As ever, there were a raft of comings and goings during the recent summer transfer window as Premier League clubs geared up for the new top-flight campaign and as always, a number of those new recruits have proved to be disastrous purchases, including these ten buys …
Roberto Soldado (Tottenham Hotspur)
Signed from La Liga outfit Valencia back in August on a four-year deal in what was a then club-record £26 million deal, the Spain international has so far proved to be a massive disappointment for all Tottenham fans.
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Yes the front man has managed to hit the back of the net since moving to White Hart Lane, with Soldado scoring six times so far in his 13 matches in total in all competitions, however, only four of those strikes actually came in the Premier League, and even then, his first two were via spot kicks.
Erik Lamela (Tottenham Hotspur)
If Spurs supporters have been underwhelmed by the displays of Soldado, then goodness only knows what they are thinking about the arrival of Argentina international Lamela then?
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The left-sided forward was brought to north London on Aug 30 to replace the Real Madrid-bound Gareth Bale, who had just signed for los Blancos earlier that day for 100m euros.
But it is fair to say that the 21-year-old has not lived up to all the hype and fanfare that greeted his arrival in the capital, with the £30m recruit from AS Roma having scored just once so far all season long, and even that was only in the Uefa Europa League.
Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United)
New Red Devils boss David Moyes pushed the boat out so as to be able to lure his former favourite to Old Trafford from Goodison Park in the final hours on transfer deadline day, however, I am sure the United fans are now wondering what all the fuss was about in the first place after what they have seen so far from the big-haired Belgium.
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The Premier League champions ended up having to fork out a whopping £27.5m in order to convince the Toffees to part company with their star man, and boy must the Merseyside giants be laughing now after the 26-year-old’s struggles to adapt to life at the Theatre of Dreams.
In fact, it has been more like the Theatre of Nightmares after just one goal and one assist so far from the midfield player.
Iago Aspas (Liverpool)
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers had initially earmarked the highly rated Spaniard for an attacking role in his team this season, that is until the Northern Irishman realised that his new man from Celta de Vigo was not quite what he was looking for.
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True, the Reds only splashed out £7.7m to bring the 26-year-old from La Liga to the Premier League last June, but with a sum total of only one assist to his name all season long since Aspas joined the club, it is fair to say that the forward has been a major flop so far.
Marouane Chamakh (Crystal Palace)
The struggling Premier League outfit must have realised that they were taking a huge risk when opting to take the misfiring Arsenal striker on a season-long loan deal and so far their worst fears have been realised.
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Despite having featured in all 12 of the south-east London side’s top-flight encounters to date, the Morocco international has only managed to find the target on the one occasion, and even that was way back in August at Stoke City.
Well, at least the Eagles supporters can console themselves in the knowledge that Chamakh will be returning to his parent club at the end of this campaign.
Jozy Altidore (Sunderland)
Hull City fans could have perhaps warned their counterparts from the Stadium of Light about the American marksman before previous Black Cats head coach Paolo Di Canio had decided to offer Altidore a four-year deal back in July after the struggles in front of goal that the player endured in his one campaign at the KC stadium.
And so far it has been pretty much the same in the north east, with the 24-year-old having failed to score a single goal in the Premier League for his new team.
Willian (Chelsea)
I bet Blues supporters are wishing right now that they had just let their fierce north London rivals sign the Brazil international instead of them wasting a whopping £30m on the wide man judging by the new arrival’s shows to date on the wing at Stamford Bridge.
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A whole host of big-name Premier League club were of course after the 25-year-old in the summer, including both Liverpool and Tottenham too, but with just the one goal to his name in this campaign – albeit a wonder strike at Norwich City – the former Shakhtar Donetsk star has proved to be a major letdown.
Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool)
Reds manager Brendan Rodgers lavished an eyebrow-raising £15m on the France international on transfer deadline and then claimed that he had fixed the Merseysiders’ back four for the “next ten years”.
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Well, with the ponderous 23-year-old now not even able to make the Liverpool starting lineup after his initial horror shows in defence for Liverpool as Rodgers opts to go with Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel instead, it looks like Sakho’s purchase could be one of the rather bigger mistakes made in the summer market.
Samuel Eto’o (Chelsea)
With the west London club in absolutely desperate need of a new front man to put the ball in the back of the net after missing out on long-running target Wayne Rooney during the summer, Blues boss Jose Mourinho opted for the experience of the Cameroon international, who he had worked with previously with such success at Inter Milan.
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However, that was over three years ago and with Eto’o now aged 32, the reflexes and the pace are starting to wane, meaning Chelsea will now be forced to dip back into the transfer market in January to buy yet another striker.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Norwich City)
The previously prolific Netherlands international arrived at Carrow Road from Sporting Lisbon for an initial fee of 10m euros, but one goal in the Premier League has been the sum total of the 24-year-old’s goalscoring returns for the struggling Canaries so far.
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