The summer transfer window was perhaps the craziest we’ve ever seen in the Premier League.
Jack Grealish became England’s first £100m player, Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the Premier League with Manchester United and Arsenal were the biggest spenders in the country, overhauling their squad with young talent.
January was equally as exciting. Luis Diaz joined Liverpool, while Spurs made two deadline day signings from Juventus.
However, for every blockbuster signing, there’s an underwhelming one, and with that in mind, we’re going to look at what we believe to be the XI of worst Premier League signings this season.
GK: Angus Gunn
There weren’t many goalkeepers signed this summer, and with Aaron Ramsdale and Jose Sa shining at Arsenal and Wolves, Angus Gunn makes our team in goal.
£5m, seven games, one clean sheet, 18 goals conceded, need we say more?
RB: Emerson Royal
Emerson Royal has barely looked like a footballer at times this season, never mind a £25m player.
The Brazilian arrived from Barcelona this summer for big money, but he’s already lost his place in the team to Matt Doherty and he’s looked completely out of his depth on a number of occasions.
Spurs have made some good additions this season, but Emerson isn’t one of them.
CB: Jannik Vestergaard
Leicester City are so often commended for getting their transfer business spot on, but on this occasion, they’ve got it wrong.
Vestergaard has struggled in a Leicester shirt. He’s looked a yard slower than he did at Southampton, and even his strongest areas have been lacking this season – despite standing at 6 ft 7, he’s only won 13 aerial duels this term in 10 league appearances.
CB: Nathan Collins
This is perhaps slightly harsh as Collins is just 20 years old, but this is more of a dig at Burnley than at the Irishman.
Burnley don’t get to spend money very often, but for some reason, they splashed £12m on a centre-back despite having one of the most settled and consistent pairings in the division with Ben Mee and James Tarkowski.
Collins has started just seven games this term, and while he may step up next year if Tarkowski leaves upon the expiry of his contract, it’s hard to describe this season as a success.
LB: Junior Firpo
The second full-back signed from Barcelona in our team, Firpo has suffered a number of the same issues at Leeds as Emerson has at Spurs.
Positionally dysfunctional and injury prone, Firpo has more than twice as many yellow cards as he has completed crosses this season.
CM: Saul Niguez
The only loan signing in our team, Saul has regressed massively since his glory days at Atletico Madrid.
The Spaniard has barely been able to get into the Chelsea game this term, starting just four league games, and when he has played, he’s been shoved out on the left more often than not.
CM: Dele Alli
The fact that Dele Alli has made this team despite being a free transfer just goes to show how poor he has been at Everton.
The Toffees are apparently already looking to offload Alli, and if they’re relegated, they may look back on this as one of the worst panic buys in their history.
Alli has looked a shell of himself so far at Everton, and it’s really tough to see him turning this around before the season ends.
RM: Jadon Sancho
Admittedly, Jadon Sancho has looked better in the last few weeks, but when you’re paying £73m for a player who once contributed to 33 league goals in a single season, you expect more than three goals and three assists at this stage.
Sancho had an embarrassingly poor start to the season, scoring just once by early February, and his slow adaptation period will certainly be a contributing factor if Manchester United miss out on the top four.
In years to come, Sancho could well be a star, but this season, it’s hard to call him anything but a flop.
LM: Leon Bailey
Once upon a time, England fans were calling for Leon Bailey to get a Three Lions call-up, despite not being eligible for the national team.
Nowadays, he can barely get a game at Aston Villa ahead of either Philippe Coutinho or Emi Buendia.
The Jamaican is clearly a talent, but we’ve, quite simply, not seen it yet in England.
ST: Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku looked like he’d matured out in Italy, but as soon as he returned to England he was back up to his old tricks.
Immobile, lazy and the first touch of a Sunday League player, Lukaku has once again shown why Manchester United were so willing to let him go to Inter in the first place.
£97.5m and five goals tells the story, but the fact that the Belgian set the record for the fewest touches in a Premier League game earlier this season is perhaps the most damning indictment of his performances this year.
ST: Salomon Rondon
Everton have somehow managed to get two players in this team that cost a combined £0.
Rondon was a favourite of Rafa Benitez at both Newcastle and in China, but bringing him to Goodison Park was just one of many poor decisions the Spaniard made during his time in charge of the Toffees.
Rondon has just one goal to his name this season, while his all-round performances have generally been very poor.
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