Spending massively can lead to success in soccer, but throwing money around doesn’t always work out well. Despite this, wealthy clubs are ever willing to dole out cash to solve every problem or to recruit any player — with some of these huge signings ending up as flops.
Severally, players bought on huge fees fail to live up to expectations.
Several factors may cause this, such as joining a club at the wrong time, having to work under the wrong manager, the weight of the lofty transfer fee, individual ill-discipline/underperformance, as well as off-field issues.
In this article, TOP SOCCER BLOG brings you the top 10 biggest flops in soccer history.
1. Philippe Coutinho: Liverpool to Barcelona (2018) – €120m
A dream signing for Barcelona turned nightmare. The Blaugrana paid Liverpool €120m (£100m/$130m) – plus €40m (£34m/$43m) in potential bonuses – for Philippe Coutinho in January 2018.
It was an astronomical sum of money for a player that Barca didn’t really need.
And it soon became obvious that they actually didn’t have a role for Coutinho, who seemingly looked lost at Camp Nou.
Ironically, the Brazilian’s most notable contribution during his four years on Barca’s books was scoring two goals for Bayern Munich (while on loan) against the Catalans to knock out his parent club from the UEFA Champions League in 2020.
Desperate to offload him, Barca let Coutinho join Aston Villa for a mere €20m (£ 17m/$ 21.5 m) in 2022 as they tried to balance their books after nearly going bankrupt.
2. Ousmane Dembele: Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona (2017) – €105m
Another one from Barcelona, who received a world-record €222m fee for Neymar in 2017.
They were desperate for a replacement, and with a lot of money in hand, which led them to overpay for Ousmane Dembele from Borussia Dortmund on an initial €105m (£90m/$112m) fee.
But Dembele terribly failed to justify such a tremendous fee.
He was not disciplined, failing to control his diet, playing video games at night until the early hours of the morning, and regularly arriving late for training and other team engagements.
Ridiculously, Ousmane Dembele missed about 85 games between 2017 and 2021 through injury.
He eventually left Barca for PSG last summer, to the relief of the club’s fans.
There is no doubt that Dembele is immensely talented and one of the best wingers and dribblers in the world. But today, the Frenchman is seen as one of the most expensive flops in soccer history.
3. Eden Hazard: Chelsea to Real Madrid (2019) – €100m
Real Madrid signed Eden Hazard from Chelsea for €100m as the marquee replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo at the Santiago Bernabeu. Strangely, they could have simply waited for just another year to sign him on a free.
The Belgian, who was handed a massive £400,000 a week contract, made a bad early impression as he arrived for pre-season overweight.
He regularly irked Madrid fans with his apparent lack of effort and seemingly satisfied with just earning his wages. He is one of the soccer players who fell off and was one of the most injury-prone players.
Moreover, he was caught on camera laughing with former Chelsea teammates when the Blues knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League in 2021.
Hazard’s situation wasn’t helped by the constant injuries he suffered from, which saw Real Madrid terminating his contract and his eventual retirement.
4. Paul Pogba: Juventus to Manchester United (2016) – £89m
Manchester United lost Paul Pogba to Juventus for free in 2012. He later became one of the best young midfielders in the world during his time in Italy.
United paid a world-record £89m to re-sign the Frenchman from Juve in 2016.
However, after six seasons of failing to meet expectations amid inconsistent performances at Old Trafford, Pogba returned to Juventus, and again for nothing!
His issues have only worsened because on September 11, 2023, Paul Pogba was provisionally suspended from playing due to a suspected failed drug test, as non-endogenous testosterone metabolites were discovered in his test results following a match against Udinese on August 20.
The failed drug test was confirmed on October 6, 2023, after another sample also tested positive for non-endogenous testosterone metabolites. He could be banned from football for a long time, cementing his place as one of the biggest flops in soccer history.
5. Romelu Lukaku: Inter Milan to Chelsea (2021) – £98m
Romelu Lukaku returned to Chelsea in 2021 on a club-record deal and stated that he had unfinished business at Stamford Bridge.
He grew up loving the Blues, joined them as a teen, but failed to break into the first team and was eventually sold to Everton.
He had an underwhelming spell at Manchester United after joining them for a huge fee but rejuvenated his career at Inter Milan under Antonio Conte.
Lukaku scored lots of goals as Inter won the league title, which convinced Chelsea to re-sign him.
But the Belgian flopped once again at Stamford Bridge, and this time, woefully.
Furthermore, he granted an unsanctioned interview with Sky Sport Italia midway through the season, in which he professed his undying love for former club Inter and, even worse, criticized Thomas Tuchel’s tactics.
There was no going back from there as his Chelsea career was brought to an unfulfilled end.
6. Antoine Griezmann: Atletico Madrid to Barcelona (2019) – £100m
In the summer of 2018, Antoine Griezmann embarrassed Barcelona in a video documentary mocking their inability to sign him.
Inexplicably, Barca signed him for €120m (£100m/$130m) just a year later.
The Frenchman was abysmal in his two years at Camp Nou, failing to replicate his Atletico Madrid displays.
Bizarrely, he was on a contract so big that it eventually contributed to the club not being able to offer a new contract for Lionel Messi!
Barcelona lost their greatest-ever player to PSG (for free!!!) because of financial mismanagement, and in the end, they also decided to cut their losses on Griezmann.
Griezmann was sent on loan to Atletico Madrid with an option to buy for just €40m, which Atleti took advantage of.
Although, the Frenchman has improved a lot since rejoining his old club. His performance at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar was remarkable.
7. Neymar: Barcelona to PSG (2017) – €222m
Neymar thought he was stepping out of Lionel Messi’s shadow to become a superstar in his own right when he joined PSG on a world record transfer fee in 2017.
He was attracted by the prospect of leading the French giants to a first ever UEFA Champions League title.
However, the Brazilian was quickly upstaged by Kylian Mbappe, who PSG signed the same summer.
Neymar was also very ill-disciplined and injury-prone, which ensured that he never met the lofty heights expected of him by PSG supporters, as well as failed to fulfill his own tremendous potential.
He eventually joined the Saudi Arabian Pro League club, Al Hilal, last summer.
The transfer cost €90 million, establishing him as the most expensive acquisition in the Saudi Pro League. Additionally, he is said to be earning €150 million annually at Al Hilal, which is six times his previous salary at PSG.
After featuring in five matches for Al Hilal, Neymar suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament while representing his national team in October 2023.
After failing to exceed expectations with the huge amounts of money he has commanded in transfer fees and wages, the Brazilian is often termed among the biggest flops in soccer history.
8. Nicolas Pepe: Lille to Arsenal – £72m (2019)
Arsenal had the choice of signing either Wilfried Zaha or Nicolas Pepe in 2019 and opted for the latter.
Pepe was recruited on a club-record fee of €79 million (£72 million) after a brilliant season at Lille.
However, the Gunners would later regret that decision, as the Ivorian failed to adapt to the Premier League and was overburdened by his huge transfer fee.
The winger managed just 27 goals in 112 appearances across three seasons before being sent on loan spells.
9. Harry Maguire: Leicester City to Manchester United (2019) – £80m
After impressing for both Hull City and Leicester, Harry Maguire shone for England at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
As a result, he became the subject of a huge transfer tussle between Manchester United and Manchester City.
Leicester also took advantage of the situation to inflate his price, which eventually forced City to back off.
At last, United paid £80m ($100m), a world-record amount for a defender, to lure him to Old Trafford.
But Maguire couldn’t justify the huge fee or handle the constant pressure at Man Utd.
He regularly came under intense criticism for his inconsistent performances.
10. João Felix: Benfica to Atletico Madrid (2019) – £113m
In 2019, at the age of 19, João Felix surprisingly signed with Atlético Madrid for a club-record transfer worth €126 million (£113 million).
It was the fourth-most expensive soccer transfer, the second-most paid for a teenager, and the highest fee for a Portuguese player leaving the domestic league.
It was surprising that Atletico could dole out such a huge amount of money, and surprising on the player’s part that he joined a club that doesn’t in any way befit his style of play.
Ultimately, he proved to be a square peg in a round hole as he failed to adapt to Diego Simeone’s tough tactics.
After just 25 goals in 96 Liga appearances, Felix left on loan to Chelsea and also failed to convince the Blues to sign him permanently.
He seemed to have found a perfect home now at Barcelona, though.
NOTABLE MENTIONS:
Alvaro Morata: Real Madrid to Chelsea (2017) – £60m
Kepa Arrizabalaga: Athletic Club to Chelsea (2018) – £72m
Romelu Lukaku: Everton to Man Utd (2017) – £75m
Fernando Torres: Liverpool to Chelsea (2011) – £50m
Juan Sebastian Veron: Lazio to Manchester United (2001) – £28m
Kaka: AC Milan to Real Madrid (2009) – €68.5m
Angel Di Maria: Real Madrid to Manchester United (2014) – £60m
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Inter Milan to Barcelona (2009) – £59m + Samuel Eto’o!
James Rodriguez: Monaco to Real Madrid (2014) – €80m
Eliaquim Mangala: Valencia to Manchester City (2014) – £42m
Alexis Sanchez: Arsenal to Manchester United (2018) – Swap deal
Luka Jovic: Eintracht Frankfurt to Real Madrid (2019) – €60m
Andy Carroll: Newcastle United to Liverpool (2011) – £35m
