4. Fernando Torres (from Liverpool to Chelsea 2010/2011) – €58.5 million
As Chelsea fans would know, Roman Abramovich is the kind of person who often tends to get what he wants. In Fernando Torres, he would’ve started wondering if what we really want is always what’s best for us.
His Chelsea team regained the Premier League after 5 years with a record number of goals and some truly imperious performances, so Roman Abramovich ought to have been happy. Carlo Ancelotti had basically achieved what everybody assumed was his dream – trophies, respect and some truly ‘sexy football’.
Despite a quarter-final loss to Jose Mourinho’s eventual treble winners in the Champions League (which must have been quite galling), Chelsea had won their first-ever FA Cup & Premier League double. In the summer of 2010/2011, millions were splashed out in a bid to finally conquer Europe.
Despite an impressive start to the 2010/2011 season, the form of Chelsea’s veterans took a small dip which made their play painfully slow and somewhat predictable. Above all, the replacements seemed inadequate to fit Ancelotti’s system. As usual, cracks began to appear in the Chelsea hierarchy, with a mysterious new figure appearing on the Chelsea bench – a certain Michael Emenalo, whose in-house duties had suddenly grown exponentially. With January (and the Champions League) fast approaching, something had to be done.
Far away in Liverpool, the once-dominant Fernando Torres was struggling with some of the worst injuries in his career. In 26 appearances in 2010, he’d scored just 9 goals as he struggled to recover from a painful knee injury. Liverpool were faring very poorly without their talisman’s usual contribution as nobody could finish the evergreen Steven Gerrard’s long balls and top-notch set-pieces.
A huge tormentor of Chelsea’s throughout his career, he was well-known to the Stamford Bridge crowd. Especially to one of them, who was rumoured to be a big fan – but who could poach the jewel in the crown of England’s biggest club? Surely Merseyside would erupt in anguish, just as it had when Mourinho nearly signed Gerrard in 2005.
Seconds before the transfer deadline was hit, a deal that had seemed unfeasible for years was conducted in the dead of the night. It was all so fast, so rushed and so hushed that there was no time for a medical – it had to be done quick, and Liverpool had been playing hard-to-get, but everyone has a price!
Moments later, it became official – Liverpool’s No.9 was now the new Chelsea (and Abramovich’s) No.9! Just in time as well, for the visit of none other than Liverpool – the club he’d played his last game just weeks before.
What followed was a 1-0 loss at home, with Torres playing a limp and ineffectual role, not even coming close to goal. Excuses were made and stories were told, but by the time he scored his first Chelsea goal, 903 minutes of football had gone by. He was already being declared the biggest flop in history.
Carlo Ancelotti was supposed to phase out Didier Drogba for Torres, but the latter’s awful performances led to him returning to his Ivorian stalwart. That didn’t make Abramovich happy and in May, Ancelotti was sacked in the Everton tunnel despite Chelsea finishing second with a fantastic late assault.
One year later, Andres Villas-Boas was also sacked as he opted for a man that contributed so very little instead of the mercurial Didier Drogba & Frank Lampard. The following year, Roberto Di Matteo got the chop for refusing to play the useless striker as his team slid out of Europe.
Even the desperate signing of his old manager Rafael Benitez only brought back flickers of the once-great player that had tormented Chelsea. Finally, Jose Mourinho was brought in and Torres was moved on in a strange “we-totally-aren’t-giving-up” loan-that-was-really-a-sale to AC Milan, who finished Chelsea’s dirty work by moving him back home to Atletico.
Despite winning the Champions League, the Europa League, the FA Cup, the World Cup, the Euro (and its Golden Boot) while at Chelsea, Fernando Torres had only scored 45 goals in 172 appearances. He remains history’s most expensive flop ever, and a damning indictment on the overspending nature of the Premier League.