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Roberto Soldado finally scored a goal in the Premier League after 2 long months to repay Tim Sherwoods faith in him. The striker has been absolutely brilliant on the European front netting 5 times in as many appearances but has taken some time to find his feet in England. The 28-year-old arrived at Tottenham for a staggering 26 million but has done little to justify that amount. There is still time for the Spaniard to improve and prove his doubters wrong but will be seen as an over priced buy until then. Tottenham are not the only club to have an expensive transfer go bust. Other Premier League sides have had their share of silent strikers. Here is a list of 5 strikers who failed to score as many time as they would have wanted to in the Premier League.
#1 Andriy Shevchenko
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The Ukrainian arrived at Chelsea from AC Milan with a reputation for being one of the most feared strikers in Europe and everyone thought that the £30.8 million price tag was justified. The striker won all that was to be won with Milan and was a Ballon d’Or winner when he arrived at Stamford Bridge but became a shadow of the player he once was during his time in London.
Shevchenko scored a disappointing 14 goals in 51 appearances during his first season with the Blues which went down to 8 next season. The striker was then shipped back to Milan where he scored just 2 goals before being sold to boyhood club Dynamo Kyiv at the end of his contract with Chelsea. He lost confidence after the Chelsea fiasco but redeemed himself a bit during his time at Kyiv. Shevchenko was never the same player after his stint in London but will be fondly remembered for being the third highest goalscorer in the Champions League along with being AC Milan’s second most prolific striker.
#2 Diego Forlan
Forlan has achieved a lot as a player including being the 2010 FIFA World Cup’s joint top scorer, winning the World Cup Golden Ball, and scoring goals for fun during his time in the La Liga but could never quite fit in at Manchester United. The striker arrived at Old Trafford for £6.9 million in 2001 but had to wait for nearly 9 months before he scored his first goal for the club.
Even though Forlan scored goals erratically, he left United fans with some fond memories including a brace against arch-rivals Liverpool and and two injury time goals against Aston Villa. The Uruguayan left United for Villareal in 2004 after scoring just 19 goals but rediscovered himself and got back to his best in Spain. Even though Forlan had a bad time at United, he has achieved enough accolades to put his time in England behind him.
#3 Andy Carroll
Carroll is a perfect example of how not to do business in the transfer market. Liverpool broke the transfer record and paid £35 million for the strikers services and hoped that he would be a perfect replacement for Fernando Torres. It can be safely said that Carroll failed miserably in his quest.
The Englishman was having a brilliant season at Newcastle ás he scored 11 goals in 20 games but couldn’t handle the pressure of playing for a club as big as Liverpool. The striker scored just 11 goals in 58 appearances for the Reds before being loaned out to West Ham United who finally bought him for £15 million, breaking their own transfer record in the process. Carroll’s signing was a complete disaster for Liverpool and dented Kenny Dalgalish’s credentials as a manager. A certain Uruguayan who arrived along with Carroll, has been a tremendous success at Merseyside which has give the club something to smile about, as they try to contend for the title.
#4 Mateja Kezman
Chelsea have certainly had their share of misfiring strikers. Jose Mourinho signed Kezman in 2004 for £5.3 million from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven where he scored 38 times in 43 appearances during the 2003-2004 season. The Serbian failed to replicate his PSV form in the Premier League managing just 7 goals before he was offloaded to La Liga side Atletico Madrid after just 1 season at Chelsea.
Even though he had a forgettable time with Chelsea, Kezman said that he enjoyed his spell with the Blues and loved his stay in London. The striker had spells with Fenerbahce and Paris Saint Germain before hanging up his boots with South China. Mateja is now a sports agent and was even named as the director of football for Serbian side FK Vojvodina last year.
#5 Afonso Alves
The Brazilian was bought by Middlesbrough after he scored 45 goals in 39 starts for the Eredivise club SC Heerenveen and was given a grand unveiling by the English club. Alves had a promising start and scored his first two goals against Manchester United in a 2-2 draw. The striker ended his first season in the Premier League with a hat-trick against Manchester City in an eventual 8-1 victory.
However Alves’s form took a tumble next season and he scored just 4 goals for Middlesbrough who were relegated from the top flight in 2009. Alves was then sold to Al Sadd as he went to ply his trade in Qatar.
