The stars who have failed to live up to their transfer fees
As the folks who ploughed their cash into the Sega Saturn, Minidiscs and HD-DVDs will testify, sometimes smart investments don’t quite work out. With this in mind, Spoiler correspondent Joe Thompson has compiled a list of ten Premier League players who have failed to deliver on the financial commitment their respective clubs made to bring them in…
Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea, £31m)
When Chelsea signed ‘Sheva’ in 2006 on a four year deal, it was for a club record fee - but this was a record breaking player. He’d won everything with Milan, bagged the Ballon d’Or and had twice been top scorer in Serie A. Since his move to West London, however, he’s managed 20 goals in 83 appearances, and a season shipped out on loan back to his beloved Milan. Did he rediscover his form there? Did he f**k. He’ll be 33 next month as a once-great career slides away. Abramovich’s ultimate vanity signing has been his worst.
Kolo Toure (Manchester City, £14m)
While part of the 2003/04 title-winning ‘invincibles’, he could have been in the Best Value top ten. One of Wenger’s best buys for £150,000, he was immense. The past couple of seasons though, Toure and Arsenal have struggled with consistency, with the team’s spine being called into question. Unlike Chelsea with Shevchenko, The Citizens have bought a player who has already lost his form.
Zat Knight (Bolton, £5m)
You’ve got to feel for Bolton fans.
A team of fresh faces who represent excellent value for money
Although the transfer window isn’t locked shut until the end of the month, the brand new Premier League season is but a few hours away. With this in mind, Spoiler correspondent Ben Baker has considered the best buys of the summer so far, compiling a team of his favourites…
Joe Hart (Manchester City to Birmingham, Season Long Loan)
A transfer that suits both parties. Joe wants to win more senior England caps, and since he has been edged out of the number one spot at Manchester City by a certain Mr. Given, first team opportunities have been lacking. His search for regular football has led him to the Midlands and Birmingham are surely delighted that this promising young English goalkeeper will be between the sticks for the season. Also, you just have to love him for his mental attitude and abrasive shouting when facing a penalty - he’s like a loopier version of Bruce Grobbelaar.
Glen Johnson (Portsmouth to Liverpool, £17.5m)
Beating off Chelsea and Manchester City and getting one over his rivals would have made this deal extra sweet for the ever-irritated Rafa. Johnson had a superb season last year, both with club and country, epitomised by his man of the match performance against an (albeit woeful) Andorra side that saw him notch up four assists from full back, and will add a whole new dimension to Liverpool’s right side. A high price to pay, but as Rafa said, “Sometimes you have to spend a little bit more.”A sentiment that is particularly true for English players.
Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow to Chelsea, £18m)
A Russian at Chelsea? How did that happen? This versatile
According to The Sun, some of Manchester’s newest residents have been alerted to its availability and are now furiously scrapping it out in order to get their hands on the deeds. Megabucks City signings Emmanuel Adebayor, Gareth Barry and Carlos Tevez have all put bids on the table, along with Man United newbie Antonio Valencia. We imagine the estate agents will pretend they never received Tevez’ fax, considering the state he left his last digs in.
Way out in front though, is Kolo Toure, who has used his petrodollar pocket money to tear off a cheque for £5.5m. The final price may end closer close to £6m once the winning bidder has paid to clear out CR7’s collection of Ricky Martin bootlegs, empty Zovirax boxes and used Spanish models.
Nouveau riche side will be back in black next season
Bloody hell, Kolo Toure isn’t wasting any time, is he? He’s barely been at Manchester City 24 hours, but here he is posing in the new away kit with fellow newbies Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Sat Nav Cruz.
As you can see, the new strip is black and yellow. As you can see by the honeycomb pattern in the background and the huge picture of a wasp/bee on their official site, they’re playing on the fact that this colour combination represents danger in the animal kingdom.
It comes out on the 15th, and The Spoiler rather likes it. Do you?
The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Kolo Toure to Manchester City
Not content with prising compassionate striker Manu Adebayor away from the Emirates, the Citizen’s are lining up a £12m bid for Kolo Toure, say The Independent.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: City want to buy a defender? Come on, pull the other one.
Javier Mascherano to Barcelona
While Joan Laporta was welcoming Zlatan Ibrahimovic and trying to kick Samuel Eto’o out of the door, Barca vice president Rafael Yuste confirmed his admiration of the Liverpool midfielder:
“I can confirm that Javier Mascherano is a fantastic player that personally I like a lot. But we have not listed (him).
“We have a lot of players who want to come to Barcelona. Mascherano is a fantastic player,
The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies…
With just four days of trading remaining in the window, it’s little surprise that today’s rumours are very City-centric…
Kolo Toure to Manchester City
According to The Daily Mail, Manchester City have renewed their £12m bid for the longest serving member of Arsenal’s current squad (does that mean they just asked Arsenal again to see if they wanted to do the deal they already refused?). If unsuccessful, they may up the bid to £15m and throw in Richard Dunne.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: This would cover the Arshavin deal, but the Professor is very unlikely to let Toure go.
Roque Santa Cruz to Manchester City
Keen to burn through the unused Kaka money as quickly as possible, the blue side of Manchester has put in a final bid for the Blackburn striker of £18.5m, say The Guardian. The Spoiler truth-o-meter: It’s clear that Santa Cruz wants to move on, but it all hinges on Blackburn chairman John Williams, who must decide whether the club can afford to lose their best player at such a
Nine days remain until Mark Hughes starts his spending spree
With the transfer window drawing closer, the tabloids have desperately been searching for names that they haven’t already linked with Manchester City. But rather than rationing themselves to one rumour a day they have thrown all the new names into the mix at once as a special Christmas present to their loyal readers:
Kolo Toure to Manchester City The Sun have declared Toure as Manchester City’s top £10 million January transfer target based on the fact “he seems to have been made the fall guy for his side’s stuttering season and is now behind William Gallas, Mikael Silvestre and Johan Djourou in the pecking order.” The Spoiler is baffled by this logic considering he has started more league games that Silvestre and Djourou this season and was arguably Arsenal’s best player against Wigan before picking up his latest injury.
The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: The only reason Wenger would let Toure go is if he has decided he is too injury prone and that seems unlikely.
Mark Hughes wants another four players The Daily Mail claim that Hughes will spend £40 million next month on Marcos Senna, Wayne Bridge and his former Blackburn players Roque Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy.
The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Would that be good value for money?
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