From Legend To Bust – Sagas Of Transfers Gone Horribly Wrong

 

It’s that time of year again when Football discussions make a paradigm shift from league positions and results to the players’ worth and transfer status. The time of the year when teams seek the services of fabled players and new legends are “born” (or should we say recruited). With rival clubs fighting for new players and players flirting with clubs all over Europe, transfers provide another dimension to the entertainment of our beloved game. Success or failure whatever maybe the case new signings bring a lot of hope and entertainment during the lull of the season end.

Many a great coaches have made their names by thriving on the edge they have secured by capturing some of the best players from the market. With Oil money an ever increasing influence in the Transfer market, mind boggling sums of money are being offered by teams to secure the services of esteemed players. But, these stories are not always fables with “Happy Endings”. Here is a look at some high profile signings gone badly wrong for some of the top clubs of Europe in recent years.

Andy Carroll (Newcastle United to Liverpool F.C.)- 35 Million Pounds.

Carroll

Over the years the Merseyside club has had the honor of having engaged the services of some top strikers from Michael Owen to Fernando Torres. The 31st of January, 2011 will go down in the history of Liverpool as a red letter day for the events of that day were shocking to a biblical proportion. The shock of Torres’ transfer was replaced by speculation over the new signing. The sensation from Newcastle United, for a sensation he had indeed been that season, scoring 11 goals in the first half of the Premier League and having been instrumental in their return to the top flight of English Football. At the age of 22 years, he was the most expensive signing Liverpool had ever made. The time to come would however be torrid for both Carroll and Liverpool supporters as the player produced hardly any good performances. As of today under Brendan Rodgers Liverpool are keen to offload the striker.

Juan Sebastian Veron (Lazio to Manchester United)- 28.1 Million Pounds.

A big black blot on the impeccable managerial era of Sir Alex Ferguson. After giving massive performances for Parma and Lazio in Italy Manchester United showed massive interest in the Argentine midfielder. So much was the interest that Sir Alex was willing to shell out in excess of 28 Million Pounds- an English record signing amount at that time. From the starting he struggled in the Premier League never looking comfortable and hardly having an influence on the game. His performances constantly drew flak from the media leading to outbursts by Sir Alex. After considerable opportunities wasted at Manchester United, he was sold off to Chelsea for around 15 Million pounds.

Andriy Shevchenko (A.C.Milan to Chelsea)- 30.8 Million Pounds.

Shevchenko

If there is a transfer that failed, it is this, it is this, it is this. As the new owners of Chelsea F.C. Roman Abrahimovic was keen to bring in the world’s best players to London. In this quest, his eyes fell on Europe’s supreme talent Shevchenko. For the Ballon d’Or winner in 2004, Chelsea was willing to offer money and striker Hernan Crespo but Milan held Chelsea off. The next year however he moved to Chelsea for a record English transfer fee of 30.8 million Pounds. It was widely speculated that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had no intentions of bringing Sheva to Stamford Bridge but the Chief Executive was adamant on it. He had an ordinary first season at the Bridge and was injured during the final days missing key fixtures. The next season also his performances were not very eye catching and eventually he lost his squad position to an ever improving Didier Drogba. His lack of match opportunity at Chelsea led to him being loaned back to Milan. But the famed Andriy Shevchenko the Champion and best player of Europe was never to re merge again.

Jose Antonio Reyes (Seville to Arsenal)- 17 Million Pounds.

Reyes

The promising youngster was brought by Arsene Wenger from Seville with a reputation to live up to during the Winter transfer window of 2003-04. His half season at the Emirates showed his promise but not the form expected from him. His next season start gave new hope to Arsenal in the player. But his form took a sudden dip after the defeat at Old Trafford. He went most of the remaining season without any outstanding performance. The most infuriating aspect of his failure was that his immense talent could not be unleashed by Wenger, even though he played with some of the most outstanding bunch of players and was given regular starts with the team. He was loaned out to Real Madrid before moving on to Athletico Madrid.

Ricardo Kaka (A.C.Milan to Real Madrid)- 65 Million Euros.

Kaka

Arguably the one of the best player of his generation, Ricardo Kaka was the central figure of an all conquering squad at A.C.Milan. Real Madrid’s keen interest in the player was well known. Kaka fended off a transfer request in the winter transfer window of 2008-09. But, the Rossoneri could not retain the player. Scenes of fans standing outside his home as he held up his Milan jersey were soon removed from the magazines as he moved to Madrid during the subsequent transfer window. But his performances at Milan could not be replicated at Madrid as injuries plagued him. The emergence of Cristiano Ronaldo has taken the limelight off him and reduced him to playing second fiddle to Mesut Ozil. During the 2011-12 season, Kaka made some good outings but doubts still remain of his role in Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Internazionale to Barcelona)- 69 Million Euros.

Ibrahimovic

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell called him the worst signing of Barcelona. At a time when Barcelona was trying to get rid of the Egos in the squad new coach Pep Guardiola made the choice of bringing in a strong, tall and technically sound player at a mammoth price. In a clear footballing sense, Ibra performed well within Barcelona. He scored goals and in general responded well to the new playing style implemented. But his ouster from the central striker role and reliance of Barcelona on Lionel Messi led to differences between the Manager and the Swede. To such an extent did their arguments reach that Ibra even threatened to physically assault Guardiola. He was later loaned and then transferred to A.C.Milan.

Ricardo Quaresma (Porto to Internazionale)- 18.6 Million Euros + Player(Pele)

Quaresma

A tricky customer at the wings, Quaresma was famous at FC Porto for his tricks and speed with the ball on the wings. This led to his transfer to Inter in 2008. But what followed was abysmal at every level. Mistakes at the wings with loss of possession, bad passing, and retaining ball when he should be passing all became the order of the day. Mourinho showed a lot of faith initially maybe to justify the price tag but his patience also ran out with the player. Such was his form in Italy that he was pronounced as the worst footballer of Serie A in 2008 season. He was loaned off to Chelsea for the latter half of the 2008-09 season. Upon his return in the new season, Mourinho bestowed upon him the No.7 shirt vacated by legend Luis Figo but his form never reignited.

Here’s Hoping that your club’s new signings don’t make it to this list and attain glory unparalleled.