The transfer is about to shut in a few days. Many clubs have mostly done their business. Clubs have shipped out deadwood and brought in players where they were required. The Transfer window is always a tricky period for the clubs and even the players.
A transfer market can totally transform the existing team or make it worse than it was. For the player transfer to be successful there are various factors taken into account. Like if the player can fit into that particular team or not. Does that team style of play suits that player or not?
https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano?s=20&t=0H6nadf-llTtd4lzROciHg
Any transfer done can turn sore anytime and can prove to be troublesome and a headache for the club. For the transfer to be successful there needs to be a desire from all the parties involved. There must be compatibility between the new player and the club signing in. There must be a clear project and plan regarding how that player can fit into the club’s plans and philosophy.
A Lot of transfers happen during the transfer window time. Not all transfers can turn out to be successful, some turn out to flop too. Keeping that in mind here in this article we will discuss a few worst signings of the past decade (2011 to 2021) in football history.
Three Worst Signings of Football History in the Last Decade
It is a difficult task to name someone as the worst signing as that player isn’t himself bad enough but there are some other circumstances and compatibility issues which make that player’s transfer to that particular unsuccessful.
3. Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea back in 2018
Back in 2018 when Chelsea’s then no.1 choice keeper Thibaut Courtois left them to join his dream Real Madrid. Chelsea was left high and dry back then. The Blues panicked and went in hard behind all the keepers.
Then desperately went in and decided to trigger the release clause of a young keeper called Kepa Arrizabalaga of Athletic Bilbao. Chelsea triggered the Kepa Release Clause of 72 million in 2018 and he became the highest-paid keeper back then.
Since joining Chelsea Kepa has had a bitter-sweet journey. Initially, it was looking like he was a top-notch signing but things started to change quickly. Kepa got exposed by many teams and Chelsea started leaking goals.
One biggest moment in his Chelsea career was in the Carabao Cup Final when he refused to come off in spite of getting injured and disobeyed then manager Sari’s order. Kepa’s performance started dipping match by match. He is now replaced by Edouard Mendy. Kepa has become 2nd choice keeper. He is the most expensive second-choice keeper in premier league history.
2. Philippe Coutinho Liverpool to Barcelona 142 million in 2018
Next in line of worst signings of the decade comes the famous Coutinho to Barcelona transfer. That summer Barcelona had an insane sum of money from PSG when the famous Neymar transfer took place. But Barcelona went crazy behind a few names since receiving that money.
Many clubs raised their players’ price tag only for Barcelona in trying to snatch a few extra millions from the Catalans. Barcelona’s main target that year was Liverpool Philippe Coutinho who had established himself as the best-attacking midfielder back in the Premier League.
Coutinho joined Barcelona in January 2018 for a whopping deal of 105m plus adding up to 30-40m which made the deal at an overall cost of 142 million. Since joining Barcelona Coutinho did well in half a season remaining.
But as the new full season started it was clearly evident that Coutinho had the perfect position to play in the Barcelona set-up. He struggled to play on the left flank as the winger and he was also ineffective as an interior in the midfield 3 at Barcelona.
Eventually, he was loaned to Bayern Munich on a season-long loan for the 2019-20 season. Coutinho at Bayern was a super sub and he performed decently over here. He came in as a substitute in that famous 8-2 loss of Barcelona by Bayern back in 2020 Lisbon. Coutinho came and scored 2 goals in that match. He again returned to Barcelona for the 2020-21 season but soon got injured and was ruled out for the whole season.
In the last season 2021-22, he tried his best to convince Xavi but he was soon loaned to Aston Villa in January and now at the start of this new season that move was made permanent for just 40 million.
1. Eden Hazard from Chelsea to Real Madrid in 2019
Unfortunately, Eden Hazard’s name will top the list when talking about the flop signings. Real Madrid signed Eden Hazard for a whooping price of 100 million back in 2019. Till 2019 Hazard had established himself as one most talented and top-tier players in the premier league. Hazard was Chelsea’s most influential player in their Europa League campaign that season. He was Chelsea’s top goal scorer that season. He had scored 21 goals and had 17 assists to his name.
Real Madrid signed Hazard in the hope to replace departing Ronaldo. But to their surprise Hazard arrived at Madrid as an overweight footballer. According to reports back then Hazard was termed 8 to 9 kilo overweight. He started to get repeated injuries which halted his progress in the Spanish capital. To make the worst, Hazard was caught in a few disciplinary issues which resulted in him paying a fine to the club for his actions.
Since joining Real Madrid Eden Hazard has just managed to make 50 appearances over the course of 3 seasons. He just managed to score 4 goals and 9 assists so far in his Madrid career. With Madrid spending over 100 million on Eden Hazard and in return, all they got was just 13 goal contributions in just 50 appearances over the course of 3 full seasons. This has to be the flop transfer of the decade.
For more such articles do click here
