The Great Debate: Who is the biggest flop in recent memory? | OneFootball

It’s Wednesday and we can’t wait to settle down in front of the TV tonight to watch Real Madrid v Man City.

But Eden Hazard won’t be involved. The 29-year-old is injured once more and that deal, worth an initial €100m, is starting to look very bad indeed.

Who, though, is the biggest big money flop we’ve seen in recent years?

Lewis Ambrose

Clocking in ahead of Hazard last summer, for a massive €120m, was Antoine Griezmann.

And what for? Lionel Messi is still carrying Barcelona, the team is still desperately missing the injured Luis Suárez.

At 28, Griezmann was signed for an enormous sum and doesn’t fit the style of the side at all. What a waste of both money and talent.

Phil Costa

Taking everything into account, Barcelona were sent down the river with Philippe Coutinho.

Public perception of him has been exaggerated (I still think he is a very good player) but Barça just wasn’t the right fit for him.

Costing €140m and lasting just 18 months before being loaned out puts him firmly in flop territory.

Matt Frohlich

There’s quite a few to choose from given the money spent on some players, but I’m going for Ángel di María at Manchester United.

He swapped the Bernabéu for Old Trafford in a £59.7m deal and, despite a promising start, what followed can only be described as a nightmare. A poor season for Man United was filled with injuries, bad form, and difficulties under van Gaal. A move to PSG came just one year later.

Luckily for him, he has since rediscovered his best form and is a key man for the French champions.

Alex Mott

There were 35 million reasons why Andy Carroll’s move to Liverpool was never going to work.

Brought in to replace Fernando Torres, the lanky Englishman – Britain’s most expensive footballer at the time – scored just eight goals during his time at Anfield before eventually being shipped out to West Ham.

Joel Sanderson-Murray

It’s just not happened for Ousmane Dembélé at Barcelona.

Signed for an astronomical €125m fee, the Frenchman was set to spearhead an exciting post-Neymar era at the Camp Nou. However, a number of injuries have hampered the 22-year-old with just 74 appearances in three seasons and he’s not recaptured the form shown at Borussia Dortmund.

He should’ve stayed in Germany a little longer.

Padraig Whelan

There is one name that comes to mind instantly for me when this question is raised: Fernando Torres.

Remember the unstoppable force he was at Liverpool? He was a shadow of himself for the rest of his career the moment he joined Chelsea in a £50m deal – managing just 20 league goals there in three-and-a-half years.

That transfer also led to another huge flop as his Anfield replacement Andy Carroll (a deadline day panic buy) failed to even come close to filling one of El Niño’s boots.