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The last decade of football has seen a lot of money change hands. While some players have been worth the big splashes, some have just not justified their price tag and perhaps never will.
Paying €100 million for any player always has a risk attached to it, especially since the money is paid on their potential. In other cases, it ends up being paid for a player who might perhaps be past his prime or not have enough years on hand to prove his worth. Regardless, every big club often takes a chance on the "next big thing" in the market or a "world-class talent".
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However, the last decade has seen more flops than successful pieces of business, especially when one pays more than €100 million.
On that note, let’s take a look at five players who have failed to justify their €100 million plus price tag.
#5 Ousmane Dembele (€140 million)
Ousmane Dembele was one of the young French stars who Barcelona thought would take on the baton from Lionel Messi once the club legend retired. While the South American star has since left the club, the ex-Borussia Dortmund ace is yet to come into his own.
Barcelona paid a whooping €140 million for the young winger back in 2017, after they received €222 million from the departure of Neymar Jr. While Dembele seemed like a viable replacement for the now Paris Saint-Germain star, the truth could not be further.
Injuries, inconsistencies and poor form have seen the France international make only 132 appearances over the last four and a half years. In that period, he has scored 31 goals and 24 assists, which is far below his standards. So the massive chunk of cash spent by the Nou Camp outfit now looks like a fairly poor investment.
To roughen the blow, Dembele could now leave Barcelona on a free transfer in the summer. It is fair to say they will look back upon this deal with great regret.
#4 Antoine Griezmann (€120 million)
Antoine Griezmann remains one of the most confusing transfer mistakes in football history. The centre-forward was excellent during his five years at Atletico Madrid, and convinced Barcelona to pay €120 million for his services in 2019.
However, the Blaugrana club decided to do so at a time when they already had an incredible striker in Luis Suarez. The two could never play alongside each other due to their similar abilities. The presence of Lionel Messi meant that Griezmann had to shift to the left wing.
It never worked out for the Frenchman, despite Suarez leaving the club a year later. In total, he made 102 appearances for the five-time Champions League winners and scored 35 goals and provided 17 assists during that time.
Griezmann is currently on loan at Atletico Madrid, who will have an obligation to buy him at the end of the season for €34 million. So in addition to the player being a flop at the Nou Camp, Barcelona might only be able to recoup 1/4th of his original transfer fee.
#3 Paul Pogba (€105 million)
Paul Pogba returned to Manchester United in 2016 to a lot of hype, especially after his stellar performances at Juventus. The Carrington academy graduate was supposed to wreak havoc after re-signing for his boyhood club for €105 million.
While there have been glimpses of those moments over the last five and a half seasons, things have just not clicked for the France international. Pogba has not been surrounded by world-class midfielders during his tenure at Old Trafford. But he himself was expected to be the superstar at the center of the pitch.
However, a lack of hard work, desire and willpower has seen him become a midfielder possessing a fancy bag of tricks with little end product. He remains a creative genius, but even those moments are fleeting in all honesty.
He has contributed to 89 goals in 224 appearances for Manchester United, which is a sizeable amount for any midfielder. But his absence in big games and a lack of consistency make him a massive investment failure for the 13-time Premier League champions. The Frenchman is now poised to leave the Theater of Dreams at the end of the current campaign once his contract expires.
#2 Eden Hazard (€115 million)
Eden Hazard will go down as one of the finest dribblers on the ball in Premier League history. The Belgian was a playmaking maestro during his time at Chelsea and won multiple domestic and European trophies at Stamford Bridge.
So it was no surprise that Real Madrid decided to shell out €115 million for him in 2019, a year after Cristiano Ronaldo departed for Juventus. Hazard was expected to put the Spanish club back in the race for trophies but what has followed was unpredictable.
To start off, the winger arrived a little overweight and while he has gotten into shape again, injuries have ruined any chances of consistency. In the last two and a half seasons, he has only made 65 appearances and has scored six goals and provided 10 assists.
The Belgian ace now plays second fiddle to Vinicius Jr. and is constantly linked with a move away from the 13-time European champions.
#1 Philippe Coutinho (€135 million)
Philippe Coutinho has been anything but a success during his drawn-out time at Barcelona. Blaugrana have made a number of financial mistakes over the last five years and the Brazilian is perhaps the biggest.
After spending nearly a decade impressing at Liverpool, Coutinho got a move sorted out to Barcelona in 2018 for €135 million. He was expected to produce quality moments in midfield and in the frontline but could never cement a spot in the starting lineup.
A like-for-like replacement for Andres Iniesta on paper, the Brazilian never had the defensive discipline for that role. Similarly, he did not have dynamism going forward either. All of this, coupled with a poorly assembled squad, made it impossible for him to prosper at the Nou Camp.
While he only managed 39 goal involvements in 106 appearances for Barcelona, it did not paint a good pretty picture for his quality. Especially since he won the Champions League during his loan move to Bayern Munich, thereby showcasing his talent around a better squad of players.
Coutinho is currently on a loan move at Aston Villa but is bound to move back to Catalonia in the summer. Only time will tell how long Barcelona will continue to regret signing the South American star.
