Classical Mechanic
Full Member
People like to cite Sanchez from Arsenal to United as the worst of all time but is it?
His wages are crazy so it’s broken our wage structure but there was no fee as he was swapped for a dud who now driving Arsenal fans crazy.
Some other contenders
Denilson São Paulo to Betis in 1998 for £21.5m which was a world record fee at the time.
Often cited as the worst transfer of all time but he made 186 appearances for Betis over 7 season, although only scoring a meagre 13 goals. It was more that he turned out to be very average rather than flopping spectacularly.
Gaizka Mendiata Valencia to Lazio in 2001 for around £40m which made him the 6th most expensive player of all time.
He was rated as one of the world’s top players when he signed for Lazio. Sadly (for the Lazio board) he flopped hard in Italy and only made 20 Serie A appearances before being shipped off on loan to Barcelona. He played a lot in a relatively terrible Barca side in the season he was there finishing 6th. Weirdly he then found a happy home in Middlesbrough for 5 seasons, after joining on a free transfer. Lazio recouped no money on the fee they paid only 3 years after signing him.
Eliaquim Mangala FC Porto - Man City in 2014 for £42m, a world record fee for a centre back.
Came in a typically dodgy deal to City where they tried to report his fee as less than it was. Footy leaks later revealed the fee to be a world record one for a centre back after City had paid off some dodgy third party owner.
He won a couple of titles at City but was kind of rubbish and never established himself as an important member of the team. He wasn’t for giving up his big wages so stayed on City’s payroll until this summer when they granted him a free transfer to Valencia.
Any others?
His wages are crazy so it’s broken our wage structure but there was no fee as he was swapped for a dud who now driving Arsenal fans crazy.
Some other contenders
Denilson São Paulo to Betis in 1998 for £21.5m which was a world record fee at the time.
Often cited as the worst transfer of all time but he made 186 appearances for Betis over 7 season, although only scoring a meagre 13 goals. It was more that he turned out to be very average rather than flopping spectacularly.
Gaizka Mendiata Valencia to Lazio in 2001 for around £40m which made him the 6th most expensive player of all time.
He was rated as one of the world’s top players when he signed for Lazio. Sadly (for the Lazio board) he flopped hard in Italy and only made 20 Serie A appearances before being shipped off on loan to Barcelona. He played a lot in a relatively terrible Barca side in the season he was there finishing 6th. Weirdly he then found a happy home in Middlesbrough for 5 seasons, after joining on a free transfer. Lazio recouped no money on the fee they paid only 3 years after signing him.
Eliaquim Mangala FC Porto - Man City in 2014 for £42m, a world record fee for a centre back.
Came in a typically dodgy deal to City where they tried to report his fee as less than it was. Footy leaks later revealed the fee to be a world record one for a centre back after City had paid off some dodgy third party owner.
He won a couple of titles at City but was kind of rubbish and never established himself as an important member of the team. He wasn’t for giving up his big wages so stayed on City’s payroll until this summer when they granted him a free transfer to Valencia.
Any others?
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