The transfer windows often generate quality deals.
Players aren’t always smash hits, but the majority of signings are usually at least useful for their new clubs. However sometimes there are some players, some signings, that are just pointless. Not bad, you understand, signings can be bad for a variety of reasons. But pointless. Transfers that were confusing at the time and/or make no sense looking back.
We here at Squawka have come up with a list of the 10 most pointless signings of 2017/18, and before anyone chimes in to point out that the most pointless and hilariously terrible signing of the season, Renato Sanches, isn’t mentioned – this list doesn’t include loan deals. The impermanence of the deal makes even the most pointless loan a fleeting moment, lost forever.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
To Manchester United, free
This should have been the enduring image of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Manchester United. Walking onto the pitch after the Europa League final without his crutches and one-handing the giant Europa League trophy like a child’s toy. Instead they signed him up again after his contract ran out, gave him the no. 10 shirt and rushed his rehab. When he reappeared, he looked a shell of himself briefly before disappearing and, eventually, joining LA Galaxy. Truly pointless.
Fernando Llorente
To Spurs, £14m
Spurs out-fought Chelsea to get their hands on Fernando Llorente, the idea being that the tall, handsome Spaniard would be a back-up if Harry Kane got injured and a Plan B to throw on late in games. Mauricio Pochettino never used him as the latter and when Kane was missing from the Spurs XI, it was Son who took his place up-front. So what was the point of signing the big man then?!
Danny Drinkwater
To Chelsea, £35m
Remember when Chelsea paid an enormous amount of money for Danny Drinkwater? It seemed odd at the time, because he wasn’t good enough to start for Chelsea and stylistically only fit as a back-up to Cesc Fabregas, who himself was a back-up. Drinkwater barely played, let alone played well enough to justify that massive fee. Pure waste.
Jairo Riedewald
To Crystal Palace, £7.9m
Riedewald’s case is one of hindsight, because obviously under Frank de Boer’s leadership the Dutch defender would have played a prominent role. But once De Boer was sacked, Riedewald was rendered useless by the whims of new coach Roy Hodgson.
Davy Klaassen
To Everton, £23.6m
Speaking of pointless Eredivisie additions, Everton signed Davy Klaassen and Wayne Rooney in the same window. Now, Klaassen is a superior player to Rooney but the Liverpool lad is an Everton legend. They play in the same position, so one has to wonder what Everton were thinking paying so much money for a guy they were going to be forced to bench?
Pablo Zabaleta
To West Ham, free
This is an interesting signing because Zabaleta played most of the season as the first-choice right-back, he was just absolutely terrible. Moreover, his expensive presence stunted the development of Sam Byram. A truly pointless signing.
Jordan Hugill
To West Ham, £10m
Speaking of pointless, West Ham managed to outdo themselves last season. In the January window they snapped up Jordan Hugill from Middlesbrough; the striker had 8 goals so far and could have brought some much-needed firepower to the Hammers. Instead Hugill appeared just three times, all off the bench, for a total of 22 minutes – that’s about the length of a Modern Family episode. The rest of the time the £10m man was sat on the bench. Spectacularly pointless.
Guido Carrillo
To Southampton, £19m
Southampton needed (and still need) a striker, so they signed Guido Carrillo at great expense from Monaco’s bench. The Argentine was a regular starter at St. Mary’s but had almost no impact on the pitch, so much so that he was dropped after two months and didn’t play again for the rest of the season.
Wilfried Bony
To Swansea, £12m
Bony was a Swansea legend before joining Manchester City, and when he returned to the Liberty stadium a year ago it should have been a triumphant homecoming. It turns out, however, that his powers had severely diminished in the intervening years. Sure, Bony was unlucky to injury his cruciates in February, but even so he had played just 703 Premier League minutes to that point, scoring just twice.
Roque Mesa
To Sevilla, £11m
The most upsettingly pointless signing of 2017/18 has to be Roque Mesa. The Spanish metronome was signed by Swansea in what appeared to signal a return to their first principles of passing and possession under Paul Clement. Turns out none of that happened, and they carried on playing that generic type of Premier League football. Roque Mesa looked lost as a result, and has been sold back to La Liga already. A tragedy we never got to see this mustachioed marvel work wonders in England and Wales.
The post The 10 most pointless signings from the 2017/18 season appeared first on Squawka News.
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