The worst signings Liverpool have made in the Premier League era…
10) Anthony Le Tallec – £3m from Le Havre
Was supposed to European football’s next big thing when Houllier snapped him up in 2001. Quite frankly, he wasn’t. The Frenchman never scored a league goal for the Reds, and never did much else of note either. Le Tallec was loaned out to five different clubs, and didn’t actually leave the club permanently until 2008!
9) Jean Michael Ferri – Instanbulspor for £3m
Houllier’s first signing was undeniably one of his worst. The French centre-back arrived for relatively big money back in the day, but made a total of 47 minutes worth of game time for the Reds. Very clumsy on the ball, and positionally clueless off it. A real drab player!
8) Sean Dundee – Karlsruher for £2m
The worst striker ever to pull on a Liverpool shirt. Dundee made three appearances, and barely touched the ball in any of them. Shipped out to Germany very quickly, but will live forever in Liverpool ‘bad player folklore’.
7) Antonio Nunez – Real Madrid, as part of the swap deal that saw Michael Owen leave
When Owen left he was still one of Europe’s best strikers. In return, Liverpool could a measly £8m, and Antonio Nunez. Nunez never, ever did anything of note at the Reds, and is probably one of the worst players to ever receive a Champions League winners medal.
6) Fabio Borini – Roma for £14m
Brendan Rodgers worst signing so far. Borini had a half decent season in Serie A, but couldn’t adapt to the Premier League at all. He suffered with injuries too, and has now been shipped out on loan to relegation battlers Sunderland. He can’t even get in their team.
5) Stewart Downing – Aston Villa for £20m
Stewart Downing isn’t, and has never been a £20m player. In his first season at Liverpool, he didn’t register a single Premier League goal or assist! That’s completely shocking. He was shipped out to West Ham for £6m this summer, and no tears were shed on Merseyside.
4) Robbie Keane – Tottenham for £20m
Keane played at Liverpool for about 5 months, being being sold back to Spurs for just over half the fee they paid for him. With Fernando Torres playing up top on his own, and Gerrard just in behind him – why was Keane ever signed at all?
3) El Hadji Diouf – Lens for £11m
One of the most expensive signings in Liverpool’s history when he arrived, Diouf became the only Liverpool player in history to go a season without a league goal. A nasty bloke, and a not too terrific player, either.
2) Alberto Aquilani – Roma for £18m
A strange, strange signing. He was brought to Anfield from Roma for an enormous fee, and was supposed to be Xabi Alonso’s replacement. He was badly injured though, so missed practically the entire season on the sidelines. When he returned to fitness, he was sent on consecutive loan spells back to Italy! What was the point in any of it?
1) Andy Carroll – Newcastle for £35m
This one’s ludicrously easy. At £35m, Carroll is the most expensive English player of all time. For someone with such ridiculously limited technical ability, that is frightening. On arrival, Brendan Rodgers took one look at Carroll and dumped him on loan to West Ham. He then sold him to the London club for a £20m loss this summer. Never in football history has such a sum been paid for such an average footballer.
