10 of the craziest January transfers in the Premier League

With another crazy transfer window done and dusted, here’s a look at the biggest January signing failures in the Premier League’s history. Stream all Premier League games live on Showmax Pro, courtesy of SuperSport.

Alexis Sanchez – Arsenal to Manchester United

This is one of the prime examples of why one should be hesitant to buy players in the hyper-inflated January transfer window.

Alexis Sanchez came in as hot property at Arsenal and was offered the highest wages in Britain to join Manchester United in order to challenge Manchester City.

Eighteen months, 32 matches and only three goals later, United arguably went to more trouble loaning out Sanchez than buying him in the first place.

Philippe Coutinho – Liverpool to Barcelona

Coutinho’s transfer to Barcelona is extraordinary for two reasons.

Firstly, the price that Barcelona paid was so inflated (£105 million with options to rise to £142 million) that it ended up funding the whole core of a Premier League-winning team for Liverpool.

Secondly, it provided one of the most extraordinary situations of a player on loan punishing the parenting club. Coutinho was loaned out to Bayern Munich where he not only played against Barcelona in a humiliating 8-2 thrashing, but he also scored twice.

Fernando Torres – Liverpool to Chelsea

Torres will always be remembered as a goalscoring machine at Liverpool. However, at Chelsea, he will always be a poster boy for their "cursed" number nine shirt.

It appeared to be a vanity signing by Roman Abramovich at the time when he broke the British transfer record by paying a fee of £50 million.

He was supposed to be a guarantee for 20 goals per league season. Instead, he took as many as four seasons to reach that mark.

Jean Makoun – Lyon to Aston Villa

Gerard Houillier signed the midfielder with much fanfare as a promising player with UEFA Champions League experience.

The return on his £6.2 million price tag ended up being nine games in two years with his most memorable contribution being a red card for an awful tackle in a game against Blackpool.

Upon his departure, the new Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert said he “had not got a clue what he looks like”.

Juan Cuadrado – Fiorentina to Chelsea

Oh dear. Chelsea are featuring quite a lot on this list.

Cuadrado is an example of a player becoming overrated on the back of having one good FIFA World Cup tournament. Everyone was fighting for his signature after his performances for Colombia in 2014. Chelsea bid highest and have regretted it since.

Ended up being £26 million pounds for a player that only started four times. Ouch.

Jean-Alain Boumsong – Rangers to Newcastle

Unlike the exciting times Newcastle are experiencing now, they used to be a squad rife with failed transfers and Boumsong was the most disastrous of them all.

Eyebrows were raised when the club paid £8 million pounds for a defender that Rangers had signed on a free transfer six months earlier. After two seasons that produced an endless stream of defensive errors, the Frenchman was jettisoned off to Serie B.

Chris Samba – Anzhi to QPR

He was signed as a solid centre-back to help in a relegation fight on wages reportedly around £100 000 a week.

His spell was disastrous, with the low point being a Twitter spat with fans, telling them they had to “get over” how much he was being paid.

Guido Carillo – Monaco to Southampton

It flies under the radar in the history of failed transfers, but how in the world did Southampton part with £19 million for Guido Carillo?

An untried striker at Monaco who was an understudy to Kylian Mbappe and Falcao, the French outfit must have laughed all the way to the bank when that bid came in.

Carillo played seven games without scoring. So it nearly ended up costing the Saints £3 million per appearance.

Enzo Fernandez – Benfica to Chelsea

Many of you will be up in arms that an as-yet untested player made this list, but on the outset this is the most extraordinary case of over-inflation winning over common sense.

Before the FIFA World Cup, the Argentinian was available for £16 million. After the World Cup, Chelsea ended up having to pay £106 million for his services.

New owner, same Chelsea.

Mykhailo Mudryk – Shakhtar Donetsk to Chelsea

Yes, another untested player that you will say is unfair to be on this list. But hear us out.

In the Ukraine, he only played 50 games with a scoring ratio that’s worse than one in every five games. Is this really what £89 million pounds buys you these days?

Chelsea have without doubt taken the prize this January for the craziest transfer activity, with this signing of Mudryk being the most eyebrow-raising of the bunch.

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