There have been a number of signings who have not proved up to the mark at Anfield over the years, but we have selected the ten worst purchases made by the Reds during the Premier League era …
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10: Joe Cole
Was brought to Anfield on a lucrative free transfer from arch-rivals Chelsea in July 2010 by head coach Roy Hodgson, with the England international’s arrival on Merseyside being accompanied by a wave of positive publicity.
However, it is fair to say that the west London club knew exactly what they were doing by not offering the midfield player a new contract to stay at Stamford Bridge, with Cole’s three-year injury-hit spell with the Reds proving to be a very expensive mistake indeed by the club.
9: El-Hadji Diouf
When Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier announced the £10 million signing of the Senegal international from Ligue 1 outfit Lens in the summer of 2010, the Frenchman was quick to point out how the Merseyside giants had managed to beat off competition for the forward from a whole host of clubs throughout the Continent.
Three years later and after just six goals in a total of 79 appearances in all competitions, including only three strikes in his 55 Premier League matches for the club, I bet the Liverpool fans had wished the Frenchman had not pushed the boat out to land the misfiring forward.
8: Andriy Voronin
Signed on a free transfer in the summer of 2007 by manager Rafa Benitez after a highly productive spell in front of goal with Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, the Ukraine international spent three years largely warming the substitutes’ bench at Anfield, and when the front man was occasionally asked to play up front for the Reds, he invariably fluffed his lines.
7: Charlie Adam
Then ‘interim’ Liverpool coach Kenny Dalglish first tried to land the Scotland international in January 2011, only for his club Blackpool to refuse to allow their star man to leave Bloomfield Road during their relegation fight.
However, when the Merseysiders came calling again the following summer after the seasiders’ return to the Championship, they allowed the midfield player to move to Anfield for £6.75m, only for Adam to last just 37 games with the club before being shipped out on loan to Stoke, with the Potters eventually agreeing to buy the playmaker permanently for £4m in August 2012.
6: Paul Konchesky
Another disastrous buy by manager Roy Hodgson, with the former Fulham boss deciding to bring the left back with him from Craven Cottage to Anfield for a fee of £4m when he also made the move from the west London club to the Merseysiders in the summer of 2010.
However, the Englishman’s signing went on to signify all that was going wrong at the time at Anfield under Hodgson, with the full back lasting only a little longer with the Reds than the man who brought him to the club.
5: Mark Gonzalez
It all started so well for the Chile international when he came off the bench with just five minutes to go to score a vital winner for his new team in a Uefa Champions League qualifier against Maccabi Haifa.
However, that unfortunately represented the high point of the wide man’s stop-start career on Merseyside, and only a year later manager Rafa Benitez had offloaded him back to Spain, where he joined Real Betis.
4: Alberto Aquilani
The man bought to replace the Real Madrid-bound Xabi Alonso in the Liverpool midfield in the summer of 2010 for £17m from Serie A giants AS Roma endured an injury-ravaged three years at Anfield, during which time the Italy international managed to feature in just the 18 Premier League matches for the Reds, scoring the one goal in the process.
The Roman was then shipped out on loan to the likes of Juventus and AC Milan, before Fiorentina eventually took him off the Merseysiders’ hands in the summer of 2012 for an undisclosed fee.
3) Christian Poulsen
Signed by boss Roy Hodgson from Serie A giants Juventus for £4.5m to replace the Barcelona-bound defensive midfield player Javier Mascherano in August 2010, the experienced Denmark international proved unable to emulate the brilliant Argentinian at Anfield.
And after only 12 leagues games, and 21 in total in all competitions, Poulsen was on his way out of the club and off to Evian in Ligue 1.
2) Robbie Keane
Billed as being the missing piece in the Liverpool jigsaw when he was signed from Tottenham Hotspur in July 2008 for an initial outlay of £19m, the Republic of Ireland international struggled badly early on to adapt to the his new club’s surroundings and incredibly after just five top-flight goals and just six months on Merseyside, the forward was sold back to Spurs for a cut-price fee of only £12m.
1) Andy Carroll
Liverpool splashed out a club-record £35m on the Newcastle striker in January 2011, and the purchase proved to be the worst in the club’s history as a combination of injuries and lack of confidence and goals sidelined the England international for much of his brief three-year spell at Anfield, before the player was eventually sent on loan to West Ham United in August 2012, with the Hammers then buying the forward the following summer for just £15m.
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