We pick an XI with some of the January transfer window flops you may have forgotten, including players signed for Spurs, Arsenal and a couple of Harry Redknapp arrivals.
Konstantinos Chalkias signed for Harry Redknapp’s Porstmouth side from Panathinaikos in 2005. The Greek stopper endured a nightmare start to life at Pompey, conceding thirteen goals in just five games. He left six months later for Spanish side Real Murcia.
This XI’s back-three consists of the calamitous January signings of Christopher Samba, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Ricardo Rocha. Samba is the second Redknapp signing in the side after his ill-fated move to Queens Park Rangers in 2013. The defender moved to Loftus Road for an inflated transfer fee and huge wages which lead to tensions with unimpressed R’s supporters. Samba jumped ship to Russian football following QPR’s relegation.
In 2005, Boumsong joined Newcastle United from Rangers to form a disastrous partnership with Titus Bramble in Grahame Souness’ defence. The Frenchman wouldn’t last long on the Toon and would somehow earn a move to Juventus in August of 2006.
Rocha’s spell at Tottenham Hotspur was equally underwhelming. He only managed eighteen appearances for Spurs following his move from Benfica in 2007, which included a debut to forget against Everton.
Ricardo Quaresma and Savio Nsereko are wingers in this XI. Quaresma had a forgettable six-month loan spell at Chelsea in 2009. The ex-Barcelona man only played 131 Premier League minutes for the Blues and wouldn’t appear again following the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham in March.
In the same transfer window, West Ham United used some of the money they raised from selling Craig Bellamy to bring in the relatively obscure signing of Savio from Italian side Brescia. He would only last six months at the Boleyn before returning to Italy with Fiorentina.
Kim Kallstorm and Eric Djemba-Djemba take their spots in the centre of midfielder. Kallstorm struggled to find fitness during his loan spell at Arsenal in 2014. The Swedish midfielder only completed a full ninety minutes once for the club before returning to Spartak Moscow.
Djemba-Djemba will live in infamy for his bizarre move to Manchester United in 2003. However, his January switch to Aston Villa in 2005 was equally as puzzling. Djemba-Djemba would manage just 11 games in a Villa shirt in eighteen months at the club.
The front three of Emmanuel Adebayor, Alfonso Alves and Konstantinos Mitroglou complete this XI. Adebayor spent the first half of the 2015/6 season searching for a club and made the move to Premier League strugglers Crystal Palace in January. The Togo forward only managed to add one goal to Alan Pardew’s already goal-shy side.
Alves’ tremendous goal-scoring record in Holland earned him a club-record move to Middlesbrough in 2008. However, he struggled to reproduce that form in English football and would leave for Qatar side Al-Sadd in the summer of 2009.
Mitroglou’s big-money move to Fulham failed to inspire a great escape, as the Greek forward barely made it onto the field in the second half of the 2013/4 campaign.
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