It’s the January transfer window, and clubs will be scouring the market for big names or bargains to turn their seasons around.
We do sometimes see some truly superb purchases made in the middle of the season, with Luis Suarez, Virgil van Dijk and Bruno Fernandes perhaps the best examples of these.
However, we’ve also seen some horrific flops at this time of year, and we’ve put together ten of the worst of the Premier League era for you in our list below.
In no particular order, here are our 10 worst January transfer window signings ever…
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal to Manchester United)
A deal that attracted so much hype…an unveiling video with a piano…the Alexis Sanchez transfer saga of 2018 was something special to behold.
It looked like Man Utd had pulled off the ultimate power move by signing yet another star player from their rivals Arsenal, whilst also notably beating Manchester City to Sanchez with their unexpected late bid.
Unfortunately, the Chile international bizarrely flopped at Old Trafford and it later emerged (via Sky Sports and others) that he wanted to quit the Red Devils after just his first training session with the club.
An absolute disaster for United, but don’t scoff too much Arsenal fans, it didn’t work out too well for you either…
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United to Arsenal)
Heading to the Emirates Stadium as part of the Sanchez deal was Man Utd flop Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who initially looked like he could be a much better fit for the Gunners.
The Armenia international joined at the same time as former Borussia Dortmund team-mate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and they briefly showed signs of working well together in the Arsenal attack, but only briefly.
Mkhitaryan will not go down as a good buy for Arsenal, and it didn’t take long for him to fall out of favour and leave for Roma.
Andy Carroll (Newcastle to Liverpool)
What were Liverpool thinking? It doesn’t seem like much money these days, but the Reds forked out £35million to sign Andy Carroll from Newcastle (fee via BBC Sport), and it was a total failure.
The gangly striker looked like a top young talent at Newcastle, but this big transfer came much too soon for him and he looked totally out of place at Anfield almost straight away.
In the same transfer window, Liverpool also signed Suarez from Ajax, and we’d love to meet the scouting team that somehow got it so right and so wrong in the same month.
Fernando Torres (Liverpool to Chelsea)
At least Liverpool fans can afford to laugh at the fact that Carroll was brought in with a bit of help from the frankly ludicrous money Chelsea paid for Fernando Torres.
The Spaniard had been a world class performer for Liverpool, but seemed to instantly lose it when he made the move to Stamford Bridge, becoming one of the club’s worst signings at a staggering £50million (fee via BBC Sport).
Steven Caulker (QPR to Liverpool)
It’s hard to believe, but this signing really happened under Jurgen Klopp, even though it feels like a very, very different time at Liverpool.
Before the days of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, LFC went out and got Steven Caulker in on an emergency loan from QPR, though the defender is best remembered for making a few substitute appearances as a makeshift striker!
Thankfully this wasn’t really a sign of things to come under Klopp at Liverpool.
Denis Suarez (Barcelona to Arsenal)
It may have just been a loan move, but what a terrible one this was by Arsenal.
Denis Suarez looked a decent prospect at Barcelona, but looked in need of a bit more playing time, so linking up with the Gunners seemed a win-win for everyone involved.
Suarez’s time in north London was totally underwhelming, however, as he barely played, barely made any impact when he did play, and struggled to stay fit before heading back to Barca. A waste of everyone’s time.
Juan Cuadrado (Fiorentina to Chelsea)
What went wrong here? Juan Cuadrado looked a very decent player at Fiorentina and has since gone on to have a fine spell at Juventus.
At Chelsea, however, he joined and then hardly did anything for Jose Mourinho’s side, apart from cementing the fact that Mohamed Salah’s future would ultimately lie elsewhere.
It’s hard to fault most of Roman Abramovich’s investments since taking over at Chelsea, but Cuadrado’s arrival was a very strange and forgettable one.
Steven Pienaar (Everton to Tottenham)
A top player during his time at Everton, Steven Pienaar looked like a smart signing by Tottenham back in January 2011.
Unfortunately, the South African attacking midfielder was a shadow of his usual self at Spurs, and lasted just a few months before heading back to Everton.
Upon returning to Goodison Park, Pienaar looked pretty good again, so Tottenham will undoubtedly feel very hard done by with this one.
Christopher Samba (Anzhi Makhachkala to QPR)
A towering and commanding centre-back for Blackburn Rovers for a number of years, Christopher Samba was often linked with bigger clubs, though those moves never materialised.
Eventually, Samba was one of a number of big-name signings by QPR as they attempted to put together a squad capable of challenging for the top four.
Like so may of those signings, however, Samba majorly flopped at Loftus Road as the London outfit ended up getting relegated instead.
Kostas Mitroglou (Olympiacos to Fulham)
Fighting relegation in 2013/14, Fulham really needed some inspiration that January, and looked like they’d secured a real coup by bringing in Kostas Mitroglou.
The Greek striker had been superbly prolific at Olympiacos, but he totally flopped at Fulham, making just three appearances and failing to score a single goal.
Mitroglou later revived his career again, but clearly the Premier League just wasn’t for him.