3. Javier Mascherano (West Ham)
That West Ham lost eight and drew one of their first nine fixtures following the joint arrivals of Mascherano and Carlos Tevez in August 2006 says much about the midfielder’s time at the club. Today he is an elite player, but while in London the Argentine made just seven appearances when, bizarrely, Nigel Reo-Coker and Hayden Mullins were preferred.
The fact of the matter is, however, that Mascherano simply didn’t impress at Upton Park. Had he done so, such a struggling team (they avoided relegation on the final day of the season) wouldn’t have been able to drop him.
West Ham made little attempt to retain the Argentine when he joined Liverpool later that season and, alongside Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso, his form improved. He gradually became a significant figure at Anfield but for those first few months his best football came in the Champions League – only during the following season did he consistently impress domestically. Thereafter, though, until his 2010 transfer to Barcelona, he was the finest defensive midfielder in England.