Summary: Some of the worst football transactions in history involved signing players for sums above £100 million.
Barcelona made two of the worst signings in recent memory: Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann.
Chelsea has had relatively little success with centre-forwards, having made more than one disastrous purchase at the top of the pitch.
Transfers are becoming increasingly prevalent in the world of football, and the sums of money teams are ready to spend to sign the greatest talent from all over the world have reached unimaginable proportions. With increased desire and financial resources to make deals happen, there is a great level of danger.
This is because not all moves go exactly as planned by the club, fans, or players. Expensive flops are becoming increasingly common in the game, making it even more difficult to answer the question below. Which is the worst football transfer in recent memory?
That’s the question GIVEMESPORT has set out to solve as we rate the worst football transfers of all time. The following elements were considered when ranking each signing:
Expectations after signing
Transfer fees
Sell-on fee
Benefits of joining a club include longevity and statistical success.
13Ali Dia to Southampton
Transfer fee: Free
12Fernando Torres to Chelsea
Transfer fee: £50 million
Fernando Torres’ sale to Chelsea was one of the most contentious transactions in contemporary football. The Blues signed the Spaniard for £50 million from Liverpool, where he had been the club’s star player for the previous three seasons.
Torres, still only 26, was meant to be entering the prime of his career, but he couldn’t seem to recapture the form that had him blowing defenders away on a regular basis at Anfield. Incredibly, he went from a goal per 120 minutes at Liverpool to one every 360 minutes at Chelsea.
Granted, he did score a crucial away goal in the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, but that was the only bright spot in an otherwise miserable tenure in London.
Fernando Torres’ Chelsea statistics
Appearances
172
Goals
45
Assists
35
11Andy Carroll to Liverpool
Transfer fee: £35 million
Carroll was signed to replace Torres, and it’s fair to say the move did not go quite as planned. The large striker had excelled in his brief stint with the Newcastle first team, netting 11 goals in 19 games to begin the 2010/11 Premier League season. However, his style was clearly incompatible with Liverpool’s style, and it was like attempting to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Being left out of the starting XI on numerous occasions owing to Luis Suárez’s outstanding form didn’t help his cause, but Carroll also appeared to be out of his depth in Merseyside. He scored six goals in 44 Premier League games before being moved out to West Ham for a large fee.
Andy Carroll’s Liverpool statistics
Appearances
58
Goals
11
Assists
6
10Angel Di Maria to Manchester United
Transfer fee: £60 million
One of the high-profile United transfers that have failed in recent years. Angel Di Maria was widely considered as one of the world’s most creative players when at Real Madrid. However, his time at United quickly put an end to such suggestion. The Argentine impressed in the early stages of his move, winning the club’s Player of the Month title.
After that, however, a hamstring injury and a break-in at his home were enough to disturb the star, and his performances plummeted until they reached rock bottom. Throughout his time in England, it was clear that Di Maria did not want to be there, and he jumped ship at the first opportunity to join Paris Saint-Germain the next summer.
Angel Di Maria’s Manchester United statistics
Appearances
32
Goals
4
Assists
12
9Jonathan Woodgate to Real Madrid
Transfer fee: £16 million
Woodgate’s Real Madrid career struck rock bottom in an instant. After a year on the sidelines due to injury, the Englishman returned to score an own goal and be sent off on his club debut – it doesn’t get much worse. He may have believed that things could only get better, but the former Leeds United defender never recovered his career in La Liga.
Injuries continued to plague the centre-back, who made only nine La Liga games for the club before returning to the United Kingdom. To make matters worse, a poll conducted by Spanish media site Marca named him ‘the worst signing of the 21st century.’ Ouch.
Jonathan Woodgate’s Real Madrid statistics
Appearances
14
Goals
1
Assists
0
8Andriy Shevchenko to Chelsea
Transfer fee: £39.5 million
Roman Abramovich had been anxious to get the Ukrainian to Chelsea for long years before he finally got his wish in 2006. The problem was that his wish was not the same as José Mourinho’s. The Portuguese manager didn’t want Andriy Shevchenko at the club for whatever reason, and it showed on the pitch.
The 2004 Ballon d’Or winner spent the majority of his Chelsea career playing out of position, scoring just nine Premier League goals in 48 appearances. He spent two seasons at the Bridge before being loaned back to Milan. It’s reasonable to say that the Blues did not acquire the striker they were hoping for, despite the club has a dismal track record with number nines in the past.
Andriy Shevchenko’s Chelsea statistics
Appearances
77
Goals
22
Assists
12
7Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United
Transfer fee: Free
When Alexis Sanchez left Arsenal for United, he was widely regarded as the league’s greatest player. He was a phenomenon at the Emirates, and the notion of him leading the show at the Theatre of Dreams was terrifying for competitors.
They didn’t need to worry, as it turned out. Sanchez scored only three league goals in one and a half seasons in the northwest. His outrageous weekly salary of £560,000 was a huge strain for United, especially given that he spent the majority of his career on the bench. He was eventually leased to Inter Milan, but United continued to pay him £200,000 per week. Some argue that Sanchez is one of United’s worst signings of all time.
Alexis Sanchez’s Manchester United statistics
Appearances
45
Goals
5
Assists
9
6Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona
Transfer fee: £108 million
The initial issue with the transfer was that the players did not want the club to sign Griezmann. Not the manager. In reality, the transaction summed up the status of the Barcelona board at the time.
The Frenchman was signed to a massive contract that imposed so much financial burden on the club that it was a major influence in the ultimate departure of their most valuable asset, Lionel Messi. Griezmann had a difficult time at Camp Nou, and the board ultimately chose to loan him back to Atlético Madrid.
The hitch, however, was that the loan included an optional future cost of £54 million, which Atletico promptly activated. You can guarantee Simeone slept well that week, knowing he had successfully duped the great Barcelona out of over £50 million. Have some of it.
Antoine Griezmann’s Barcelona statistics
Appearances
102
Goals
35
Assists
17
5Antony to Manchester United
Transfer fee: £89 million
Antony’s big-money transfer to Manchester United has been nothing short of disastrous. According to reports, the club did not want to pay more than £60 million for him, but Ajax was able to negotiate a deal worth £89 million. In return, the winger scored only five goals in 62 Premier League appearances.
Incredibly, he scored three league goals in his first three games before scoring only two more in his following 58. He is unquestionably the club’s worst-ever signing, and he has almost definitely played his last game for the club.
Antony’s Manchester United statistics
Appearances
96
Goals
12
Assists
5
4Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea
Transfer fee: £97.5 million
Chelsea will appear on this list more than once, since the west London club has been one of the most active clubs in the world football transfer market during the last 20 years. Romelu Lukaku was expected to be the returning hero as Chelsea pounced to capture their former Belgian forward following his Serie A triumph at Inter Milan. It was supposed to be a romantic scenario about a striker returning to a club where he had previously failed and leading them to the Premier League title.
Instead, it swiftly turned into a nightmare as Lukaku lost his starting spot in Thomas Tuchel’s team and went on to give an unsanctioned interview with Sky Italy, expressing his desire to return to Inter. This certainly did not sit well with the club or the supporters, and the former Manchester United forward was loaned out following an extraordinarily unsuccessful season at Stamford Bridge. Given the financial implications, it could go down as the worst singing in Premier League history.
Romelu Lukaku’s Chelsea statistics
Appearances
59
Goals
15
Assists
3
3Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona
Transfer fee: £121.50 million (Approx)
Barcelona sold the Brazilian for a loss of almost £100 million following one of the most disappointing transfers in history. Coutinho had been brilliant in the Premier League for Liverpool, and he was desperate to join the Spanish club, even submitting a transfer request to complete the deal.
Given the high expectations surrounding the blockbuster move, it would be generous to say that the Brazil international flattered to deceive in Barcelona’s famed shirt. And don’t forget the two goals he scored against them when on loan at Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals – what a joke.
Philippe Coutinho’s Barcelona statistics
Appearances
106
Goals
25
Assists
14
2Neymar to Al Hilal
Transfer fee: £77.6m
When Neymar left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain, he appeared to be the player who would finally claim the title that had been shared by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for so long. However, while he fared well in Paris, he did not improve significantly, and his inability to win the Champions League left many with mixed feelings about his time in France.
A 2023 move to Al Hilal suggested that his finest years were behind him. However, at £77.6 million and £1.6 million a week – the world’s third highest wages – the Saudi Pro League giants would have expected a lot more from the Brazilian. He left in January 2025, having made only seven appearances for the club. Although injuries were the cause, this was a terrible waste of money.
Neymar’s Al Hilal Statistics
Appearances
7
Goals
1
Assists
3
1Eden Hazard to Real Madrid
Transfer fee: £103 million rising to £135 million
The Belgian scored just one goal in his debut season in the Spanish capital, adding to the already simmering rage among Madrid fans after he arrived at pre-season seven kg overweight.
Hazard was later observed laughing with former Chelsea colleagues after the club eliminated Los Blancos from the Champions League, and he spent the majority of his time in Spain sidelined due to recurring ailments. After failing to meet the enormous expectations that he arrived with in 2019, the winger resigned from football in 2023 at the age of 32. It was disappointing to watch one of the Premier League’s greatest players depart in such dismal fashion. This is the worst signing of all time, given how much he cost Madrid, how terrible his return was, and how significant his decrease in form was compared to his time at Chelsea.
Eden Hazard’s Real Madrid statistics
Appearances
76
Goals
7
Assists
12
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