The failed deals of millions of euros and pounds, the players who became the worst disappointment of their clubs - this is what our list of the most unsuccessful football contracts in history consists of.
10. Julien Faubert
There are people who are still asking what the club Real Madrid saw in this French footballer in 2009 to rent it for 1.5 million euros with the possibility of buying in the future for 6 million euros. At first, neither the player himself, nor his agent, Ivan Le Mi, believed in such luck.
As a result, Fauber played world-class football in just 60 minutes, playing in two matches of Real Madrid. Once he did not come to training, mistakenly deciding that he had a day off. And during the game with Villarreal, the player simply fell asleep on the bench, although he assures himself that he had only closed his eyes for 30 seconds. After this, the Frenchman simply did not have a chance to stay in Real Madrid, and he returned to his native club West Ham.
9. Gaiska Mendieta
In 2001, the Roman club Lazio became interested in one of the best penalty kicks of modern football. He decided to spend 48 million euros on Mendieta, which at that time was one of the most expensive football transfers in history. From the club “Valencia” Gaiska left in the rays of glory and having the rank of champion of Spain.
However, he didn’t adapt very well to tough Italian football, and he never shone on the field in 20 matches like in his native Spain. Then in the career of Mendieta there were such clubs as Barcelona and Middlesbrough, but the player never returned to the success that he had in Valencia.
8. Philip Kristanval
Philippe's career began at the Monaco Club, for which he played 81 games. In 2000, Kristanval received the title of “Best Young Football Player of the French Championship”. And in 2001, he moved to the Barcelona club for 6.5 million euros.
For two seasons with Barca, he played in 31 matches, but always looked slow and awkward. After this, Kristanval's career began to decline, due to a series of injuries. The clubs in which he played broke off contracts with him, and in the end, he decided to leave the football field forever.
7. Joanne Gourcuff
After a disappointing and short period at Milan, Joanne Gourcuff's career took a second wind when he joined Bordeaux in 2008. His performances even deserved comparison with Zinedine Zidane, since Joann helped Bordeaux win the championship and the League Cup.
“If you cannot defeat him, buy him” - apparently, the Lyon club managers thought and signed a contract for EUR 22 million in 2010 with Gourcuff. However, in his five years at Lyon, Gourcuff missed over 90 games due to injury, and now he plays for Dijon.
6. Ricardo Quaresma
This Portuguese footballer arrived in the Italian International for almost 19 million euros back in 2008, but he still did not convince Mourinho of his effectiveness. In December 2008, Quaresma was named the main disappointment of the season in Italy, and received the Golden urn anti-award.
Mourinho lent Quarezhma to Chelsea, where many do not even remember such a player, since he never started playing for the club. He returned to the Italian club, and then was able to resume his career in Turkey, but his reputation was torn to shreds.
5. Ricardo "Kaka" Isexon dos Santos Leyti
It seems implausible that this Brazilian footballer could be on the list of the worst football contracts of the century. In his youth, Ricardo (in his homeland he is called "Kaka", abbreviated on behalf of) was one of the best players of his generation, a stylish and strong midfielder. He was the last player to win Ballon D’or before the decade of dominance of Messi and Ronaldo.
Kaka became the most expensive soccer player in the world when he joined Real Madrid in 2009 for 68.5 million euros. But it soon became apparent that his best years were behind. The reason for this was a serious injury, and during rehabilitation, the place of the Brazilian in the composition was taken by Mesuta Ozil. In 2013, Kaka was sold back to Milan with a loss of € 45.5 million - still officially the largest of all time.
4. Francis Jeffers
After spending his youth at Everton, Jeffers thought he had a good deal when he moved to Arsenal in 2001 for £ 8 million. If he played efficiently, he would have received another 2 million pounds.
However, it became clear that the footballer made a huge mistake, quickly receiving the title of the worst acquisition of Arsenal. He was injured and did not participate in any of the final matches.
3. Afonso Alves
An impressive result of 45 goals in 39 matches for the Dutch Heerenveen provided Alves with the title “next Pele”, and the professional English club Middlesbrough became interested in the promising footballer. In 2008, he lured Alfonso for 12 million pounds, which was for the British a new price record.
But Alves scored just six goals in his debut season, half of which were against the Manchester City team, and the next season was even worse - just four goals in the English Premier League. It is not surprising that the acquisition of Alves became for Middlesbrough one of the largest financial blows in the history of the club.
2. Carlos Alberto De Jesus
A contract of Carlos Alberto of 7.8 million euros may well be considered the worst football transfer in the history of the Bundesliga. It is difficult to talk about the player who played for Werder Bremen in just 195 minutes, and showed nothing significant.
Carlos Alberto explained his weak play and return during training by insomnia. For Bremen, it was too expensive insomnia, so they hastened to “fuse” the Brazilian footballer, first to “Sao Paulo”, and later to “Botafogo” and “Vasco da Gama”.
1. Andrey Shevchenko
If ever there was a striker, for the acquisition of which it is worth breaking a piggy bank, then this is Andriy Shevchenko. He is considered the top scorer in the history of the Ukrainian national team and the second scorer in the history of the Milan club, for which he played for 7 years.
However, due to the club’s economic problems, Shevchenko decided to change it to English Chelsea. Transfer estimated at 30 million pounds. But not the younger limbs of Shevchenko and the pace of English football did not agree with each other, making this contract the worst in the history of football. In addition, he suffered a severe back injury and two operations. After two difficult years at Chelsea, Shevchenko returned to Milan, and then to Dynamo Kiev, as his brilliant career, unfortunately, ceased.
