Transfers are great—unless they’re not.
Some turn out brilliantly, offering incredible value and going on to become club legends. Others are perfectly fine, but some ... some are disasters: colossal wastes of money, players unable to adapt or so unimpactful that fans forget they ever existed.
For every Cristiano Ronaldo, there’s a Juan Sebastián Verón. For every Didier Drogba, there’s an Andriy Shevchenko. And for every Fernando Torres ... well, there’s a Fernando Torres.
With that in mind, Sports Illustrated have ranked the 50 worst transfers in soccer since 2000—the era when big-money moves really started to explode.
How We’ve Judged the Worst Transfers in History
- Initial cost —relative to the time the signing was made.
- Sell-on value, overall mark left —what happened after they departed, what impact was made to the paying club’s finances.
- On-field performance —Just how bad things really were on the pitch, both statistically speaking but also with overall contribution.
- Expectation, reputation when arriving —pretty self-explanatory but a marker of what should have been achieved given the individual’s standing in the game and going market rate for rival players.
50. Ricardo Quaresma (Porto to Inter Milan, 2008)
Reported transfer fee: €18.6 million + player exchange
Ricardo Quaresma came through the ranks at Sporting CP around the same time as Cristiano Ronaldo, but their careers would take quite different paths.
Quaresma joined Barcelona in 2003 but returned to Portugal with Porto just one year later, where he rediscovered his form in his home country, winning a move to Italy in 2008.
But Quaresma’s ability and attitude both came under the microscope at Inter, with Inter boss Jose Mourinho—famously not a great lover of temperamental forwards—questioning his team ethic.
He was awarded the infamous Bidone d’Oro (Golden Bin) award for worst Serie A player at the end of his debut season, and joined Beşiktaş after two unhappy years which yielded just one Inter goal.
49. Sebastien Haller (Eintracht Frankfurt to West Ham, 2019)
Reported transfer fee: Rising to £45 million with potential add-ons
Sandwiched between Sébastien Haller’s prolific spells at Eintracht Frankfurt and Ajax was a less than fruitful experience at West Ham.
The Hammers’ struggles to find a top class striker have long been documented, and they thought their prayers had been answered when they brought in Haller, who at that time had not declared for the Ivory Coast and was on the verge of a France call-up.
But the lanky forward failed to consistently find the net in claret and blue and was sold to Ajax 18 months later for half the money paid to Frankfurt.
48. Jese Rodriguez (Real Madrid to Paris Saint-Germain, 2016)
Reported transfer fee: €25 million
In May 2016, Jesé Rodriguez was on the bench for Real Madrid in the Champions League final. In August 2017, he joined Stoke City on loan.
His annus horribilis started with a €25 million move to Paris Saint-Germain, and from there he was soon sent on loan to Las Palmas after six months of injuries and poor form.
In total, Jese played just 18 times for PSG across four seasons before having his contract cancelled amid a COVID-19 lockdown breach scandal in December 2020.
47. Jack Rodwell (Manchester City to Sunderland, 2014)
Reported transfer fee: £10 million
Though not a patch on many of the other entries on this list in pure financial terms, Jack Rodwell’s inclusion is more to do with how he became a living, breathing symbol for Sunderland’s excess and mismanagement.
The injury-plagued midfielder managed fewer than 45 league starts in over three seasons, but took home £70,000-per-week in wages as the Black Cats plummeted from Premier League regulars to League One meme club and teetered on the brink of financial abyss.
Local papers the Chronicle and Northern Echo both described the former Evertonian as the worst signing in Sunderland history upon his 2018 exit.
46. Darwin Nunez (Benfica to Liverpool, 2022)
Reported transfer fee: £64 million (rising to £85 million with potential add-ons)
Liverpool’s transfer record was smashed in the summer of 2022, when Darwin Núñez was drafted in from Benfica.
The Uruguayan had scored a boat load of goals in one Primeira Liga season—26 to be precise—but had been playing in the second division as recently as the 2019–20 season.
The Reds hoped they were getting a powerful sharpshooter who would regularly challenge for the Golden Boot, but what they actually got was a wildly inconsistent player with a penchant for missing big chances. A sending off for a violent headbutt on Joachim Andersen added an extra layer to Núñez’s unpredictability, yet he did strike up a good relationship with the club’s fans.
Ultimately, he didn’t deliver on the pitch regularly enough, and when Al Hilal came calling to take him to Saudi Arabia at the age of 26, Liverpool very quickly said yes—particularly because their losses were relatively minimal in the grand scheme of things.
45. Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus to AC Milan, 2017)
Reported transfer fee: €42 million
In an eye-catching summer of business that included the arrivals of Hakan Çalhanoğlu and Lucas Biglia, the signing of Leonardo Bonucci from rivals Juve seemed like the most impressive of all.
One of the world’s best defenders was looking for a new challenge, after years of domestic (if not European) success in Turin.
Things did not go to plan, and Milan—for all their spending—wound up finishing sixth, while Bonucci, who had been made Rossneri captain, spent the year with an expression that read ‘I’ve made a huge mistake.’
Back he went to Juve after just one year for the princely sum of one Mattia Caldara.
44. Rasmus Højlund (Atalanta to Manchester United, 2023)
Reported transfer fee: £64 million (rising to £72 million with potential add-ons)
Manchester United’s transfer business under Erik ten Hag’s management was nothing short of disastrous.
The Dutchman managed to win trophies in both of his full seasons at Old Trafford, but it wasn’t because he could count on the goalscoring ability of Rasmus Højlund. United had taken a huge punt on a player with undeniable potential, but the Dane simply did not look ready to take on the rigors of the Premier League.
With his confidence low and the media on his back, Højlund went on a 21-game goalless streak before finally netting against Leicester City. A timid performance in the Europa League final was the last straw, though, and he was farmed off to back to Italy where Napoli soon got him firing.
43. Dmytro Chygrynskiy (Shakhtar Donetsk to Barcelona, 2009)
Reported tansfer fee: €25 million
Remember Dmytro Chygrynskiy? What do you mean, no?
The biblical-looking Ukrainian defender kept Barcelona formidable attack at bay for 115 minutes in the 2009 UEFA Super Cup, convincing Pep Guardiola to spend big to sign him from Shakhtar Donetsk as competition for Gerard Piqué and Carles Puyol.
Chygrynskiy played just 14 matches in all competitions for Barcelona, before returning to Shakhtar Donetsk at the end of the season.
His name remains a bizarre footnote in an illustrious period of Barcelona’s history.
42. Jackson Martinez (Atletico Madrid to Guangzhou Evergrande, 2016)
Reported transfer fee: €42 million
In reality, Jackson Martinez could’ve made the list for two separate deals.
Despite having seen the once prolific Colombian flounder at Atlético Madrid (where he scored just three times in 22 appearances) Guangzhou Evergrande decided this was the striker for them to go big on.
At the height of the Chinese Super League’s new spending power, Guangzhou paid €42 million to bring Martinez to Asia—amazingly some €7 million more than Atlético paid the year earlier before he flopped.
Martinez suffered horrendous luck with ankle injuries in China and made just 16 appearances in three seasons before his contract was cancelled.
41. Jhon Duran (Aston Villa to Al Nassr, 2024)
Reported transfer fee: £64.5 million (rising to £71 million with potential add-ons)
With 12 goals in his first 18 games for Al Nassr, you might be wondering why Jhon Duran makes this list. The answer: those were his only games for the club.
Less than six months after being signed by the Saudi side in January 2025 for £64.5 million, the Colombian striker reportedly requested a return to Europe for personal reasons, with some publications claiming he was “confused” by strict Saudi laws.
Failed loan spells at Fenerbahçe and Zenit Saint Petersburg followed and his long-term future in Saudi Arabia still remains unclear at the time of writing.
40. Andre Onana (Inter Milan to Manchester United, 2023)
Reported transfer fee: £43.8 million (rising to £47.2 million with potential add-ons)
Manchester United supporters probably thought it was impossible to agree goalkeeper transfers that would be worse than Mark Bosnich and Massimo Taibi. Unfortunately, they were wrong.
What’s confusing is that André Onana was really meant to be quite good, having had a pretty good time of it at Ajax and Inter Milan. Sure, the Cameroonian had proven he was prone to a gaffe or two, but generally speaking he was a pretty good shot stopper and, most importantly, he could distribute calmly with the ball at his feet.
Except when Onana turned out for United, he displayed everything but composure. Some truly awful handling mistakes were made—too many to start getting into—and the less said about the short passes he attempted to play the better.
The end result was United turfing Erik ten Hag’s handpicked signing out of the door on loan—Trabzonspor the club willing to give him a home. Former United player Nemanja Matic stating that Onana was “one of the worst goalkeepers in the club's history” says it all.
39. Fabio Silva (Porto to Wolverhampton Wanderers, 2020)
Reported transfer fee: £35 million
Quite why Wolves decided to pay a club-record £35 million for Fábio Silva—a player who had made just 12 appearances in the Portuguese top flight and scored only once—remains baffling.
And, to absolutely nobody’s surprise, it didn’t work out.
Across 73 appearances, Silva managed just five goals, endured four separate loan spells, and was eventually sold to Borussia Dortmund in 2025.
The only bright side? Wolves somehow managed to recoup around £17 million for his signature.
38. Alvaro Morata (Real Madrid to Chelsea, 2017)
Reported transfer fee: £60 million
When you’re judging center forwards, there aren’t too many similarities between Diego Costa and Álvaro Morata. So why Chelsea decided to replace the former with the latter in 2017 is beyond us.
Where Costa was fearless, Morata was toothless. Where Costa was a menace to the opposition, Morata was a menace to his own team. Where Costa has highlight reel moments, Morata had gag reel moments.
24 goals in 72 appearances across all competitions doesn’t too bad overall, but Morata’s inability to cope with the Premier League was all too evident—the Spaniard’s name added to the club’s infamous No. 9 curse.
37. Renato Sanches (Benfica to Bayern Munich, 2016)
Reported transfer fee: €35 million (rising to €80 million with potential add-ons)
As is too often the case with young stars from Benfica, they can shine in Portugal but falter when tested on a bigger stage. Renato Sanches was a prime example.
A superstar for Benfica as a teenager, Bayern Munich spent €35 million—their fourth-highest ever fee at the time—to sign him, but he failed to become the star many had hoped.
In a star-studded squad, Sanches struggled for minutes, finishing his debut season at the Allianz with just one full 90-minute Bundesliga match, a string of lackluster substitute appearances, and not a single goal or assist—a rarity for a club that often dominates the Bundesliga.
At the end of his first season, he was loaned to Swansea City, where he famously passed the ball into a billboard, before being sold to Lille in 2019.
Bayern rarely miss with transfers, but this one was a real doozy.
36. Winston Bogarde (Barcelona to Chelsea, 2000)
Reported transfer fee: Free transfer
Finding a picture of Winston Bogarde playing for Chelsea is pretty difficult, which is a strong indicator of just how tragic his career in west London was.
Firstly, then-manager Gianluca Vialli supposedly had no idea the transfer was even happening—thanks very much director of football Colin Hutchinson—and his replacement in the dugout Claudio Ranieri wanted shot of Bogarde just weeks into his tenure.
The problem for Chelsea is they’d agreed to pay Bogarde £40,000-per-week—in 2000, that was a good whack of money—and he had no interest in cutting his losses in favor of playing. The Dutchman was frozen out for the best part of three years, but he didn’t care as long as he got paid. “When you are offered those millions you take them” he famously said after his 2004 exit.
35. Angel Di María (Real Madrid to Manchester United, 2014)
Reported transfer fee: £59.7 million
Thirteen years on from Juan Sebastián Verón, Manchester United once again broke the British transfer record to sign an Argentine, and Ángel Di María continued the symmetry by failing to shine at Old Trafford, despite arriving from Real Madrid with a formidable reputation.
He started brightly, winning Manchester United’s playerand goal of the month awards for September, but that soon tailed off, with Di María leaving the Theatre of Dreams at the end of the season with just four United goals to his name for a loss of over £15 million.
34. Tiemoue Bakayoko (Monaco to Chelsea, 2017)
Reported transfer fee: £40 million
A star of that famous Monaco team which reached the Champions League semifinals in 2017, Tiémoué Bakayoko looked a shell of himself following his move to Chelsea.
How bad was Bakayoko for the Blues? Well, put it this way—he played 87 more times for other clubs than he did for Chelsea while being contracted at Stamford Bridge.
In 2018, he also put in what is widely regarded as the worst individual Premier League performance of all time against Watford, in which he personally gifted the Hornets four chances, gave the ball away countless times and was sent off, all in the space of 30 minutes.
33. Arthur/Miralem Pjanic (Barcelona/Juventus, 2020)
Arthur’s reported transfer fee: €72 million (rising to €82 million with add-ons)
Pjanić’s reported transfer fee: €60 million (rising to €65 million with add-ons)
Perhaps the most unique entry on the list, here, given we’ve got two players in one slot.
At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Barcelona and Juventus engaged in what was essentially a (very pricey) swap deal to send an average midfielder the other way.
Unsurprisingly, neither Arthur or Miralem Pjanić were any good for their new employers. How the move came about is anybody’s guess.
32. Juan Sebastian Veron (Lazio to Manchester United, 2001)
Reported transfer fee: £28.1 million
Manchester United paid a British record fee to sign Juan Sebastian Verón from Lazio in 2001, and it seemed like good business when he hit the ground running with three goals in his first four Premier League outings.
But the pace of English soccer soon took its toll, and Verón’s performances took a serious nosedive.
Defending him in the press, Sir Alex Ferguson famously called those who doubted Verón “idiots,” insisting the midfielder was more than capable. However, by 2003, even Ferguson conceded defeat and allowed the Argentine to join Chelsea for half of what United had paid Lazio two years earlier.
The injury-riddled midfielder fared no better at Stamford Bridge, making just seven Premier League appearances before returning to Italy.
31. Eliaquim Mangala (Porto to Manchester City, 2014)
Reported transfer fee: £31.8 million (potential £42 million due to split ownership over economic rights)
Signed for a mind-boggling amount of money, Eliaquim Mangala could never live up to his price tag at Manchester City, but he might at least have given it a go.
On his second league outing he scored an own goal and conceded a penalty to throw away a 2–0 lead against Hull, while a couple of months later he suffered his first sending off.
Things never really recovered from there for one of the Premier League’s most expensive ever defenders, who was replaced by Nicolás Otamendi and left on a free in 2019 after a couple of loan spells away.
30. Kaka (AC Milan to Real Madrid, 2009)
Reported transfer fee: €68.5 million
It seems implausible that Kaká could ever appear on a worst list of anything.
The boyish Brazilian was one of the finest players of his generation, a stylish attacking midfielder whose poise was matched by his power. He was the last player to win the Ballon d’Or before Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s decade of dominance.
Yet, despite becoming the world’s most expensive soccer player when he joined Real Madrid in 2009, it soon became evident that Kaká’s best years were behind him.
Injuries marred his first two years at the Bernabéu, during which time Mesut Özil took his place in the team. Kaká was sold back to Milan in 2013 on what was essentially a free deal. It remains one of soccer’s biggest ever transfer losses.
29. Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia to Arsenal, 2016)
Reported transfer fee: £35 million
One of the better defenders in La Liga and a World Cup winner no less, Arsenal seemed to have exercised unusually shrewd judgement in signing Mustafi from Valencia in 2016.
After a promising start, Mustafi became a by-word for comical defending as the toe-curling errors came thick and fast. As did the unflattering social media compilations.
The German, who left for Schalke 04 after having his contract mutually terminated in 2021, symbolized the poor recruitment that plagued Arsenal at the end of Arsène Wenger’s tenure.
28. Mario Balotelli (AC Milan to Liverpool, 2014)
Reported transfer fee: £16 million
Much like the aforementioned Jack Rodwell, the wider symbolism here is more significant than the actual transfer fee.
Mario Balotelli, once touted as one of the continent’s top young talents, was signed by Liverpool to replace Barcelona-bound Luis Suárez, the man who had scored 31 times in 33 Premier League games in the 2013-14 Premier League season and almost dragged his teammates kicking and screaming to the title.
Balotelli scored exactly one Premier League goal for the Reds as Brendan Rodgers’ side collapsed into mediocrity. He was let go for free, after a loan back to Milan.
27. Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United to Manchester City, 2022)
Reported transfer fee: £42 million (rising to £45 million with potential add-ons)
Kalvin Phillips was one of England’s best players at the delayed Euro 2020, helping the Three Lions get to a first tournament final in 55 years. Phillips was so good in fact that he was named England Men’s Player of the Year.
Those showings, coupled with impressive Premier League performances for Leeds United, persuaded Pep Guardiola and Manchester City to part with £42 million. Five months into his Etihad tenure, Phillips was called out by the Spaniard for returning from the winter 2022 World Cup “overweight” and the writing was on the wall.
Injuries plagued Phillips too, but it was very apparent, very quickly that City had made a huge mistake signing the “Yorkshire Pirlo.” As of August 2026, Phillips remained a City player with two years remaining on a big-money contract—one no other club would entertain paying.
26. Fernando Torres (Liverpool to Chelsea, 2011)
Reported transfer fee: £50 million
On the face of it, this looked like an incredible piece of business for Chelsea, stealing one of the Premier League’s most lethal strikers from rivals Liverpool on deadline day,. But for whatever reason, Fernando Torres’ ill-fated spell with the Blues never reached the heights he had achieved at Anfield.
In fairness, Torres did score 45 times for Chelsea, including the goal which confirmed their place in the 2012 Champions League final, but he never scored more than eight goals in a Premier League season at Stamford Bridge and was a shadow of the world-class front man Liverpool and Spain had gotten in the years previously.
He also produced perhaps the most famous miss in Premier League history against Manchester United, so there’s that.
25. Jonathan Woodgate (Newcastle United to Real Madrid, 2004)
Reported transfer fee: £13.4 million
Some players have their careers disrupted by injury; Jonathan Woodgate’s career was one long injury disrupted by occasional periods of fitness.
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Woodgate got injured at the end of the 2003-04 season, but what was surprising was that this did not stop Real Madrid from signing him.
Numerous injury complications meant that Woodgate didn’t actually make his Real Madrid debut for over a year, but boy was it worth the wait. The former Newcastle star scored an own goal after 26 minutes and was sent off for a second bookable offence midway through the second half.
After just nine La Liga appearances, Woodgate returned to England.
24. Adrian Mutu (Parma to Chelsea, 2003)
Reported transfer fee: £15.8 million
With just six goals in 27 Premier League appearances for Chelsea (four of which came in his first three games), Mutu never delivered on the potential he had shown in Serie A with Verona and Parma, while he was one of many to endure a difficult relationship with José Mourinho.
But let’s be honest, Mutu isn’t on this list because he was a bad player.
In September 2004, the Romanian was banned from soccer for seven months after testing positive for cocaine. Chelsea sought compensation for a breach of contract and a long-winded legal battle ensued. In 2018, the European Court of Human Rights rejected Mutu’s appeal against the CAS’s 2015 ruling that meant he owed Chelsea €17 million in damages.
23. Paul Pogba (Juventus to Manchester United, 2016)
Reported transfer fee: £89 million
Forever a case of unfulfilled potential, Paul Pogba only managed to show his best form for very brief spells in the six years of his second stint at Manchester United.
What we saw more of was unhappiness, poor effort levels and a continued narrative of wanting to leave—which he eventually did in 2022.
Pogba is a United academy product that left the club for free once, joined Juventus, rejoined United for a then world record fee of £89 million, and then left for Juventus again, for free.
If you want a summary of just how bad United are at transfers, look no further.
22. Jean-Kevin Augustin (RB Leipzig to Leeds United, 2020)
Reported transfer fee: Loan with £18.4 million option to buy
Paying £18.4 million, or close to, for a player you never even signed would widely be considered a mistake—but that’s exactly what Leeds United did with Jean-Kévin Augustin.
Initially brought in on loan from RB Leipzig in January 2020, with the option to make the move permanent if they secured promotion to the Premier League, Marcelo Bielsa’s side hoped the talented French striker could fire them back to the top flight.
Instead, Augustin struggled with fitness from the outset, playing just 48 minutes across three substitute appearances. Leeds ultimately chose not to sign him permanently despite earning promotion.
The kicker? Because the contract had been signed, Leeds were court-ordered to pay Leipzig the full £18.4 million—and later were told to pay Augustin himself £24.5 million for breach of contract.
That equates to £893,750 per minute of action played, though Leeds would later confirm in a statement that an “amicable” solution had been reached with Leipzig—quite what that entailed we’ll never know.
21. Mykhailo Mudryk (Shakhtar Donetsk to Chelsea, 2023)
Reported transfer fee: £62 million (rising to £89 million with potential add-ons)
Mykhailo Mudryk showed flashes of brilliance at the start of his Chelsea career, but largely looked like a player whose reputation—and price tag—had been inflated by a few strong Champions League performances for Shakhtar Donetsk.
Then, unthinkably, it wasn’t just his underwhelming performances that were a problem. In December 2024, the FA provisionally suspended Mudryk, and later charged him after testing positive for a banned substance. The Ukrainian, thought to be earning around £100,000-per-week in wages, denied the charges yet was handed a four-year ban.
After 19 months on the sidelines, he won an appeal against his suspension, immediately freeing him to return to action. Mudryk, needless to say, has lots of work ahead to rebuild his reputation and prove he’s not one of the worst signings ever.
20. Nicolas Pepe (Lille to Arsenal, 2019)
Reported transfer fee: £72 million
Social media became unbearable the day Arsenal unveiled Nicolas Pépé as their new record signing.
It was even worse a few weeks later when he dribbled past Virgil van Dijk and fooled people into thinking he was going to be a superstar.
However, in the red of Arsenal, Pépé has looked a lot like an annoying five-a-side teammate, endlessly dribbling down dead ends, never knowing when to release the ball and barely contributing anything tangible to games.
19. Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon to Tottenham, 2019)
Reported transfer fee: £63 million
Tanguy Ndombele was signed by Tottenham in hope of being the long-term successor to Mousa Dembélé—a dynamic box-to-box midfielder who could run rings around opponents.
While the Frenchman had enough good moments at Spurs to make a decent YouTube compilation, he largely failed to adapt to the English game, with his fitness and work rate particularly unimpressive.
After a series of disappointing loan spells (including one back at Lyon), he eventually joined OGC Nice in 2024 after his Tottenham contract was mutually terminated.
18. Danny Drinkwater (Leicester to Chelsea, 2017)
Reported transfer fee: £35 million
Another Chelsea flop, Danny Drinkwater’s £35 million move to Stamford Bridge in 2017 raised eyebrows even before a ball was kicked.
The former Premier League winner with Leicester made just 12 league appearances and found himself rather unloved by Antonio Conte and latterly Maurizio Sarri.
Amid a series of uninspiring loan spells, Drinkwater’s on-field nadir came with a brawl-sparking red card in a Premier League 2 game against Spurs in 2020, where he kicked a 16-year-old.
Off the field, unsavory incidents including a drink driving charge and a nightclub fight that left him with ligament damage colored a once respected career—which came to an end when he retired in 2022.
17. Andy Carroll (Newcastle United to Liverpool, 2011)
Reported transfer fee: £35 million
The panic buy to end all panic buys?
Carroll had scored 11 goals in 19 appearances for Newcastle United in the 2010-11 season, catching the eye of Liverpool, who needed to replace the Chelsea-bound Fernando Torres.
While Liverpool’s other signing in the January window, Luis Suárez, was an instant hit, Carroll was such an obvious case of a square peg fitting a round hole.
The injury-troubled target man scored just six Premier League goals in 44 appearances before West Ham took him off Liverpool’s hands in 2013—for close to £20 million less than the Reds had paid two years earlier.
16. Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund to Manchester United, 2021)
Reported transfer fee: £73 million (rising to £78 million with potential add-ons)
Everything about Jadon Sancho’s big-money move to Old Trafford in 2021 was a disaster—from never truly finding form, to a public fallout with Erik ten Hag (who controversially discussed Sancho’s mental health struggles without his consent), to being exiled from the first team and training alone.
The saga only worsened when Sancho publicly criticized the club in response, effectively burning any remaining bridges.
His fall from grace was so severe that United couldn’t even give him away. Chelsea reportedly paid £5 million in 2025 just to back out of a permanent deal following an indifferent loan spell.
15. Carlos Tevez (Boca Juniors to Shanghai Shenhua, 2016)
Reported transfer fee: Fee is disputed—but a lot either way
In December 2016, Carlos Tevez left his boyhood club Boca Juniors for a second time to join Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua, who reportedly paid him an eye-watering £630,000-per-week—making him, supposedly, the highest-paid player in world soccer.
Shenhua hoped that a superstar like Tevez, who had shone in England, Italy, and Argentina, would lead them to their first league title since 1995. But the controversial forward had different priorities.
The Argentine played just 20 times in his single season in China, scoring four goals—roughly £8 million per goal—while appearing unfit and uninterested. He later described his time in China as a "holiday," while Shenhua fans booed him and gave him the nickname “homesick boy.”
As a parting shot on his return to Boca, Tevez claimed Chinese players are “not as naturally skilled like South American or European players” and added that “even in 50 years, they still won’t be able to compete.”
14. Luka Jovic (Eintracht Frankfurt to Real Madrid, 2019)
Reported transfer fee: €60 million
Luka Jović became one of the hottest forwards in 2018-19, scoring 27 goals at Eintracht Frankfurt, prompting Real Madrid to pay big to bring him to the Bernabéu as a proposed long-term successor to Karim Benzema.
In his first season, the Serb striker struggled with injuries and was given precious little chance to impress, scoring just twice in 27 outings.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic and a lockdown breach scandal that even involved the Serbian Prime Minister and ultimately ended with him break his foot while training alone in his Belgrade apartment.
He never recovered, and scored just one more goal for Madrid before moving to Fiorentina on a free transfer in 2022.
13. Gaizka Mendieta (Valencia to Lazio, 2001)
Reported transfer fee: €48 million
There was a time when Valencia were considered one of the best teams in Europe, and Gaizka Mendieta was their beating heart.
He was named Best Midfielder in Europe by UEFA two years on the trot, and when Lazio signed him in 2001, they made him the sixth most expensive player of all time with a deal worth an incredible sounding eight billion pesetas.
However, after betting the farm on their man, Mendieta, who had been a regular goalscorer towards the end of his time at the Mestalla, failed to hit the target once in 31 appearances for the Biancocelesti, who offloaded him to Barcelona after just one season.
12. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan to Barcelona, 2010)
Reported transfer fee: €46.2 million + Samuel Eto'o
Zlatan Ibrahimović has scored goals everywhere he has played, and Barcelona was no different. In his defense, he found the net 21 times in his only full season at Camp Nou.
But the problems were all off the pitch.
Firstly, no-one seemed to understand why Barcelona spent big and traded Samuel Eto'o for the big Swede and his big ego. While Eto'o went on to win the treble at Inter, Zlatan was (allegedly) threatening to physically assault Pep Guardiola.
Forced to play in the shadow of Lionel Messi, Ibrahimović grew increasingly frustrated. As a result, he was sent back to Italy at the end of the season.
11. Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan to Chelsea, 2006)
Reported transfer fee: £30 million
If ever there was a striker worth breaking the bank for, it was Andriy Shevchenko. A prolific goalscorer in Italy, he scored 173 goals during his first spell with AC Milan, surpassing the 25-goal mark in six of his eight seasons at San Siro, and won the Ballon d’Or in 2004.
Signing the Ukrainian became a pet project for Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, who got his man in 2006—regardless of what Mourinho actually wanted.
Alas, Shevchenko’s aging limbs and the pace of English soccer did not agree with one another. He found the net just nine times in the Premier League before retracing his steps to Milan and Dynamo Kyiv as his brilliant career ended with a whimper.
10. Joao Felix (Benfica to Atletico Madrid, 2019)
Reported transfer fee: €126 million
We’ll give João Félix’s 2024 move to Chelsea—signed for €52 million just a year after the club had passed on him following a loan—a special mention here. But because the Blues ultimately recouped most of their money by selling him to Al-Nassr only a year later, we’ll let it slide.
Félix’s 2019 transfer to Atlético Madrid, however, tells a very different story.
Signed at just 19 for €126 million, it quickly became clear that the talented Portuguese star—no doubt a great player—didn’t quite fit Diego Simeone’s rough-and-tumble, all-action style.
Though he helped Atlético win the La Liga title in 2020-21, Felix struggled with form, consistency and goalscoring, often looking like a player who wasn’t fully settled, drawing criticism even from teammates.
“In the end, when you get here you know more or less what the coach is like, what the team is like, you adapt and work for it or things don’t work out for you,” Antoine Griezmann said toward the end of Félix’s Atlético career.
9. Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Club to Chelsea, 2018)
Reported transfer fee: £72 million
Six months after Real Madrid nearly signed Kepa Arrizabalaga for around £20 million, Chelsea—scrambling to replace Thibaut Courtois—panicked and paid the full £72 million release clause for the 23-year-old Basque goalkeeper.
It was a world-record fee for a goalkeeper at the time, and Chelsea’s decision immediately raised eyebrows—which weren’t exactly lowered by Kepa’s shaky performances.
At the end of his debut season, he infamously refused to be substituted during the EFL Cup final, and the ended the following year with a record-low save percentage in the Premier League.
His Chelsea fate was essentially sealed in another EFL Cup final in 2022, when he was brought on specifically for the penalty shootout—but saved none, and then missed the decisive kick himself.
Barring a brief resurgence in 2022-23, Kepa never truly regained his place, spending the following years out on loan before joining Arsenal for a meager £5 million in 2025.
8. Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal to Manchester United, 2018)
Reported transfer fee: Swap with Henrikh Mkhitaryan
How can a deal that involved no real transfer fee be so bad, you ask?
Well, Alexis Sánchez arrived at Manchester United as perhaps the Premier League’s biggest talent, ripped from rivals Arsenal with his contract running down. To add a cherry on top, United even beat off competition from Manchester City to land the Chilean.
In order to convince Sánchez to pick red over blue, United stumped up a contract worth depressingly close to £500,000-per-week before plonking their new forward in front of the piano for what would become one of the most infamous announcement videos of all time.
Sánchez’s contract became an albatross around his neck as his form dived off a cliff. In total, he scored three Premier League goals in 32 outings and generally stunk Old Trafford up, before being leaving for Inter Milan two years later.
7. Ousmane Dembele (Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona, 2017)
Reported transfer fee: €105 million (rising to €145 million with potential add-ons)
Ousmane Dembélé won the 2025 Ballon d’Or after a superb season with Paris Saint-Germain, firing them to a historic treble that included their first-ever Champions League title. But before that success, he was widely considered as a big-money flop, having failed to make a lasting impact during five-and-a-half difficult seasons at Barcelona.
So, where did it all go wrong in Catalonia for the talented Frenchman?
Injuries certainly didn’t help. Between 2017 and 2021, Dembélé missed an astonishing 85 games through injury, while reports of disciplinary issues—including claims he once skipped training after staying up all night playing video games—did little to improve his reputation.
Being handed the role of Barcelona’s savior during a turbulent post-Lionel Messi and Neymar transition period, coupled with the pressure of a €145 million price tag as a 20-year-old though? That’ll do it.
6. Antony (Ajax to Manchester United, 2022)
Reported transfer fee: £81.3 million (rising to £86.3 million with potential add-ons)
Another Manchester United entry, another Ten Hag signing, though none were more high-profile than Antony, who followed him to Old Trafford in 2022.
Together, the pair were expected to recreate the magic they’d produced at the Johan Cruyff Arena and light up the Theatre of Dreams. For a brief moment, it even looked possible—the Brazilian scored in each of his first three Premier League games.
From there, though, things quickly descended into a circus.
Though he acted like a world-beater, Antony became more of a meme—from his infamous failed spin moves to taunting lower-league opposition and pulling bizarre faces when being subbed on.
Ultimately, he managed just 12 goals in 96 appearances before being sold to Real Betis for a fraction of the price United had paid for him.
5. Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan to Chelsea, 2021)
Reported transfer fee: £97.5 million
Romelu Lukaku’s glorious return to Chelsea was unfinished business.
He’d been sold by the Blues, the club he’d loved since he was young, early on in his career, and after an underwhelming spell at Manchester United had found his groove at Inter under Antonio Conte. Lukaku scored a shedload as Inter Milan won the league, and when Chelsea paid just shy of £100 million for him in 2021, he was tipped to do the same for them.
Instead, he scored a few goals against inferior opposition, did an interview with Sky Italia about how much he missed Inter and moaned about not being played to his strengths at Chelsea—before being frozen out of the team by Thomas Tuchel.
Chelsea, desperate to part ways, shifted Rom back to Inter a year later for a loan fee around a tenth of the fee they paid for him.
Truly awful stuff.
4. Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool to Barcelona, 2018)
Reported transfer fee: £105 million (rising to £142 million with potential add-ons)
Philippe Coutinho not only failed to perform consistently in a Barcelona shirt, but also played an active role in knocking them out of the 2019-20 Champions League—quite the return for the most expensive player in the club’s history.
Much like with Ousmane Dembélé, Barcelona overpaid to get their man following Neymar’s traumatic departure, but quickly struggled to accept that Coutinho simply wasn’t Neymar.
Despite some reasonable showings in his first two seasons, it soon became clear that Barça didn’t really have a role for him. He was loaned to Bayern Munich, where he famously scored twice against his parent club in the infamous 8-2 drubbing at the Camp Nou—still Barcelona’s biggest ever defeat in the Champions League.
Coutinho returned to Catalonia but became virtually unsellable due to his huge wages—until Aston Villa brought him back to the Premier League on loan in January 2022. The Villans made the move permanent that summer for a meager fee.
3. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid to Barcelona, 2021)
Reported transfer fee: €120 million
Barcelona and Antoine Griezmann was meant to be a match made in heaven. Instead, his transfer ranks as the one of the worst of all time for two reasons—one far bigger than the other.
The first, like many on this list, is that he cost an absolute fortune and never came close to living up to the price tag. While his goal return was better than Eden Hazard and came close to Ousmane Dembélé’s offering across all competitions, his performances still fell well short of what was expected. Barcelona only won the Copa del Rey during his two years at the club, too.
The second reason, though, is far more damning—even if not entirely his fault.
During the peak of Barcelona’s financial chaos under president Josep Maria Bartomeu, Griezmann was handed a massive contract that became one of the key reasons the club couldn’t afford to renew Lionel Messi’s deal. In other words, Barcelona didn’t just overspend on a player who failed to deliver—they indirectly lost the greatest player in their history because of it.
To add insult to injury, Griezmann left to rejoin Atlético Madrid on loan, with an option to buy for €80 million less than what they sold him for, and the capital-based club beat Barcelona to the league title in 2021 having stolen Luis Suárez away too.
2. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain to Al Hilal, 2023)
Reported transfer fee: €90 million
When the Saudi Pro League really ramped up its efforts to sign big-name European stars for ridiculous money in 2023, Neymar was the poster boy—the true global superstar they hoped would finally elevate the league to unprecedented heights.
What Al Hilal seemed to forget, however, when they paid PSG €90 million, was that Neymar was no longer that player—but a fading star plagued by injuries.
And that’s exactly what they got.
After all the hype, the Brazilian managed just seven appearances and one goal before leaving in January 2025, his contract terminated by mutual consent.
1. Eden Hazard (Chelsea to Real Madrid, 2019)
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