Football: Top 10 loss-making transfers

Shaun Wright-Philips

Earlier this week, we took you through the Top 10 most profitable transfers in football. But, there have also been other clubs who have not quite done the best business and have incurred huge losses on some of their players. Here’s a list of the top 10 loss-making transfers in football:

10. Shaun Wright-Philips (Chelsea to Manchester City, 2005)

Bought for: £21m Sold for: £8.5m Loss: £12.5m

In August 2008, Shaun Wright-Phillips returned to Manchester City after a dismal few years at Chelsea. In fact, he had moved from City to Chelsea in 2005 for £21m. The Blues thus incurred a loss of £12.5m on the English winger. Wright-Philips currently plays for QPR.

Rafael Benitez with Alberto Aquilani

9. Alberto Aquilani (Liverpool to Fiorentina, 2012)

Bought for: £20m Sold for: £7m Loss: £13m

Aquilani returned to Liverpool for pre-season for the 2012-13 season. But, Liverpool were keen to cut ties with the Italian midfielder after just 1 season in Merseyside; even if it meant incurring a loss of £13m.

Then Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri with his new signings – Joe Cole and Juan Sebastian Veron in 2003

8. Juan Sebastian Veron (Manchester United to Chelsea, 2003)

Bought for: £28m Sold for: £15m Loss: £13m

Despite Sir Alex Ferguson’s expletive-laden rant in support of the player, fans and pundits were left with no doubts whatsoever that Veron was an expensive flop and one of Ferguson’s worst signings.

So, after 2 seasons at Old Trafford during which time he made just 51 appearances, he was sold to Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea for less than half of the record breaking fee that he was signed for.

Robinho is mobbed by the press on his arrival at Barajas airport in Madrid in 2005

7. Robinho (Manchester City to AC Milan, 2010)

Bought for: £32m Sold for: £15m Loss: £17m

Robinho finished his first season at City as the fourth top scorer in the league. His second season though was an extremely forgettable one as he struggled with injuries and scored just 1 goal. He was loaned out to Santos in 2010, before City found a buyer in Milan.

Jo posing with his Manchester City jersey

6. Jo (Manchester City to Internacional, 2011)

Bought for: £18m Sold for: free Loss: £18m

Jo was a club record signing at about £18m when City bought him in 2008. Sadly, the valuation and his talent never really matched and he was shipped back to Brazil in 2011 for free. He is now back in the reckoning though at the national level after being part of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Confederations Cup squad.

Emmanuel Adebayor in conversation with Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy

5. Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City to Tottenham Hotspur, 2013)

Bought for: £25m Sold for: £5m Loss: £20m

Another of the Man City loss making products, Adebayor was found out soon enough at City who realized that he wasn’t really the big-time player that they needed. After loan spells at Real Madrid and Tottenham, Spurs decided to make the Togolese’s move permanent by signing him for £5m last year.

Andy Carroll poses with his Liverpool shirt at Anfield on February 3, 2011

4. Andy Carroll (Liverpool to West Ham United, 2013)

Bought for: £35m Sold for: £15m Loss: £20m

One of the most mind-numbing transfers ever made was the £35m deal that took Andy Carroll from Newcastle United to Liverpool. No one knew what the Merseyside club saw in the 6’3” striker that merited such a huge sum. He was neither as nimble as Fernando Torres nor gifted with the Spaniard’s lethal accuracy.

Sam Allardyce saw potential in the lad and deemed him suitable to his style of play and rid Liverpool of the pain by taking the English forward off their books.

Dimitar Berbatov celebrates scoring against Celtic during their UEFA Champions League football match at Old Trafford

3. Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United to Fulham, 2012)

Bought for: £35m Sold for: £5m Loss: £30m

Sir Alex Ferguson broke the club transfer record to land Bulgarian striker Berbatov from Tottenham after a long drawn out round of negotiations with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy. Berbatov, as talented as he was, never quite fit in at Old Trafford under Ferguson’s system and perennially played second-fiddle barring one majestic season.

Knowing that he could no longer go on playing as 3^rd choice or even 4^th choice at United, the Bulgarian took his silken skills to Fulham where he had a magnificent 1^st season last year as he scored 15 goals in 33 appearances.

Andriy Shevchenko’s spell at Chelsea was a failure

2. Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea to Dynamo Kyiv, 2009)

Bought for: £31m Sold for: free Loss: £31mChelsea owner Abramovich was a big fan of Shevchenko, who while playing for AC Milan couldn’t miss. Abramovich paid £31m to make the Ukrainian a Chelsea player where he couldn’t hit. His old club Milan loved him enough to take him back to the San Siro for a season on loan and pay his wages. After 3 years on the books though, he went back to his native Ukraine with Dynamo Kyiv, the club where he started his career, for free.

Barcelona incurred one of the biggest losses in history when they sold Zlatan Ibrahimovic to AC Milan in 2011

1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona to AC Milan, 2011)

Bought for: £60m Sold for: £20m Loss: £40mYou never can keep Zlatan out of anything can you?

Barcelona sure made a huge investment in terms of money , when they offered £40m + Samuel Eto’o to Internazionale for the Swedish striker, but they did not match it when it came to tactics and strategy.

Ibra was never going to be top dog as long as Lionel Messi prowled the streets at the Camp Nou. Ibra grew disgruntled, his performances dropped, and he eventually was shipped off back to Italy with AC Milan.