Hundreds of millions for nothing: the biggest transfer flops of the top clubs

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Every summer, Europe’s top clubs spend huge sums of money to recruit new players. But not everyone can live up to the high expectations and disappoint. A selection.

In 2017, Chelsea transferred about 66 million euros to Real Madrid and secured Alvaro Morata (30). But the Spaniard failed to hit London and left the English capital two years and just 24 goals later. Morata now plays for Atletico Madrid.

In the summer of 2019, Nicolas Pépé (29) was the transfer target of many top clubs in Europe. In the end, the Ivorian chose Arsenal FC. The North Londoners had to transfer 80 million euros to OSC Lille for the offensive player. But Pepe disappointed. In 80 league games he scored just 16 goals. In the summer of 2022, he was loaned to Nice.

Manchester United paid 87 million euros to Leicester City in 2019 to secure the services of Harry Maguire (30). The central defender may have been promoted to captain of the Red Devils, but he has become known more for his hair-raising mistakes than for good defensive work. He is now on the sidelines at United.

As a great hope, Paul Pogba (30) switched from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016 for 105 million euros. Although the Frenchman spent six years at Old Trafford, he always lived up to expectations and was even booed by his own fans towards the end of his tenure. In 2022 he finally transferred to Juventus on a free transfer, where he has been plagued by bad luck with injuries ever since. Now a move to Saudi Arabia should be in the room.

The next Chelsea striker on the list. Romelu Lukaku (30) switched from Inter Milan to Chelsea in 2021 for 113 million euros. But the transfer turned out to be a misunderstanding. The Belgian scored just eight times in 26 Premier League games and also fell out with then coach Thomas Tuchel. Lukaku was loaned out to former club Inter after just a year. He is now back at Chelsea, but a final move from the beefy striker to Inter should be decided in the coming days.

One of the most prominent transfer flops in recent history. Real Madrid took over Eden Hazard (32) from Chelsea in the summer of 2019 for 115 million euros. The Belgian, who was one of the best football players in the world for The Blues, would become the new face of Los Blancos. But instead of magic and goals, Hazard only brought trouble to Madrid. He couldn’t handle the pressure and always had problems with his body weight. In 54 league games he met only four times, now he is without a club. After all: because he was in Real’s selection in 2022, he can officially call himself a Champions League winner.

In the winter of 2018, FC Barcelona bought Philippe Coutinho (31) from Liverpool for 120 million euros. The Brazilian attacking player disappointed across the board and was never worth the money. In 2019 he was permanently loaned to Bayern Munich, where he won the Champions League a year later. Even after the loan, he could not get a foothold in Barcelona and was eventually sold for 20 million euros to Aston Villa in the Premier League.

The next Barca flop. A year after Coutinho, the Catalans tried to put Antoine Griezmann (32) to the test. Barcelona also paid €120 million to Atletico Madrid for the Frenchman – and were bitterly disappointed. The striker could never match his performance at Atletico and left two years after his transfer to his ex-club. (byl)

Source : Blick