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 2018 – not including temporary loan deals.
10. Emerson
To Chelsea, £17.6m
One of the many problems Chelsea had under Antonio Conte was a lack of squad depth, especially in the wing-back positions. So it made sense when the club brought in Emerson from Roma in January 2018.
Except, the Italian international has barely been used to give Marcos Alonso a break. Even now under Maurizio Sarri with the Spaniard struggling for form, Emerson does not seem in favour at Chelsea only appearing in the cup competitions and yet to make a Premier League bench.
9. Fred
To Manchester United, £52m
Fred’s arrival at Manchester United in the summer was greeted with jubilation amongst the club’s fans as it showed they were moving forward and looking to improve on the weaker parts of their squad. So you can imagine their annoyance with Fred’s lack of playing time.
“The day we are stronger defensively I think the horizons for Fred change,” was Jose Mourinho’s most recent explanation for the Brazilian’s absence. So, with the club having only just reversed their negative goal difference in the Premier League, it may still be a while until the £52m man is seen again.
8. Guido Carrillo
To Southampton, £19m
In the second half of last season Southampton needed a striker, so they signed Guido Carrillo in January at great expense from Monaco’s bench. The Argentine had worked with then-manager Mauricio Pellegrino before and was expected to bring goals back to St. Mary’s.
However, he 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. And now he’s on loan at Leganes, at a time when Southampton still need all the attacking options they can get.
7. Leander Dendoncker
To Wolverhampton Wanderers, £12m
Now, we know what you’re going to say, Leander Dendoncker is on loan at Wolves. But the Belgian midfielder’s deal has a mandatory option to buy next season, so for all intents and purposes, he is a permanent Wolves player.
In fact, there are even some far-fetched reports the FA rejected the deal and forced Wolves to buy Dendoncker on the spot. Messiness aside, Dendoncker has been a pointless acquisition for Wolves so far, playing just nine minutes of Premier League action and barely making the bench for Nuno Espirito Santo. Maybe next year we’ll see the benefits, but for now, he’s filed under ‘What was the point?’.
6. Çağlar Söyüncü
To Leicester City, £19m
Leicester City have one rock-solid centre-back in Harry Maguire and really needed someone to replace the ageing Wes Morgan, so their summer signing of Çağlar Söyüncü made sense. But what didn’t make sense is Leicester’s insistence to continue with Morgan and then Jonny Evans, with Söyüncü watching on. Granted the Turkish centre-back arrived with an injury and is starting to see some game time, but he still appears some way off the £19m Leicester paid for him.
5. Jurgen Locadia
To Brighton & Hove Albion, £14m
Brighton had a good striker in Glenn Murray last season but did need to give the Englishman some competition and back up, in case injury struck. So the club’s signing of Jurgen Locadia in January made sense. But the Dutch striker hasn’t really been given a chance this year, with just four league starts across last season and the new campaign. Brighton then went on to sign another striker Florin Andone in June, pushing Locadia one step down.
4. Patrice Evra
To West Ham, free
Having just had his contract terminated by Marseille for kicking a spectator in the head, the 37-year-old signed a four-month contract in east London. An odd move for the club given they already had two able left-backs in Arthur Masuaku and Aaron Cresswell. His contract expired at the end of the season and the club chose not to renew his deal after he conceded 13 goals in just five appearances in defence.
Evra can now be found sucking chicken legs on Instagram.
3. Adama Diakhaby
To Huddersfield Town, £9m
Huddersfield really needed to do something in the transfer window to try and fight off the second-season syndrome which has befallen many a promoted side before. So when they brought in Adama Diakhaby from Monaco, a 22-year-old who had played 22 games the previous season, things were looking slightly positive.
But the forward has managed just 231 minutes of action this season, creating one chance. ONE. The French winger hasn’t featured now in the past six matches, begging the question: what was the point?
2. 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 Preston; 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 as a substitute, 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. So spectacular in fact, he has since joined Middlesbrough on a season-long loan.
1. Benik Afobe
To Wolverhampton Wanderers, £10m
What a strange signing this was. Benik Afobe moved from Bournemouth to Wolves in the summer – having scored six goals during their promotion campaign having joined on loan in January – but his permanent deal with the club lasted for a total of 11 days before joining Stoke City on loan.
On the face of it, that may not seem like a weird deal given many clubs do that. But, Afobe’s loan move to Stoke comes with a mandatory option to buy in January. So Wolves signed Afobe after a decent Championship season just to agree to sell him to Stoke for an undisclosed fee without a single appearance as a permanent Wolves player? Talk about pointless!
The post Ranked: The 10 most pointless Premier League signings of 2018 appeared first on Squawka News.
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