Top 20 Worst Premier League Transfers In January PART THREE

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2 years ago

Tags: Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Leeds, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Southampton, Spurs, ston Villa, West Ham, Wolves

Following our second article last week, we now continue our count down of the worst transfers to take place in January during the Premier League era.

It isn’t always easy to get a new signing in through the door midway through the season, and clubs sometimes have to compromise in terms of pursuing targets that might not be their first choice.

This can lead to some disastrous decisions being made, and there are certainly one or two players mentioned in our post today who really should not have been bought.

Press the next page as we list our worst Premier League signings in January (numbers 12 to 9).

12) Jean Makoun (Lyon to Aston Villa – £6.2m – 2011)

The Cameroon international was sent off in just his fourth match for Villa, and he only made eight appearances in total for the Midlands club.

After just six months, Makoun was loaned out to Olympiakos before leaving for Rennes on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee, which was reportedly around £2.5m.

11) James Beattie (Southampton to Everton – £6m – 2005)

The striker scored 17 goals for Southampton in the 2003/04 campaign, leading to him getting called up for England. Despite an average start to the following season, Everton shelled out a large sum on Beattie in the 2005 January transfer window.

He was sent off in only his fifth game for the club, and he scored just twice in the second half of the campaign. Beattie improved in his first full season, scoring 11 but the 2006/07 campaign was disastrous, scoring just twice in all competitions. He was sold at a loss to Sheffield United.

10) Wayne Bridge (Chelsea to Manchester City – £10m – 2009)

The England international had performed well at Chelsea, despite being Ashley Cole’s understudy at Stamford Bridge, but his switch to City didn’t go to plan.

Bridge was a regular starter for the first 18 months but manager Roberto Mancini dropped him for the start of the 2010/11 season. Despite earning £90,000 a week, he was loaned out three times before eventually leaving on a free transfer in 2013.

9) Afonso Alves (Heerenveen – Middlesbrough £12.5m – 2008)

The Brazilian’s transfer to Middlesbrough is one of the most notorious in Premier League history. His form in Holland was sensational, having bagged 37 goals in the 2006/07 season for Heerenveen, and he continued that form into 2007/08, scoring SEVEN in one match against Heracles. That led to Boro shelling out a sizeable transfer fee on him.

Alves did have a good start after arriving at the Riverside Stadium, scoring six in 11 appearances over the second half of the 2007/08 season (including a hat-trick on the final day against City). However, the following campaign saw him score just six in total, leading to him being shipped out Al-Sadd after failing to prevent the Teessiders from being relegated.