Biggest Flops in Premier League History

Who are the biggest flops in Premier League history? We’ve put together a list of players who failed to live up to the hype in English football.

Let's define what we mean by a flop. For this list, we're considering players who were signed for large sums of money, but ultimately failed to deliver on the pitch. It could be due to poor form, injury, or simply not adapting to the Premier League.

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Andy Carroll

Andy Carroll. The former Newcastle United striker joined Liverpool for a then-record fee of £35 million in 2011, but struggled with injuries and inconsistency, scoring just 11 goals in 58 appearances for the club.

Angel Di Maria

Angel Di Maria is up next. The Argentine winger joined Manchester United from Real Madrid in 2014 for a then-record fee of £59.7 million, but he struggled to adjust to the physicality of the Premier League, scoring only four goals in 32 appearances before being sold to Paris Saint-Germain.

Roberto Soldado

Next on our list, we have Roberto Soldado. The Spanish striker joined Tottenham Hotspur for a then-record fee of £26 million in 2013, but struggled to replicate his form at Valencia, scoring just 16 goals in 76 appearances before being sold.

Christian Benteke

Christian Benteke made a name for himself in the Premier League with Aston Villa, netting 49 and assisting 12 in 101 games. The Belgian’s superb form for Villa earned him a transfer to Liverpool in 2015 for £32.5m. However, Benteke’s form took a serious nosedive when he made the move to Merseyside, scoring just 10 and assisting 6 in 42 outings for Liverpool. This works out at £2.03m per goal contribution. Benteke would go on to join Crystal Palace just one year on from his Liverpool switch and has never been able to recapture that form he found at Villa.

Danny Drinkwater

Next, the dramatic decline of Danny Drinkwater, the midfielder once had a flourishing career. He was a key figure in Leicester's league-winning fairytale in 2006. He signed a five-year contract with Chelsea for £35 million. Making only 22 appearances for Chelsea, and being loaned out to several clubs, Chelsea announced on 10th June 2022 that Drinkwater would leave the club when his contract expired.

Nicolas Pepe

There was a time when Nicolas Pepe appeared to be on the rise at Arsenal; however, the Ivorian scored just one Premier League goal in his final season at the club, his place in the starting lineup having long since been taken by younger, better players, making his departure inevitable in the summer of 2022. Arsenal allowed Pepe to join Nice on loan, and the Gunners now appear unlikely to recoup the £79 million they paid for his services in 2019, with the winger's contract set to expire in 2023.

Andriy Shevchenko

Next we have Andriy Shevchenko. The Ballon d'Or winner joined Chelsea for a then-record fee of £30.8 million in 2006. Once a clinical goal scorer at AC Milan, he struggled to adapt to the physicality of the Premier League, scoring just 9 goals in 48 appearances before being sold back to Milan.

Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres is up next on our list. In 142 appearances for Liverpool, the Spaniard had pace, power, and deadly finishing, scoring 81 goals and providing 21 assists. The striker joined Chelsea for a then-record fee of £50 million in 2011, and while he did win the Champions League with Chelsea, he struggled to replicate his form at Liverpool, scoring only 20 goals in 110 appearances.

Alexis Sanchez

Up there on one of the biggest transfer flops, Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United. A rare Swap deal at the start of 2018, when Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez headed to Old Trafford and United flop Henrikh Mkhitaryan going the other way. His electrifying bursts and individual magic appeared to vanish overnight. Just five goals in 45 appearances was the Chilean’s final contribution and all for a massive £391,000 a week, plus a substantial bonus package.

Alvaro Morata

The final player on our list is Spanish striker Alvaro Morata, who earns a spot due to the size of the fee spent on him. Chelsea parted with around £60 million to bring Morata to Stamford Bridge from Real Madrid in the summer of 2017 and he went on to score 16 league goals in the next 18 months. He had a total goal contribution at a cost of £2.77million each before being loaned to Atletico Madrid in January 2019.