The 10 worst transfers in soccer history, ranked
The transfer window is a time of hope and excitement. It's a time to make transformative additions that can revive a struggling team or put trophy-chasing sides over the top. It's also a time when expensive, crippling mistakes are made. For every brilliant deal and shrewd piece of business, there are dozens of signings that go bust for one reason or another - some in spectacular fashion.
This week, while the wheeling and dealing is in full swing, we're ranking the 30 worst signings in soccer history. Compiled by theScore's soccer editors, our list features prototypical high-priced flops and some mystifying moves that ruined careers, damaged reputations, and set clubs back several years. The three-part series concludes below with the 10 most egregious transfers ever.
Review the entire series:
10. Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
Signed from Juventus for €105 million in 2016
Manchester United paid a record fee to re-sign a player they had let go for nothing. That alone was difficult enough to swallow. Pogba left the club in 2012 for Juventus and won four championships in Italy. But he ultimately returned to England, feeling he had unfinished business there. He most certainly failed to accomplish whatever he sought to do. Pogba became a lightning rod for criticism and a scapegoat for United's failures. He was also injured for large stretches of his six seasons there. Pogba rarely hit the pitch for United with the vigor he showed for France. - Anthony Lopopolo
9. Nicolas Pepe (Arsenal)
Signed from Lille for €80 million in 2019
"Arsenal spent a lot of money on me, and I paid the price for it," Pepe said in November about how he was harshly judged during his time in English football. Arsenal ripped up Pepe's contract one year early following a four-season spell that featured a few highlight-reel moments and little more. The staggeringly inconsistent winger scored 16 times and provided nine assists over 80 Premier League appearances, and he was rumored to be a disruptive presence in the squad. The transfer would've been more damaging for Arsenal without the timely emergence of academy graduate Bukayo Saka, but it was still an abject failure; Pepe remains the second-most expensive player in Arsenal history. - Daniel Rouse
8. Kaka (Real Madrid)
Signed from AC Milan for €67 million in 2009
For a little while, Kaka was the most expensive player in the world before Cristiano Ronaldo joined him at Real Madrid. And rightly so. The Brazilian playmaker was an elite talent for years at AC Milan, becoming the last player to win the Ballon d'Or in 2007 before Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dominated the award for the next decade. Yet, when he changed allegiances, his best years were clearly behind him, as injuries and inconsistency plagued his Madrid career. After losing his place to Mesut Ozil, Madrid sent Kaka back to Milan four years later for a huge loss on the initial transfer. - Gordon Brunt
7. Neymar (Al-Hilal)
Signed from Paris Saint-Germain for €90 million in 2023
Al-Hilal are too rich to care about the money they've wasted on Neymar. To the rest of us, it's truly sickening. Not only did the Saudi outfit pay €90 million to break the Brazilian's contract with PSG, but they agreed to pay him an estimated €101 million annually. But the oft-injured forward has only played seven games for Al-Hilal in one-and-a-half seasons and is currently unregistered for the Saudi Pro League. He's yet to score a league goal during his time in Saudi Arabia, which was blighted by a serious knee injury. If reports ring true and Neymar ends up leaving in January and returning to Brazil, he'll have earned €28.8 million per match, or around €472,000 for each minute he's played. - Lopopolo
6. Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea)
Signed from Athletic Bilbao for €80 million in 2018
Arrizabalaga remains the most expensive goalkeeper of all time. While he achieved some success at Chelsea and helped them win the Europa League in 2019, he ended up on the bench more often than not and was an unused substitute during the 2021 Champions League final. Arrizabalaga is best remembered for furiously refusing to be substituted during the 2019 League Cup final, which Chelsea eventually lost in a shootout to Manchester City. Now he's on loan at Bournemouth after again failing to convince Chelsea he deserved minutes ahead of No. 1 starter Robert Sanchez. - Lopopolo
5. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea)
Signed from Inter Milan for €113 million in 2021
Lukaku heralded his return to Chelsea as the endpoint of his "long journey" home. Even though he had just won Serie A with Inter - finishing behind only Cristiano Ronaldo in scoring - Lukaku couldn't pass up the opportunity to rejoin his childhood club. But the honeymoon was over after five months. Thomas Tuchel dropped Lukaku from his squad after hearing his striker wax lyrical about returning to Inter in an unauthorized interview with Italian TV. The Belgian complained about Tuchel's tactics, and while he would play for the Blues again, his relationship with the club didn't recover. A loan move back to Inter didn't kick-start his career. He moved to Roma for one season before reuniting with former Inter coach Antonio Conte at Napoli in the summer. Chelsea spent over €100 million on Lukaku and, in return, got eight league goals and plenty of headaches. - Lopopolo
4. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
Signed from Atletico Madrid for €120 million in 2019
It's not Griezmann's fault that Barcelona's recruiting department was tactically inept. They signed a left-footed playmaker with an appetite for goals despite already having the best player in the world occupying the same role in Messi. Griezmann's scoring output was decent for someone who regularly played on the left wing, away from his preferred central position where he was so lethal for Atletico Madrid. But tactics weren't the only problem. The massive financial commitment it took to sign Griezmann set the club back years, directly contributing to Messi's once unthinkable departure in 2021. Barcelona couldn't afford Messi due to the financial mess caused, in part, by matching Griezmann's release clause. Things didn't get any better after Messi's exit, and Barcelona sold Griezmann for a loss to Atletico. He, of course, has gone on to revive his career back in Madrid. - Brunt
3. Ali Dia (Southampton)
Free transfer from Blyth Spartans in 1996
Dia is different from everybody else on this list: He wasn't a professional footballer. Somebody called Southampton's then-manager Graeme Souness and claimed to be 1995 Ballon d'Or winner George Weah, saying his cousin, Dia, would be a good signing. Dia was actually a 31-year-old university student. Then, a miracle happened. The phony footballer was brought in on trial, named on a Premier League bench against Leeds United, and brought on to replace an injured Matt Le Tissier in the 32nd minute of an official match. He lasted 53 minutes before he was hastily subbed off and never seen in the professional game again. - Rouse
2. Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
Signed from Chelsea for €100 million in 2019
Around 50,000 fans packed the Santiago Bernabeu to celebrate Hazard's unveiling in 2019. He told the crowd he'd been dreaming of this moment since he was a child playing in his "family's garden." Madrid went trophy-less the previous season and were hoping Hazard would lead them out of their post-Ronaldo drought. But he arrived overweight and went a year without scoring for the club. Then came the injuries. Hazard missed a total of 518 days due to injury, according to estimates from transfermarkt.com. Vinicius Junior eventually took his place, and the Belgian terminated his contract with Madrid in June 2023 after scoring just four league goals in four years. Hazard retired from football altogether three months later. - Lopopolo
1. Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona)
Signed from Liverpool for €160 million in 2018
For the second time in less than a year, the search for Neymar's replacement was supposed to be over. Barcelona moved on quickly after Ousmane Dembele flopped, certain that Coutinho was the answer. The expensive January move to the Camp Nou was a no-brainer at the time for Coutinho, who didn't win anything in six seasons with Liverpool. Almost a decade later, the transfer is viewed as a watershed moment that triggered the drastic shift in fortunes for both clubs. While Liverpool went on to enjoy one of the most successful periods in club history, Barca started to go into a tailspin as Coutinho struggled to live up to his huge price tag. They won La Liga in his first full season, but the primary goal to reconquer Europa fell short. Barcelona loaned him to Bayern Munich shortly after, only to have Coutinho play a direct role in eliminating them from the Champions League while he was still on their payroll; he scored twice for Bayern in the infamous 8-2 drubbing in 2020 that remains one of Barca's most humiliating losses of all time. Off the pitch, Coutinho was a huge financial burden who was unsellable due to his gargantuan wages. It was a truly terrible transfer from all angles. - Brunt
What are the worst deals your favorite club has ever made? Let us know in the comments below!