DEADLINE DAY
Over the years, there have many successful last minute deals as clubs pull off unexpected swoops for world class players under their rivals' noses. Successful deals include: Luis Suarez for Liverpool, Carlos Tevez for West Ham (the dodgiest deal of the decade), and Ashley Cole for Chelsea. Some however, have gone disastrously wrong. I feel the main reasons for these failures is:
A) Due to the lack of scouting of the player with little consideration as to how the player will fit into the team tactics
A) Due to the lack of scouting of the player with little consideration as to how the player will fit into the team tactics
B) The unjustified nature of the transfer as clubs attempt to restore false optimism after a bad start to the season
C) Selling clubs can massively hike up their price due to the buyer's inelastic demand.
Whichever the reason, here are 5 of the worst last minute deals that have had football clubs wishing they hadn't made.
1) FERNANDO TORRES to Chelsea, January 2011
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Let's start with the first one that pops into everyone's head when thinking of failed football transfers. Fernando Torres' time may have had few highs (Securing Chelsea's place in the Champions League final) but most of it has been very very low (That miss at Old Trafford). Brought in by Roman Abramovich as a long time replacement for the aging Didier Drogba, this transfer was a prime example of a club attempting to regain the fans' backing after a torrid winter which left Chelsea trailing behind in the title hunt. Torres would go on to score just 1 goal in 18 appearances for Chelsea in 2010/11
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| The Premier League table before Torres' arrival at the Bridge |
I believe there were a lot of reasons why this transfer failed. Firstly, Torres had suffered many injuries in the previous season, and had hardly gotten off to a firing start to 2010/11, leaving him low on confidence prior to his transfer. Secondly, the humongous fee did little to lift any pressure on him, meaning he would have to be scoring at least once every other game to even slightly justify £50 million. However, I think the main reason was like Andriy Shevchenko, he simply didn't fit Chelsea's style of play. He was a completely different player to Drogba and wasn't given any time to learn the new tactics or gel with his new teammates, it's no wonder he couldn't rediscover his wonderful Liverpool form. It's a shame that a player once renowned for one of the best in the world in 2009 will be forever marred by his torrid time at Chelsea
2) PAUL KONCHESKY to Liverpool, August 2010
FEE: £4 MILLION
3) ROBINHO to Manchester City, August 2008
FEE: £32.5 MILLION
It is almost 5 years to the day that the Abu Dhabi revolution began at Eastlands, and English football was flipped upside down. All summer long, Robinho had been seeking a move to Chelsea, and Chelsea were returning the favour. He did move to a team in blue, but it was sky blue. New financial powerhouses Manchester City swept in at the final moment to snatch the Brazilian under Chelsea's noses, obliterating the previous transfer record of £19 million and sending a huge statement of intent on the Premier League. It came to much surprise to everyone, even the man himself who still thought he was off to Chelsea:
Don't get me wrong, Robinho had a good first season at his new clubs, unlike the rest on this list, scoring 15 goals and becoming the fourth top scorer in the Premier League for 2008/09. Not bad for a mid table side at the time. However, his second season in Manchester went disastrously, as he missed 3 months of the season due to injury and played just 12 games. Most notably, in a 2-0 defeat to Everton, Robinho was humiliated as he came on as a substitute in the 9th minute and was substituted again in the 60th minute. Like Konchesky he would be loaned away to Santos and later sold to AC Milan for £15 million. A £17.5 million loss. Robinho stated in an interview that he couldn't properly settle in England (the weather being his main complaint) and that the Man City management didn't do enough to make him feel happy to play in a City shirt.
4) ALFONSO ALVES to Middlesbrough, January 2008
FEE: £13 MILLION
Alfonso Alves arrived in England with a very glamorous goalscoring record. For his former club SC Heerenveen, he had scored a mind blowing 37 goals in 38 appearances in 2006/07, and 11 goals in 10 appearances in the first half of 2008/08. He even scored 7 goals in one game once. So when Middlesborough paid 20 million euros for the Brazilian, they must have thought they had struck a bargain who would tear the rest of the Premier League's defences to shreds.
Wrong. Whilst Alves' record was undoubtedly impressive, he was unable to replicate his form in England where he scored just 7 goals in his first season at Boro. In his second season, he managed a pitiful 6 goals in his first full season at the Riverside, meaning Middlesbrough had paid £1 million for every goal he scored. Ouch. They were relegated and Alves was sold to Al-Sadd for £7 million, a £6 million loss with little to show for it.
The reasons for his failure at Boro are unknown, but I believe that he simply couldn't adapt to the new physical style of football in England and didn't get much support from his club to help him settle into a new country. After all, both Alves and Mido failed to turn up for pre-season training showing that they were clearly unhappy at the club. I feel clubs should do a lot more to help their new signings feel happy in a new country rather than shunting them onto a pitch expecting instant results.
5) PETER ODEMWINGIE to QPR, January 2013
Oh wait...
The real 5) ANDY CARROLL to Liverpool, January 2011
FEE: £35 MILLION
In some ways I feel a bit sorry for Andy Carroll. No one forced Liverpool to smash their transfer record and spend £35 million on a mostly unproven 22 year old from Newcastle, instantly shoving him into the media spotlight and placing him under huge pressure to succeed at his new club. Then again, I'm not earning £60,000 a week.
Andy Carroll's move to Liverpool is the perfect example of clubs making a panicked and stupidly expensive move on deadline day. After the sale of Torres, Liverpool found themselves with no true first team strikers and a pot full of cash. So they swiftly threw money at Ajax and Newcastle for transfers of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll respectively. Whilst Suarez prospered at his new club, Carroll managed just 2 goals in his first 4 months at Anfield. In his first full season with the Reds (2011/12), he could manage just 9 goals in 47 appearances. It could be argued that Carroll isn't a goal scoring player and instead is used to make chances for his strike partner. However, he couldn't even succeed in that department. He made 0 assists in 2010/11 and only 4 assists in 2011/12 (so much for the the deadly Carroll-Suarez partnership eh..). He would be loaned and then sold to West Ham United for £15 million. A £20 million loss.
I feel this transfer failed because Carroll just didn't fit into the Liverpool system. He was a target man and Liverpool's tactic was to have 1 poacher upfront to get the goals. This is why Suarez succeeded as he could seamlessly fit the Torres role, and Carroll was left in obscurity.
There you have my 5 worst deadline day deals. I hope your team's day is fruitful tomorrow (unless your team is a Championship promotion rival) and if your rivals do sign someone who looks good, fear not. They could end up like one of the flops above!
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