Liverpool are undoubtedly one of the most famous in England but that doesn’t mean they’re exempt from making poor buys in the transfer market. So far this window we’ve seen Jürgen Klopp spend a club record fee on £34m on Mohammed Salah, with rumours that the Reds are set to spend another £60m on incoming players.
Klopp’s reign at the club offers hope for Liverpool fans, hope that they will no longer be a comedy show in the transfer window.
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In some comical scenarios Liverpool have simply signed the wrong player, in other cases, the player choosing Liverpool made the wrong decision for himself. Some of the players mentioned in this article would have been better off at other rival clubs.
Here are 5 players who shouldn’t have signed for Liverpool.
#5 Stewart Downing
Back in 2011, Stewart Downing was tipped as England’s next great winger. Being a big fish in the small pond of Middlesbrough elevated Downing’s status to stardom and the British press lapped it up.
He stood out at the Riverside Stadium and quickly became a marquee player for them. Despite all the promise and hype from the English media, Downing only scored 7 goals in 91 appearances for the Reds.
It’s not that the Englishman was a poor footballer, he just wasn’t a player up to the standards of Liverpool Football Club. In the end, fans now look back at Downing as a waste of £18.5m.
#4 Alberto Moreno
Once tipped as the most promising left-back in Europe, Alberto Moreno has become nothing but a benchwarmer at Liverpool. When you’re deemed not good enough to start over James Milner at left-back, then something is truly wrong.
In addition to that, any time the Spaniard has stepped onto a pitch for the Reds, he’s displayed a gung-ho mentality that shows no discipline or restraint. His performances have shown no tactical or game understanding, often costing Liverpool.
In return, Jürgen Klopp has left him to rot on the bench, even though their only other LB in Joe Gomez was out injured. Instead of helping Liverpool offset their defensive problems, the Spaniard is now a £70,000-a-week burden.
#3 Fernando Morientes
After lighting up La Liga with Real Madrid, everybody expected the Spaniard to follow suit in the Premier League. Instead, Rafa Benitez’s experiment was made to look uninspiring. The fact Morientes was 28 when he arrived at Anfield may have played a contributing factor but the hype set out before him negated that fact.
Despite scoring close to 100 goals for Real Madrid, Morientes was only able to muster up 12 goals in 60 appearances for the Reds. Overall, the Spaniard only lasted in England for 18 months before returning to his homeland with his tail between his legs.
#2 Andy Carroll
To be fair to Kenny Dalglish, at the time, the signing of Andy Carroll didn’t seem completely absurd. The Newcastle striker was seen as a more powerful and clinical Peter Crouch. He was seen as a target man that possesses technique and aerial presence.
However, after costing the Reds £35m, the fans were expecting the big man to land on his feet instantly, which injuries didn't allow him to do.
He was bought in January, but his fitness only allowed him to debut in March. On top of that, he only scored 2 goals for the remainder of that season, the next season, he played 35 times and scored 4 goals. These figures wouldn’t even be deemed acceptable for a relegation-battling side.
Apart from his dire performances, Carroll offered Liverpool nothing, he didn’t score enough goals, he didn’t create chances for others and off the pitch, his marketability didn’t recoup his £35m price tag.
#1 El Hadji Diouf
It’s bad enough that the Senegalese striker had a big mouth, poor attitude and appalling dress sense, it’s worse that his goalscoring record was literally non-existent. In 55 appearances for Liverpool, El Hadji Diouf, who was a striker lest we forget, only managed to score 3 goals. Yes, THREE goals from a STRIKER in FIFTY-FIVE appearances.
Moments of madness rather than moments of brilliance defined the striker’s career at Anfield. He will forever go down in history as the man that spat at a fan, leading to a formal police investigation. Without question, El Hadji Diouf should have never signed for Liverpool and the Reds should never have wasted £10m on him.
Now the former Senegalese international spends his days running his mouth about Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, the man will literally do anything for attention.
