Last summer, we all witnessed one of the craziest transfer windows of all time. Clubs in the top 5 European leagues completed deals worth £3.98 billion, which was up 23% on last year’s figure.
PSG's world record Neymar deal which stunned the world was followed by Mbappe's record move to Paris Saint-Germain. Some of the other biggest deals of the summer include Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata, and Ousmane Dembele. Clubs like PSG, Everton, AC Milan, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona have spent more than €150m during the summer transfer window.
Transfer window offered some surprises like Paulinho's move to Barcelona, Manchester United's deal for Matic, and AC Milan's deal for Leonardo Bonucci. Many flourished under the new team while some struggled to adapt and failed miserably.
Let's see the worst transfer flops of 2017/18:
#5 Federico Bernardeschi
Federico Bernardeschi's move from Fiorentina to Juventus was one of the big surprises of 2017. The Italian winger had a good 2016/17 season with Fiorentina, scoring 11 league goals and moved to Juventus for a fee of around €40 million.
Bernardeschi is a creative player with quick feet and can dribble beautifully. His work rate is first-rate and is also capable of playing in several other positions.
A lot was expected of the 23-year-old but he struggled to reproduce his Fiorentina form. Except for the stunning volley against struggling SPAL at the Allianz Stadium, Bernardeschi failed to impress at Juventus.
He made a total of 13 appearances for Juventus this season in Serie A and UEFA Champions League, 10 of them came off the bench. Bernardeschi has scored twice and assisted two more. He struggled for game time and many feel he moved a season too early.
He made a total of 7 key passes in his 328 minutes for Juventus and was dispossessed 11 times. Massimiliano Allegri believes in his potential but so far he has not proved why he is worth €40 million worth.
Also read: 5 new signings likely to flop in the 2017/18 Premier League season
#4 Gylfi Sigurdsson
Gylfi Sigurdsson joined Everton in a club-record £45m deal. The Iceland international was considered as one of the most important signings as Ronald Koeman was looking for a player who can provide the creative spark for Everton.
After the loss of Rolelu Lukaku, Koeman needed a player who can create and score a lot of goals. Sigurdsson, 27, played a lot of football in the Premier League and was expected to lead Everton.
Except for his 50-yard wonder strike in the UEFA Europa League Play-off game against Hajduk Split, Sigurdsson failed to create any sort of positive impression at Goodison Park. In his 16 appearances for Everton this season, Sigurdsson has scored only once and provided 3 assists.
He could not create the impact he created at Swansea and Everton are lying at 16th in the Premier League table after spending more than €150 million on new players in the summer. The Sigurdsson deal turned out to be a dreadful piece of business for Everton.
#3 James Rodriguez
James Rodriguez came to prominence in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, playing for Columbia. He won the Golden Boot for finishing as the tournament's top scorer and moved to Real Madrid on a €80 million deal. He was looked at as a pacy youngster with excellent vision and great goal scoring abilities.
A lot was expected of him but he failed to nail down a place in the Real Madrid lineup for 3 years and was shipped to Bayern Munich on a 2-year loan deal. He was brought to replace Douglas Costa, who moved to Juventus.
Rodriguez made 13 appearances for Bayern Munich this season, scoring twice and assisting 3 more. Injuries and poor form kept him from playing consistently but he never looked like he was in control.
After the managerial change at Bayern, James may find it difficult to get the playing time. He is not assured of a starting place in the Bayern lineup and if he fails to cement his place anytime soon, this will turn out to be a repeat of his Real Madrid days.
#2 Alex Ox-Chamberlain
Chelsea fans may let out a sigh of relief. In a dramatic turn of events that happened over the last few days of the transfer window, Ox rejected an offer from Chelsea to make the £35 million Liverpool move. He moved away from Arsenal because of Wenger's reluctance to play him in his preferred central-midfield role.
He waited a long time for his first Liverpool start and when it came in a Carabao cup game, he failed to impress the Anfield fans and ended up on the losing side. He made 10 appearances for Liverpool in the Premier League-- most of them off the bench. He scored once and assisted 1 more in a disappointing start to his Liverpool career.
The 24-year-old showed a lot of promise at Arsenal but failed to recreate his form for Liverpool. Apart from flashes of brilliance, he came nowhere near his full potential and failed the faith of Jurgen Klopp.
#1 Leonardo Bonucci
Considered as one of the best centre-backs in the world, Leonardo Bonucci moved from Juventus to AC Milan as part of a £35 million deal. He was a part of the successful Juventus team but decided to move because of his disagreements with Massimiliano Allegri.
Labelled by many as, DEAL OF THE SUMMER, Bonucci's move turned out to be a disaster. Given the captain's armband, Bonucci crumbled under huge pressure and expectations. AC Milan are 7th in the Serie A table, struggling for consistency.
They were able to keep only 5 clean sheets in 14 Serie A games, allowing the opponents to score 18 times. After spending more than €150 million on players in the summer transfer window, the performances of AC Milan have been very disappointing, to say the least.
Fans have already turned the heat on Bonucci after Milan's 0-0 draw against AEK Athens in a Europa League game. A Facebook event was created to highlight Bonucci's failure and things could not get much worse for AC Milan.