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Has Neymar been a failure at Paris St.Germain (PSG)? When the French champions made him the most expensive footballer in the world by breaking the bank and activating his release clause to bring him from Barcelona, they wanted European glory. Neymar, admittedly, has failed to deliver it yet despite PSG making it to their maiden Champions League final this year.
Neymar, despite scoring goals and helping the team to multiple domestic titles, has been a bit of a mixed bag in Paris. The footballer has suffered with injuries and blighted his reputation with his erratic behaviour.
But his spell in PSG continues, and it isn't yet time to declare him a failed big-money footballer. However, history has seen many footballers who fall into that category.
Footballers are, after all, one of the most prized commodities in the postmodern world we inhabit, and the best of them are traded for huge sums by clubs.
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For some like Juan Sebastian Veron who joined Manchester United for £24.3 million way back in 2001 or Luka Jovic who joined Real Madrid last season for £53.5 million, the price tag can weigh very heavy.
In this article, we will take a look at ten such big-buy footballers who failed to live up to their expectations.
10 big-money footballers who failed miserably:
#10 Robbie Keane
Big things were expected of Robbie Keane when he was bought by Liverpool from Tottenham for a whopping £20.3 million back in 2011. It is safe to say that Rafa Benitez's gamble did not pay off as Keane went back to London to the club he came from after spending just six months in Merseyside in a spell in which he almost forgot where the net was.
#9 Juan Sebastian Veron
When Juan Sebastian Veron arrived at Old Trafford, he was deemed to be one of the best footballers in the world. Sir Alex Ferguson was looking for some world-class guile in his midfield to take Manchester United back to the top of Europe.
Veron was the most expensive English transfer of the period. It is safe to say that the legendary Old Trafford boss did not get it from Veron in the 82 matches he played. The skillful midfielder struggled to adapt to the faster pace of the Premier League and also suffered a serious injury in his second season.
He was promptly moved on to Chelsea where he struggled again before going back to Italy where the Argentinian had made his name originally.
#8 Denilson de Oliviera
We go back further in time with this one. In 1998, Brazilian winger Denilson was made the most expensive footballer in the world by Spanish club Real Betis who shelled out £21.5 million for his services. He played for the club in 186 games but bizarrely, Betis were relegated to the Segunda division in his first season.
Though he was more productive in his later season, he had become a squad player by the time the Seville club made it to the Champions League in 2004-05. He scored just 13 times during his spell at Betis.
#7 Carlos Tevez
It is remarkable that Carlos Tevez is still playing football back in Argentina for Boca Juniors. Tevez was one of the best strikers of his time, especially during spells with the two Manchester Clubs.
However, Tevez has to feature on this list for his disastrous spell with Shanghai Shenhua in 2017. He moved to the Far East for a whopping £71.6 million and was reportedly made the highest-paid footballer in the world, but the Argentine played just 20 times for the club in which he scored four goals.
He was deemed overweight and unfit by the team, and it was clear he did not take his spell in China seriously, even calling it a 'holiday'. Just that it was the greatest paid-holiday in the history of mankind.
#6 Gaizka Mendieta
Time for us to go back in time again. Gaizka Mendieta was one of the most highly-rated creative midfielders in the world when he moved to Lazio for €47.7 million in 2001 from Valencia.
However, that was the beginning of the end for the Spaniard. Made the sixth-most expensive footballer at the time, Mendieta failed horribly in Italy, not even getting one goal in 31 games before he was loaned out to Barcelona where he had another underwhelming season.
Football is a cruel game, and his great exploits with Valencia were quickly forgotten as he moved to Middlesborough before rapping up his career.
#5 Fernando Torres
Some may question this selection. After all, Fernando Torres netted a dramatic goal that helped Chelsea reach the Champions League final they won in 2012.
However, considering he was considered the best striker of his generation when he made the contentious move to the Blues from Liverpool for £50 million, he has to be termed one of the biggest big-money flops ever.
He scored 20 times in 111 Premier League games, but Chelsea fans still hold him in high regard because of that one moment. Football, after all, is inherently a game of emotions that can mask the financial aspect of it in its most poignant moments.
#4 Thomas Lemar
Thomas Lemar has to feature on this list because of the amount Atletico Madrid shelled out on him.
After impressing for Monaco in Ligue 1, Lemar was one of the hottest prospects in the world as Atletico won the race to sign him for £55 million.
However, in two seasons, Lemar has only scored four times in 72 games, and Atletico are actively looking to move him on, with coach Diego Simeone himself admitting that the move has been a flop.
At 24, the footballer has a chance to resurrect his career, but it is safe to say that Lemar's Madrid experience has set him back.
#3 Angel Di Maria
Angel Di Maria remains one of the best attackers in the world. His nightmare at Manchester United has not dented his reputation whatsoever as the Argentine rediscovered his class and touch for Paris Saint Germain.
But who can forget the disaster that was his £59.7 million move to Old Trafford? Bizarrely, Di Maria was disposed off by Real Madrid after helping them to win the La Decima. To be fair to him, Di Maria didn't even want to be at United.
That, however, did not stop him from showing his class in the first month where he became the club's player of the month. However, everything went downhill from there on as the then record signing entered an endless rut of poor form and injuries from which PSG rescued him.
#2 Alexis Sanchez
In what turned out to be possibly the most disappointing transfer in modern football, Manchester United expected that the world will be at their feet when Alexis Sanchez moved to Old Trafford. After all, he had established himself as one of the best attackers in the game at Arsenal.
However, what began was a constant nightmare for club and player with Sanchez never moving past first gear every time he put on a United shirt. United paid £59.3 million in wages to the Chilean, in return for which they got just three Premier League goals.
Now at Inter Milan, Sanchez said he wanted to go back to Arsenal after his first training session. This was clearly a match made in hell.
#1 Kaka
Kaka is the last footballer to win the Ballon D'Or before the Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly began. Yes, he was the greatest footballer of his time at his peak. Sadly, that peak was not at Real Madrid. He moved to the club after capturing the imagination of the world at AC Milan and was made the second-most expensive player in the world by Los Blancos.
Injuries, lack of form and the arrival of younger talents such as Mesut Ozil led to Kaka slowly becoming a fringe player at Los Blancos. He scored 29 times and assisted 32 goals in 132 appearances for the club.
One huge reason why he is included here is because Real Madrid actually sold him back to Milan for a huge loss. In four seasons at the Spanish club, he won the league with them only once, with Real also undergoing a barren spell in Europe.
Honourable mentions:
Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea), Andy Caroll (Liverpool), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona), Jackson Martinez (Atletico Madrid), Danny Drinkwater (Chelsea), Tiemoue Bakayoko (Chelsea), Leonardo Bonucci (AC Milan).
Note: Players such as Philippe Coutinho, Eden Hazard and Antoine Griezmann are not included as their spells are ongoing.
