Top of the flops

The players that failed to sparkle

THE most expensive player in the Premier League cost nearly £60million pounds and, up to now, he has been a bit of a disappointment. In fact since leaving Spain, the very dear Angel Di Maria has been more ‘oh dear me’ than a demon over here.

Ever since Trevor Francis became the first million pound player in 1979, there has been pressure on expensive signings to justify their fee and their wages. Many, alas, have failed.

In Francis’s case, Brian Clough, his manager, recognised the spotlight his new star would be under and told the media he cost £999,999 to try and protect him from that seven-figure label. This, however, was more fanciful than factual with the transfer fee actually amounting to £1.15m.

Steve Daley cost Manchester City £1.4m when they signed him from Wolves, also in 1979, and he had a less than successful time at Maine Road. The move meant his weekly wage rose from £300 to £500 so, although it was decent money at the time, at least he was comparatively cheap to budget for after the initial investment.

Since those distant days, big money deals and generous wages have become the norm, especially since the Premier League came into being.

The number of expensive flops has grown in proportion such as, for example, David Bentley who signed for Spurs in a £15m deal.

This particular Bentley was very expensive to run, having been given a generous five-year contract but only making 42 appearances. Later, he was to retire from the game aged only 29 saying that he never really felt he wanted to be a footballer. I’d imagine the powers-that-be at White Hart Lane had wished they’d known that before eagerly thrusting a pen and paperwork in front of him.

North London neighbours Arsenal laid out £8m for Franny Jeffers in 2000 but he competed with Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp for a striker’s shirt and that was never going to be an easy prospect. So it proved, and he moved on for a quarter of that fee soon after.

Italian Massimo Taibi had the difficult task of replacing Peter Schmeichel at Old Trafford but it was soon curtains for the man nicknamed ‘The Blind Venetian’ by the fans after a couple of particularly bad howlers and then a floundering display in a 5-0 defeat to Chelsea.

His four games for United cost over £1m