Ten risky summer signings that might not work out as planned this season.
10. Peter Odemwingie (Cardiff City)
Although Peter Odemwingie was once a top performer for West Brom, he is now heading towards the end of his career at the age of 32, and his last few months at the Hawthorns were marred by his disciplinary problems, as he infamously failed to force through a move to Queens Park Rangers in January.
Although newly-promtoed Cardiff will feel pleased to have signed an experienced and proven Premier League striker in what promises to be a challenging season, he seems a risky personality if he causes disharmony in the changing rooms. The last thing Cardiff will need is a player who tries to give up on them midway through a relegation fight, and everything about this signing seems to spell trouble.
9. Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal)
Perhaps this is a low-risk signing for Arsenal due to his arriving on a free, but the return of Mathieu Flamini seems a surprise choice by Arsene Wenger as he attempts to plug that gaping hole in his midfield. With Alex Song leaving for Barcelona last summer, a true quality long-term replacement was needed, and Wenger could’ve been well advised to spend a little more money on the likes of Geoffrey Kondogbia or Joshua Guilavogui, two of the club’s main targets in the transfer window.
Instead, Arsenal have signed a player who only really had one good season with the club in his first spell, and who has not exactly played much since making the move to AC Milan in 2008, as he was often a squad player for the Serie A giants or the victim of some injury problems. Either way, the Italians clearly didn’t feel he was worth keeping at the San Siro this summer, and few other clubs made a move for him, making it a questionable purchase by Arsenal when they desperately needed to find a solution to this position.
8. Arouna Kone (Everton)
Although new Everton manager Roberto Martinez will know Arouna Kone well from their old club Wigan, he seems to be struggling to replicate his form of last year so far with the Toffees. The Ivorian’s career has been consistently inconsistent if nothing else, and he went on a run of scoring just two goals in four years not so long ago.
Martinez’s side have struggled to convert their chances into goals so far this season, leading the Spaniard to enter the market on deadline day for the loan signing of Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea. The Belgian had a great season on loan at West Brom last year, and could quickly become first choice at Goodison Park with the current form of Kone, which had obviously concerned his manager as well.
7. Nacer Chadli (Tottenham)
Although he may still settle in and improve, Nacer Chadli hardly looks like an inspired signing by Tottenham based on what we’ve seen so far, and certainly not a player in the calibre to replace Gareth Bale on the wing. The Belgian international seems a reasonably skillful player who can trouble defenders by running at them, but he is lacking somewhat in an end product, and seems to make the wrong decisions all too frequently. Coming from FC Twente in the Dutch Eredivisie, he may find the Premier League is a bit too much of a step up for him at this stage, and he certainly hasn’t settled as well as the club’s other more impressive new recruits.
6. Adel Taarabt (Fulham)
Although only a loan signing, Adel Taarabt does not seem like what Fulham need. Martin Jol’s side are already a team full of journeyman who are more style than substance and seemingly lacking the will for a scrap, preferring to show individual skill over a team ethic. Taarabt brings all of those bad qualities to the club as well, after seriously flopping in the Premier League for Queens Park Rangers, whom he couldn’t help from relegation last season.
In worrying times at Craven Cottage, Fulham also look like potential relegation candidates this year, and Taarabt just isn’t the player who’s likely to take a game by the scruff of the neck and get them out of trouble. At least he’s not a permanent signing, and it would be pretty surprising if he was still playing in a white shirt next season.
5. Tom Huddlestone (Hull City)
Once thought of as an exciting prospect in his youth at Derby County, Tom Huddlestone never really lived up to his potential as a Tottenham player, and it’s pretty surprising he was kept around for as long as he was, as his slow and sluggish performances really didn’t make him look fit for the Premier League. In the end, they’re surely going to be the winners in this deal as they let him go to newly-promoted Hull for as much as £5m. The lure of signing a player from one of the country’s top sides was obviously too great for Steve Bruce, who has missed the obvious fact that Huddlestone doesn’t really look capable of adding much to his team, and there may have been cheaper options elsewhere, perhaps even from the lower leagues that could come in and do a better job.
4. Marouane Chamakh (Crystal Palace)
With just three goals in two years before joining Crystal Palace, Marouane Chamakh from Arsenal truly looked a desperate signing for Ian Holloway, who missed out on other targets such as Darren Bent, Andy Johnson and Wilfried Zaha. In fairness, the Moroccan has made a decent start to life at Selhurst Park, scoring on his debut for the club away to Stoke City, though Arsenal fans will know too well that he started his Emirates Stadium career in pretty good form as well before going totally downhill after about half a season.
Goals can give you a great chance of surviving in the Premier League, but Chamakh just doesn’t score enough of those to look like a genuine solution for Palace, who already look in trouble after just four games in their return to the top flight.
3. Iago Aspas (Liverpool)
It is perhaps harsh to judge a player so soon, but there’s something about Iago Aspas that seems to scream of another misguided purchase by Liverpool. At 26 years of age, the Spanish forward has only one season of top flight experience to his name, which came last season with relegation strugglers Celta Vigo in La Liga. In all, he managed 12 goals in 33 league appearances last season, which is a reasonable return for a side that clearly struggled, and perhaps he will benefit from the improved service from a better quality of player at Anfield, though even his 25 goals in the Spanish Segunda Division the year before is the first time in his career that he’s reached double figures, with just 13 strikes in the previous three campaigns in the second tier of Spanish football.
Aspas was not a hugely expensive purchase at £7.7m, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he ended the season looking like another Fabio Borini, out of his depth at this level and pushed out of the door by the Reds.
2. Stewart Downing (West Ham)
One of the worst signings in living memory for Liverpool, Stewart Downing has finally ended his Anfield hell after two seasons, though it begs the question – what did West Ham see that made them sign him for £5m? The former Aston Villa winger, now 29 years old, is well past the stage that he might start to show the potential he showed as a youngster, and a return to former club Middlesbrough, now in the Championship, seemed like a more suitable destination for him at this point. Instead, West Ham manager Sam Allardyce is banking on Downing to offer some creativity to his side and ammunition from out wide – from a player who managed just five assists in the Premier League in two seasons with Liverpool.
1. Andy Carroll (West Ham)
There may not be a better picture to sum up one of Liverpool’s worst transfer market blunders. Joining Reds flop Stewart Downing at West Ham is another flop Andy Carroll in what was once deemed by the Anfield club to be £55m’s worth of talent. Although Carroll had a decent loan spell with the Hammers last season, he still only managed 7 goals in 24 appearances, which hardly seems to equate to a £15m striker, and the east London club’s record signing. Now out injured until January, nothing seems to be going right for Carroll, and Sam Allardyce has already had to look to free agents Mladen Petric and Carlton Cole to solve his problems upfront – the latter of whom was released by the club at the end of last season!
Once thought of as one of the best up-and-coming talents in the country, it looks like it will take some work for Carroll to get back to his best form that he found at Newcastle, though with that purple patch coming in only a six-month spell, has everyone perhaps over-hyped this player?