The Top Five Worst Wingers Of The Premier League Era

David Tully

4 years ago

Categories: Galleries, West Ham United News

Tags: Angel Di Maria, Arsenal, aston villa, Bebe, Chelsea, Everton, Joey Beauchamp, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Southampton, Spurs, West Ham, Wolves

Following our look at the worst central midfielders of the Premier League era last week, we now move on to the wide positions.

Usually, wingers tend to find it the easiest to adapt to the English game, especially these days when fullbacks tend to bomb on and leave gaps in behind to exploit.

However, not every player is cut out for the speed and physicality of top-flight football in this country, and the names on this list all failed to make an impression despite some sizeable transfer fees.

Press the next page, as we countdown the worst wingers in the Premier League over the past thirty years.

5) Angel Di Maria (Manchester United)

The Argentinian international was a top player before he moved to Old Trafford for a British record fee of £59.7m in 2014. However, he failed to settle in Manchester, scoring four goals in 32 appearances.

Di Maria was sold for £44m to Paris Saint-Germain just eleven months later, where he has performed to a very high level over the past five years.

4) Albert Luque (Newcastle)

The Spaniard had built a reputation for himself whilst at Deportivo La Coruna and it seemed like a good decision by the Magpies to shell out £9m in 2005.

However, persistent injuries and poor form meant Luque scored just three goals in 36 appearances during his two-year spell at St James’ Park

3) Ahmed Musa (Leicester)

The Nigerian international cost the Foxes a club record £16.6m from CSKA Moscow in July 2016 but despite the costly outlay, he struggled to establish himself as a first-team player.

Musa made just seven league starts during his first campaign, scoring two goals. He didn’t feature at all for Leicester in the Premier League during his second season before being loaned back to his former club CSKA.

2) Bebe (Manchester United)

The story goes that Sir Alex Ferguson had never seen the Portuguese winger play before he joined from Vitoria Guimaraes in 2010 for £7.4m. It is believed he trusted the recommendation of former assistant Carlos Queiroz.

The United manager quickly realised the signing was a mistake with Bebe making just seven appearances for the club before going on a series of loan spells. He was eventually sold to Benfica for a loss in 2014.

1) Joey Beauchamp (West Ham)

The winger was signed by the Hammers for a club-record £1.2m in 1994, but within 58 days he had left to join Swindon Town in a swap deal for Adrian Whitbread.

Beauchamp’s swift departure is attributed to the bizarre reason that the player was not happy with commuting from Oxford to West Ham’s training ground every day.