The Worst Transfers In Football

July 31, 2019, by Jake Woodward

Worst Transfers In Football

Fernando Torres to Chelsea

In 2011, Chelsea dished out £50 million to sign Fernando Torres, who back then was aged 26, from Liverpool. This fee was record-breaking at the time. Torres did have the reputation of being a prolific goal scorer, his first seasons with Liverpool was great, he scored 33 goals in 46 appearances. After this, we witnessed a steady decline His performance was compromised over his next few seasons due to injuries, but he still managed to find the net at least some of the time. He hit a low in his 2010 - 11 season, scoring just nine goals in 26 appearances. As the days went by, Torres seemed to be struggling more than before.

This move, naturally, stunned football pundits and fans alike, and as most of them predicted, Torres struggled at Stamford Bridge, scoring only 20 goals in 110 appearances.

Andy Carroll to Liverpool

31st January of 2011, on the last day of the winter transfers window, Andy Carroll was signed to Liverpool from Newcastle United on a five and a half year contract for a fee of £35 million. The then 22-year-old was brought in to replace Torres, who, as a result of another wrong choice, was signed by Chelsea. Taking all things into consideration, this seems like a quick, last minute decision. Carroll was good at Newcastle, but he had just begun his professional career with them a few years ago. He hadn't yet, at the time, had the chance to prove himself. He left with 11 goals in 58 appearances.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona

Inter Milan sold Zlatan Ibrahimovic for £42.5 million to Barcelona in 2009. This deal included Inter's striker Samuel Eto'o as well. The outcome problem with this transfer was that expectations were as high as his ego. His was no room for his arrogant attitude, and he just didn't fit in with other big personalities. Ibrahimovic's form at Inter was great, but his behaviour, not so much. He ended up flopping at Barcelona, his season was rocky, to say the least. He left the club after a falling out with Pep Guardiola, who was his manager back then.

Samuel Eto'o didn't find his footing as well, and he was sold the next season.

Bebe to Manchester United

In one of the more odd transfers of the footballing realm, Tiago Correia, more commonly known as Bebe was signed to Manchester United for £7.4million. That might not seem like much money for the Premier League giants at the height of their career under Sir Alex Ferguson, but the head coach later revealed that he had never heard of Bebe before. Ferguson based his decision on the recommendation of former assistant Carlos Queiroz.

Before Bebe's transfer, he played only one season of professional with the Portuguese club Estrela da Amadora and a pre-season with Vitoria de Guimaraes. He performed immensely well, and Jorge Mendes spotted him. In a matter of months, he found himself on English soil, where he was a complete fish out of the water, and naturally, he flopped. In his four year career with the Red Devils, he only made seven goalless appearances.

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