was a lot of money in 1990, did his cruciate ligament in second match and basically ended his top flight career.

For years they paid him his salary as he tried again and again to come back to fitness
 

Kag

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Andy Carroll was the beginning of what felt like a new era of transfer business.

It’s only £35 million in hindsight, but at the time the fee was nothing short of preposterous. It will always be one of the worst (and craziest) transfers of all time.
 

JohnZSmith27

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Aquilani to Liverpool was a bad one. €20mil + bonuses and he only made 18 apps and scored 1 goal. So prob no bonuses paid to be fair. Spent most of his time on loan and went to Fiorentina for less than a million.
 

Classical Mechanic

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Oleg Kuznetsov to Glasgow Rangers, 63 caps for the Soviet Union signed from Dinamo Kiev for what was a lot of money in 1990, did his cruciate ligament in second match and basically ended his top flight career.

For years they paid him his salary as he tried again and again to come back to fitness
That's a really interesting one. He played 35 games for Rangers and won 8 trophies!

Came 11th & 17th in the Ballon D'Or in the two years leading to his transfer. Just shows the strength of the Scottish League in those days. For contrast places 11 & 17 were taken up by 11. Kante and 17 Benzema and Bale (joint) last year.
 

NWRed

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Alfonso Alaves is worth a shout.

Scored a bucket load in the Eredivisie and Boro paid £13m for him in 2008. He scored 4 goals all season in 08/09, Boro got relegated and they sold him to a Saudi club at a massive loss.