A flop signing is a player who is not worth the money which is spent to buy him. In modern football, with the generation of instant success, managers and club owners go for the players which they want but those players who aren’t needed by other clubs and also make few panic buys of players who are bought for the sole purpose of filling the boots of a player who left the club for another.
Such signings are not bad players but they become one because of the pressure of performance on them from manager, owner and fans.
Here’s Sportzwiki’s list of top 5 flop signings of the year 2014.
Mario Balotelli: AC Milan to Liverpool £16 million
Mario Balotelli is a 24-year old Italian striker who previously played for many European giants like AC Milan, Manchester City and Inter Milan. Mario was a very prolific striker at those clubs and had potential to become one of the best. His performances with the Italian National Team were also very impressive and he was a consistent goal scorer for every club he played at.
In the summer window of 2014, Mario agreed terms with another European giant Liverpool and he was purchased in order to fill the boots of Luis Suarez who was the top goal-scorer for Liverpool in the previous season.
But due to some reason Balotelli is not able to replicate his form of previous clubs at Liverpool and has not yet netted a single goal in the Premier League and is poor with respect to every aspect of the game and hence making his way into the flop signings list of 2014.
Dejan Lovren: Southampton to Liverpool £20 Million
Dejan Lovren is a 25-year old Croatian defender who used to be a star player at his previous club Southampton. Lovren was an excellent defender with Southampton and was among top-5 defenders in the Premier League last season.
Lovren had all the qualities of a world class defender and was eyed by many European giants but preferred a move to Liverpool during the mass exodus of Saints players.
Now Lovren is a member of one of the sloppiest back fours in the Premier League. Since joining Liverpool, Lovren is unable to get back to his top form and is making multiple defensive errors.
Lovren has played 15 Premier League games for Liverpool has made a total 6 errors in all those games. Liverpool conceded 25 goals in 18 Premier League games and Lovren is the main defender of this team. Because of all these reason Lovren is a member of top 5 worst signings of 2014.
Yohan Cabaye: Newcastle United to PSG £20 Million
Cabaye is a 28-year old French International who previously played for Premier League side Newcastle United and was their club captain. Cabaye is a complete midfield player who comforts himself in central, defensive and attacking midfield roles. Yohan was a player who was known for the chances he created and assists he made.
Cabaye joined PSG in the January window of 2014 but his form has degraded ever since. This season Cabaye played 13 Ligue 1 games for PSG where he scored 1 goal, made 0 assists and created only 7 chances. Whereas for Newcastle he created 33 chances in just 19 games last season.
Hence Cabaye has his name in the flop signings list of 2014.
Mohamed Salah: FC Basel to Chelsea £11 million
Known as ‘The Egyptian Messi’, Salah spent a glorious time at his previous club FC Basel where he was a routine starter. Because of his astonishing performances at Basel he attracted many European giants and Chelsea and Liverpool were among the top teams who had Salah on their radar.
Salah ultimately decided to join Chelsea in the January of 2014. Salah joined Chelsea with high hopes but little did he know that he was going to be used as back-up for tired wingers. Salah was given a chance to prove himself in the 2014 pre-season but could not perform well.
Now Salah is playing Cup games for Chelsea and is yet to start a game in Premier League. Salah has scored only 3 goals in Chelsea shirt till now, hence a flop signing.
Adrian Ramos: Hertha BSC to Dortmund €11 million
Adrian Ramos is a 28 year old Columbian Forward who was in a deadly goal scoring form last season with Hertha. Because of the great for many teams wished to sign Adrian with high hopes. Ultimately Adrian agreed terms with Dortmund in January 2014 and joined the club during the summer window.
Adrian is not able to get back to his top notch form and is struggling to score goals with Dortmund. Till now, Ramos has scored only 2 Bundesliga goals for Dortmund and they are struggling at the bottom end of the table. His shot accuracy is 33% which is very poor for a striker. Because of all these negativities Ramos is in the top 5 worst signings list for the year 2014.