As we head into the crazy winter transfer window I thought it was worth looking back at the worst transfers of this summer.
1. Robbie Keane (Tottenham – Liverpool, £20 million)
Robbie Keane was billed as the perfect attacking foil for Fernando Torres when he joined the club he supported as a boy.
But it hasn’t gone well. In 22 appearances for Liverpool he has completed the 90 minutes on just three occasions and scored just twice in the league. Now Keene is rumored to be up for sales this Janaury for a knock down price of under £10 million.
2. Jo (CSKA Moscow – Manchester City, £19 million)
Lost in the excitement of the Robinho signing waas the fact that Manchester City’s record signing up until that point was Jo. For £19 million, City have received just one league goal – in the 6-0 drubbing of Portsmouth – and two more in European competition, against Omonia Nicosia. Jo hasn’t started a league game since the 2-2 draw with Newcastle on October 20 and with Mark Hughes set to go mad in the January sales, he is unlikely to any time soon.
3. Heurelho Gomes (PSV Eindhoven – Tottenham, £7.8 million)
Another Brazilian that has struggled in England is Heurelho Gomes at Spurs. Gomes was seen as the experienced, reliable answer to the problem of Paul Robinson, but instead he has turned into the worst goalkpeeper in the Premier League. His errors are too numerous mention here but the goal he gifted to Fulham stands out as the worst.
4. Giovani Dos Santos (Barcelona – Tottenham, £8.6 million)
Dos Santos is one of the future stars of the Mexician national team, but he has not shown the strength to play in the Premier League. Dos Santos would be better heading back to La Liga where he will be able to restart his career. a
5. Dave Kitson (Reading – Stoke City, £5.5 million)
Stoke boke their transfer record to sign Kitson this summer and he has been a massive dissappointment with no league goals to his name.
6. Xisco (Deportivo La Coruna – Newcastle, £5.7 million)
This was one of the moves that hastened Kevin Keegan’s departure from Newcastle. Zisco was brouggh in against Keegan’s wishes and the Spanish Under-21 international has struggled to adapt to life at Newcastle. He has not started a game under Joe Kinnear even though Newcastle has been desperate for healthy strkers.
7. Nicky Shorey (Reading – Aston Villa, £3 million)
It was only a couple of years ago that Shorey was an England international, but now he cannot get a game at Villa even though he is the only recognised left-back at the club but his place has been taken by right-back Luke Young in recent weeks, a measure of how far he has fallen in manager Martin O’Neil’s estimations.
8. Johan Elmander (Toulouse – Bolton, £11 million)
Yes Elmander has scored some goals recently, but he misses as many as he scores. He is Bolton’s record signing and I have not seen enough from him this year to justify his £11 million signing fee.
9. Pascal Chimbonda (Tottenham – Sunderland, undisclosed)
Chimbondfa has to be one of the the most disliked players in the Premier League. What then SUnderland manager Roy Keane saw in Chimbonda I will never know as his “Me First” attitude is the opposit of everyhting that Keane values in a player.
10. Marvin Emnes (Sparta Rotterdam – Middlesbrough, £3.2 million)
Marvin who, you ask? Quite. Middlesbrough have not won any of the three league matches in which he has featured, always from the bench, and though manager Gareth Southgate has suggested the 20-year-old is one for the future, can a club the size of Middlesbrough really afford over £3 million for a reserve team player these days?
Who did you think was the worst summer signing?
