Tomorrow marks the 18th anniversary of Michael Owen signing for Newcastle United, and it’s fair to say that neither he nor the Toon Army will be throwing a party. Sometimes signings just don't work out. Let's look at some of the Premier League’s worst.
Michael Owen (Newcastle United) - Seen as the replacement for the ageing Alan Shearer, the England striker came to Tyneside after a disappointing season with Real Madrid. MO only managed to score 26 goals in 4 seasons with the Magpies and only played 14 games in the first two.
Yannick Bolasie (Everton) - Arriving from Crystal Palace for £26m, big things were expected from the Congolese international at Goodison Park. He unfortunately tore his ACL not long after singing and never recovered. Boloasie managed just 29 appearances & 2 goals in 4 seasons.
Sergei Rebrov (Spurs) - Having dazzled Europe as one-half of the deadly Kyiv forward line with Andriy Shevchenko, Rebrov was expected to bring goals to Spurs. 10 goals in 59 games wasn’t as prolific as they would have hoped and the Ukranian was shipped off to Fenerbache on loan.
Danny Drinkwater (Chelsea) - Signed for a fee of £34m, Drinkwater had been integral to Leicester City winning the league in 15/16. The midfielder should have added to the Chelsea midfield but over 5 years at the club, he played 12 times. He also had four loans during that time.
Eliaquim Mangala (Man City) - After shining at Porto, Mangala was seen as the next superstar CB. City then signed him for £40m and after being unable to establish himself under Manuel Pelligrini, he was later frozen out by Pep, spending time on loan at Everton & Valencia.
Arthur Melo (Liverpool) - Desperately needing midfield reinforcements, Liverpool loaned the former Barcelona and Brazil international. Despite the apparent prestige, the Juventus player would not make a single appearance for the Anfield club 22/23. That’s £4m well spent then.
Savio (West Ham) - Signed for £9m from Brescia, where he had scored only 3 goals, the pressure was on Savio from day one. Sadly he failed to live up to the expectation and didn’t score a single goal for the hammers & was sold 6 months later. He wouldn’t score a goal until 2014.
Bebé (Man Utd) - Sir Alex signed some stinkers during his reign at United but Bebé might be top of the list. Signed for £7.9m, Fergie admitted he’d never seen the Portuguese player play and we believe him. After leaving Old Trafford Bebé carved out a solid career in Spain.
Jack Rodwell (Sunderland) - After previously flopping at Manchester City, Rodwell’s move to Sunderland was no better. After being relegated to the Championship AND then League One, the former Everton man had his contract mutually terminated and he’s now at Sydney FC.
Nicolas Pepé (Arsenal) - Pepé was Arsenal’s record signing at £72m until Declan Rice signed this summer. 16 goals in 80 games and several bad performances have seen the winger labelled as a huge flop. He spent last season on loan at Nice in Ligue 1. His Arsenal is still unclear.
Make sure you head to the Retro Football Kits website to transfer some classic and modern shirts into your collection.
Shop here: https://www.retrofootballkits.co.uk/
English
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Spanish