Football: Top 10 loss-making transfers

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.