Big-money flops at eight Premier League clubs who deserve a lot more criticism

Here is a player from each of the top eight Premier League clubs getting away with being big ol’ flops. It’s time to put an end to that nonsense.

Arsenal – Fabio Vieira
Mikel Arteta is probably kicking himself for letting Fabio Vieira re-join FC Porto on loan for the season with Martin Odegaard out for around eight weeks. He would have been an ideal replacement due to his profile but the drop in ability and influence, as it is with anyone else, is dramatic.

Funnily enough, there has not been any talk about Vieira’s current whereabouts despite Odegaard’s ankle injury. That probably says all you need to know. He has been a very disappointing Arsenal signing.

The lack of noise epitomises his time in London, really. It has not been £33million well spent. At least he has time to prove his worth.

Aston Villa – Philippe Coutinho
Since leaving Liverpool, Coutinho’s ability as a footballer has nosedived but after a poor stint at Barcelona – who paid well over £100m for him – he was given the chance to shine for Aston Villa. He performed in fits and starts in his six months on loan, which earned him a permanent move worth around £18m. That doesn’t quite fit into the ‘big money’ quota but it has still been a colossal waste.

He is still a Villa player, currently on loan at Brazilian side Vasco da Gama after an underwhelming season in Qatar. What a waste of talent and like Vieira, he has been completely forgotten about.

Coutinho, now 32, is done at the top level and while his rubbish stint at Barcelona is well documented, the fact he flopped so catastrophically at Villa and has fallen off the face of the earth is not.

Chelsea – Kepa Arrizabalaga
The most expensive goalkeeper in history, Kepa cost Chelsea a whopping £72m. The Spaniard did quite well at the start of his Blues career but his frailties quickly became apparent. A weak shot-stopper, suspect with the ball at his feet, not very commanding from set-pieces, and disobedient – his weak points are what need to be strong aspects of a top goalkeeper’s game.

Again, this particular move is well known for being horrendous and maybe he has benefitted from the passing of time, but Chelsea signing 200 keepers since his arrival is hardly a display of faith. The fact he is still the priciest goalkeeper in the history of the sport means this is a transfer we should still be lambasting.

Liverpool – Naby Keita
Jurgen Klopp wanted to sign Keita for a while before eventually landing him from RB Leipzig for around £55m. Liverpool got the midfielder for what should have been his prime years but they were instead years filled with a boatload of injuries.

Expectations of Keita were monumental but Liverpool fans will wonder what could have been with the Guinean.

Manchester City – Eliaquim Mangala
Annoyingly, Man City are very good at transfers. Incomings and especially outgoings are usually always done at the absolute highest level but there are a few flops who have slipped through the net. The position they have struggled with most has been centre-back, though they have nailed it with John Stones and Ruben Dias, as well as the more versatile Nathan Ake, Josko Gvardiol and Manuel Akanji.

Regardless, lots of their flops have been defenders. From Matija Nastasic to Eliaquim Mangala, there have been a few stinkers. Currently at GD Estoril Praia in Portugal, Mangala, 33, joined Man City from Porto for £40m a decade ago and spent time out on loan at Everton and Valencia before permanently joining the latter on a free transfer.

That is a lot of money now and was a helluva lot in 2014. The best thing that came out of his stint in England was the following tweet he received from an Everton fan: ‘seriously mate no joking please just don’t play again prem not suited to u pal your crap no hard feelings just not worked out’. Poetic.

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Manchester United – Angel Di Maria
The Red Devils got away with one after being bailed out by Paris Saint-Germain, who ensured their loss on their near-£60m investment wasn’t catastrophic, paying around £11m less for his services after one year in Manchester.

That has glossed over just how bad of a signing this was, and emphasised just how difficult it can be for top players to succeed at Old Trafford. Just look at this ranking of Man Utd’s signings post-Sir Alex Ferguson; from Alexis Sanchez to Paul Pogba, some top players are very lowly ranked.

Di Maria was able to display his ability at times but he didn’t enjoy being in England and wasn’t very good at hiding it.

Newcastle United – Jamal Lewis
Northern Ireland international Lewis recently signed for Sao Paulo in one of the most bizarre transfers of all time. He joined Newcastle from Norwich City for around £15m and was a bit crap for the duration of his stay in the north east.

Why is this failed transfer not spoken about? Probably because Lewis didn’t cost a ridiculous amount of money and probably because it was Newcastle who signed him, and it came before their Saudi Arabian takeover. It’s understandable that the left-back has got away with one, but we refuse to let it slide.

Tottenham – Giovani Lo Celso
The inspiration for this feature, Lo Celso was a hilariously awful signing and nobody seems to care. Again, it’s probably because it’s Tottenham…lads.

Just how much the Argentine cost Spurs is a little unclear. He initially joined on loan with an option to buy in one of those FFP loophole transfers. Transfermarkt says the loan fee was 16 million euros and the eventual signing was double that. That is a pretty significant total and we again question why nobody cares.

Lo Celso scored 10 goals and made eight assists in 108 appearances for the Londoners, meaning he only had three more goal contributions than bookings, which is actually quite impressive because we definitely thought he was a yellow-card merchant.

Tanguy Ndombele receives plenty of criticism and rightly so. It’s time to treat Lo Celso equally as poorly, people. Come on, do what we do best!

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