Biggest transfer flops of 2021

Transfer windows are one of the most important periods every year in the football world. They can show us how determined each team is to improve their squad by buying better players or how they prefer to improve the club’s financial status by selling some of their players.

But sometimes these transfers don’t work out for either the player or the new club. These transfers are nowadays called “flops” and in this article, we are going through some of the biggest transfer flops in 2021, from the most expensive to the least expensive.

Some of the big clubs around the world like

and

broke their transfer record in 2021, with the former breaking the record for the most expensive British deal of all time when they signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa.

Whether it be failing to live up to expectations due to a high fee, or performances levels simply not being good enough, several massive deals did not actually work out for the best.

Biggest transfer flops of 2021:

Note that the price tags are all taken from transfermarkt.com and are not 100% sure to be true but they are the most accurate estimates.

Moreover, a player’s quality should not and will not be evaluated by one bad year, and we are not trying to question their commitment or capabilities. We simply evaluate their transfers and their effects on both club and the player.

Romelu Lukaku

• From: Inter Milan

• To: Chelsea

• Fee: €113m

• Transfer Date: Aug 12, 2021

• Position: Striker

Among the

biggest transfer flops of 2021

is

’s transfer to Chelsea. The Belgian tank moved to his childhood favorite club, Chelsea as the most expensive transfer in 2021, after winning Serie A with Inter. This is his second spell at the club since 2014.

Although he started the season very well, scoring 3 goals in his first 3 Premier League matches, his performances started to weaken under

, and ever since his sprain injury in October, we have a seen shadow of one of the scariest and most expensive strikers in Europe.

11 goals and 2 assist in 30 games is not a bad statistic for a striker in a new club, but that is unacceptable from the most expensive transfer of the year.

While Chelsea fans tried to support their Belgian striker, he has recently stated in an interview that he preferred to stay in Inter in things could go back and is not happy with his game time. A statement that caused a lot of anger between fans towards him and eventually Lukaku had to make a public apology.

Jadon Sancho

• From: Borussia Dortmund

• To: Manchester United

• Fee: €85m

• Transfer Date: Jul 23, 2021

• Position: Right Winger

’s transfer to Dortmund is also among the

biggest transfer flops of 2021

. After 2 years of speculation, the Red Devils finally completed the transfer for one of the most interesting talents in Europe, Jadon Sancho. His performances, however, did not meet the expectations of United fans. He had a hard time starting in the lineup under Solskjær and was usually a substitute player.

But even when he was on the field, he couldn’t connect well with his teammates and lost the ball too many times. His lack of focus and also media pressure seemed to have driven off his game.

His only goal in 2021 in the red shirt, came against Chelsea in a 1-1 draw. If Sancho wants to be in the 2022 World Cup, he better start to forget 2021 and get back on his best form as soon as possible.

Leon Bailey

• From: Bayer Leverkusen

• To: Aston Villa

• Fee: €32m

• Transfer Date: Aug 4, 2021

• Position: Left Winger

After the $120 million departure of

, Aston Villa decided to replace their former left-winger with

. His debut finished with a loss, but in his 30-minute appearance, he managed to get an assist to his name and on his first home game, he scored after coming in the 76th minute in a 3-0 win against Everton.

After that, his time at Villa Park has been a nightmare. He failed to synchronize with the aggressiveness in the Premier League and started only 3 games in 2021.

His thigh injury in December made things even worst for the Jamaican. He hopes to improve under his new manager, Steven Gerrard, as he has been improving the whole team, but so far, he has been a transfer flop.

Nikola Vlasic

• From: CSKA Moscow

• To: West Ham

• Fee: €30m

• Transfer Date: Aug 31, 2021

• Position: Left Winger / Attacking Midfield

Following a phenomenal season in 2020/21, scoring and assisting 18 times in 34 matches for CSKA Moscow,

joined Premier League club West Ham United on a five-year contract on 31 August 2021. The Hammers fans were more than excited to have a 24-year-old in their rather old squad.

This excitement turned to disappointment very soon, however. Former MVP in Russia’s Premier Liga has turned to act as a bench warmer in West Ham, playing only 20% of the possible game time and scoring only once in 2021.

He did play a fair amount in the Europe League competition, but even there, he couldn’t perform his skills as he ended up with only 1 assist in 5 games. He is hoping that 2022 will be the year in which he can shine once more.

Joe Willock

• From: Arsenal

• To: Newcastle

• Fee: €29.40m

• Transfer Date: Aug 13, 2021

• Position: Central Midfield

spent the second half of last season on a loan spell in Newcastle, and scoring 7 consecutive goals in his last 7 games was a pretty good reason for Newcastle owners to make his contact a permanent one. Everything signed of a great young midfield for the English club.

Joe Willock’s transfer was not the

biggest flop in football history

; however, the problem was the team itself. As the season started, Newcastle kept either losing or drawing their games, they had their first win in the 15th week.

This was not necessarily Willock’s fault, but playing 70% of the time and scoring twice, is not what you desire from a player with that price tag.

Maybe with the changes that have happened in ownership of Newcastle, Willock now wishes to have better players around him next season to boost up his game, too. But until then, he is a flop for his performances this season.

Bryan Gil

• From: Sevilla FC

• To: Tottenham Hotspur

• Fee: €25m

• Transfer Date: Jul 26, 2021

• Position: Winger

came to Spurs on a 5-year contract as the 2020/21 Europe League’s champion with Sevilla. Nuno Espírito Santo, Spurs’ manager at the time, described him as ‘very talented’ and ‘a solution to the team’ when Gil arrived.

As the season started, Bryan Gil showed to be the exact opposite of all his descriptions. He never started a game for Tottenham in the Premier League and he had 0% goal contribution in all domestic games he played. To sum up his tragic stats, he played 97 minutes in a span of 16 games.

He was ultimately loaned to Valencia in 2022 winter transfers after six months. Talk about an absolute failure transfer!

Enock Mwepu

• From: RB Salzburg

• To: Brighton & Hove Albion

• Fee: €23m

• Transfer Date: Jul 6, 2021

• Position: Defensive Midfield

On 6 July 2021, Enock Mwepu joined Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion on a four-year contract, for €23 million. As a four-time Austrian champion and a key player in Salzburg’s midfield last season, Brighton’s fans were expecting a physical, high-stamina player, guaranteeing safety in the middle of the field for them.

Mwepu has all the characteristics he had before but somehow, he has been unable to showcase his talent in the Prem. His injuries prevented him to play more than 30% of possible minutes. He has assisted 4 times and scored once in the league but those are not the stats that club owners expected from a player, they paid €23 million for.

Amad Diallo

• From: Atalanta BC

• To: Manchester United

• Fee: €21.30m

• Transfer Date: Jan 2, 2021

• Position: Winger

With 18 years of age and only shining at under-21 competitions, everyone thought United was crazy to pay €21 million for

. But in his first start in the United shirt last season, he scored a goal against AC Milan to show how impressive of a talent he might be.

Unfortunately for him, his fitness problems prevented him to play any more useful games for the club. Although Solskjær always praised Amad’s talent, Diallo never got the game time he needed. With the start of this season, too, nothing changed for the youngster.

He never started in any domestic competition game and sometimes not even made it to the team’s list. Eventually, he made the decision to leave the club at the end of 2021 and go to Rangers on a loan spell, where he might find the gametime he needs to showcase his skills and abilities as a winger.

Matteo Politano

• From: Inter Milan

• To: SSC Napoli

• Fee: €21m

• Transfer Date: Jul 1, 2021

• Position: Right Winger

Matteo Politano is not a new player for Napoli as he had joined them in January 2020. But his contract was a loan one, and Napoli decided to sign him on a permanent deal last summer. His 12 goals and 5 assists last season definitely helped Napoli with their decision.

Fans hoped to see Spalletti bring out even better parts of Politano’s but as the season started, Spalletti’s trust in Politano reduced each week. He has started 50% of the time in Serie A, but only an 8% goal contribution doesn’t really count him as an attacking threat.

Worse part is that Napoli doesn’t even have the proper player to play in the right-wing position while their right-back, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, is one of the best in his position.

Politano needs to find his best form as soon as possible if he wants to help his team in the title race and win his first Serie A title.

Boubakary Soumaré

• From: LOSC Lille

• To: Leicester

• Fee: €20m

• Transfer Date: Jul 2, 2021

• Position: Defensive Midfield

Going back to the Premier League again and another defensive midfield flop in it! Former Ligue 1 champion, Boubakary Soumaré, joined the Foxes on a 5-year deal, with hopes to challenge Wilfred Ndidi or be a possible successor to him as Ndidi seems to be targeted by top clubs in Europe.

Soumaré, however playing effectively when in the field, has not yet been able to really show his supremacy over the Nigerian star. He has played 24 times so far in all competitions and he has an assist to his name, although his goal contributions were never the case.

His lack of confidence is obvious in his game as he usually makes diagonal or backward passes and cannot connect his presence to his teammates’ rhythm.

He is still young and has room for improvement but it seems like Leicester fans need to be more patient with him if they want to see results from their €20 million investment.

Marash Kumbulla

• From: Hellas Verona

• To: AS Roma

• Fee: €20m

• Transfer Date: Jul 1, 2021

• Position: Centre-Back

Marash Kumballa’s contract situation is alike to Politano’s, he was a loan player in Roma but now Roma decided to purchase him on a permanent deal. This deal, however, seems to be done without the approval of Jose Mourinho.

This conclusion is based on the fact that although Roma under Mourinho has been playing with a back three and Kumbulla is a 191 cm defender, he barely plays. He has played only 30% of the time in Serie A.

The 22-year-old is yet to prove himself as a starter and reports are, he is considering leaving the club as a loan player at the end of the season if he can’t persuade ‘the special one’.

Eldor Shomurodov

• From: Genoa

• To: AS Roma

• Fee: €18m

• Transfer Date: Aug 2, 2021

• Position: Striker

Another Roma player, but with a lot of differences in their situations, Eldor Shomurodov’s time in Roma has not been pleasant for him, but Roma hasn’t had any problems even if he wasn’t in the squad.

Tammy Abraham has been phenomenal this season and proved himself to be the first and last choice as Roma’s striker, scoring 20 goals this season so far, in Serie A.

This performance by the Englishman has made things very difficult for Shomurodov, playing usually as a substitute and holding him at only 4 goals in 29 games.

Many might not call him a

transfer flop

but one thing is for sure, Eldor Shomurodov cost a lot of money, money that could’ve been spent in other areas, but has not acted as a successful investment.

Myron Boadu

• From: AZ Alkmaar

• To: AS Monaco

• Fee: €17m

• Transfer Date: Aug 4, 2021

• Position: Striker

On 4 August 2021, Monaco announced the signing of Myron Boadu on a five-year deal. It was a piece of great news to Monaco supporters because everything about Boadu showed him as a deadly striker.

In the 2020/21 season, he was able to score 15 times in 31 matches in league competition and he had scored 11 goals in only 14 matches with the Netherlands U21s. In Monaco, unfortunately, things didn’t work out as well as other teams for the Dutch youngster.

Not only the whole team has been having a poor season, but also both Monaco coaches this season, preferred to use the Ben Yedder & Volland duo instead of trusting Boadu.

His stats are also nothing to share, 3 goals and 2 assists during 28 games in 3 competitions, for a player whose number was once worn by strikers such as Javier Saviola and David Trézéguet.

Krépin Diatta

• From: Club Brugge

• To: AS Monaco

• Fee: €16.70m

• Transfer Date: Jan 21, 2021

• Position: Right Winger

is another disappointing transfer for the French Rivieras. Diatta joined the club during the 2020/21 winter transfer window. At that time,

was in the title race and they needed to strengthen their attack. Thus, they found a Senegalese speedster who had already scored 10 times in the Belgian league on a 4-year deal.

Diatta’s performance at Saint Louis was nothing short of a disappointment. He played in 13 games while missing 6 due to suspensions and injuries and finished the season with only one goal.

With the start of the new season, still, all that Monaco fans saw from him, was his injury news; A concussion, an ankle injury, and to top them off, cruciate ligament rupture.

These injuries have prevented his games to be two-figured, he has only played 8 times and a total of 180 minutes. We wish him a fast recovery, but so far, he has been a flop.

Iliax Moriba

• From: Barcelona

• To: RB Leipzig

• Fee: €16m

• Transfer Date: Aug 31, 2021

• Position: Central Midfield

A player who was in the conversation to be the next La Masia’s gem for Barca and shining in El Clasico is now having one of the worst seasons any player can go through.

Reportedly,

left Barcelona because he wanted to earn more money and Barcelona couldn’t afford his expectations so he joined the German club that is known to make young stars. But everything went sideways for him.

In the first two games of the season, he wasn’t even on the list. For the remainder of the season, he was a bench-warmer. He played only two games as a late substitute in Bundesliga and 3 games in the Champions League.

He added nothing to the squad and his progression rate stopped utterly. He was eventually loaned to Valencia, back in La Liga, so he might get his confidence back and get some game time.

Whether leaving Barcelona was the right decision or not, is a question that still needs time to be answered. But has Moriba been a bad transfer this season? Well, we can answer that now, and the answer is yes.

Emerson Royal

• From: Real Betis

• To: Barcelona

• Fee: €14m

• Transfer Date: Jun 2, 2021

• Position: Right Back

One of the weirdest transfer processes of the year is definitely Emerson Royal’s. On 2 June 2021, Barcelona exercised their option to bring back Emerson for three seasons by paying Real Betis €9 million, plus some additions, for the transfer.

Emerson had spent two-and-half seasons at Betis. He played all three first matches of La Liga.

, Barcelona’s president, stated, “Emerson will be a key player for the club and is a part of our plan for the future”. A week later, Barcelona sold Emerson Royal to Tottenham Hotspur for €25 million.

Later, it was declared that although Emerson was truly in Barcelona’s plan, Barca’s horrible financial situation forced the board to sell him while a good offer came in.

His season at Spurs is going smoothly now and he is trusted by Conte as a Right-Wingback, but what he went through in the first 2 months of the season was truly shocking.

Saúl Ñíguez

• From: Atlético Madrid

• To: Chelsea

• Fee: €5m (Loan)

• Transfer Date: Aug 31, 2021

• Position: Central Midfield

Returning to familiar names, we have Saúl Ñíguez. On the last day, and I dare to say last minutes of the summer transfer window, Saúl joined Premier League club, Chelsea, on loan for the remainder of the 2021–22 season, with an option to make the transfer permanent upon the completion of the loan.

From the moment of this news, no one could exactly figure out the reasons for this move, because he was said to be happy at Atlético, Simeone was happy with him, and Tuchel’s tactics didn’t seem to be perfect for a non-physical midfielder.

Nevertheless, the move was done. Problems started in the very first weeks; lack of physicality due to the aggressiveness of Premier League, lack of focus due to inability to adapt, lack of communication between teammates, and so on.

Tuchel started to bench him and stick with his other midfield players. Thus, making Saúl the second Chelsea player on our list.

Sergio Ramos

• From: Real Madrid

• To: Paris Saint-Germain

• Fee: Free Transfer

• Transfer Date: Jul 8, 2021

• Position: Center-Back

It is quite unbelievable that

' name is on the list of the

biggest transfer flops of 2021

. Arguably, the best defender of all time, Sergio Ramos, is now a transfer flop. World Cup, EURO, and 4 times Champions League winner said his farewells to the Spanish capital, where he had played 16 seasons, and joined the super club that is PSG.

It was a shock for Madridistas to see their captain leave the club after a very lengthy and complicated negotiation with Real Madrid. He was introduced to the Parisians in a special ceremony at Parc des Princes, among their other new signings such as Lionel Messi, Achraf Hakimi, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Georginio Wijnaldum.

Contrary to the said names, however, Ramos had and still has a very rough start. Ever since last season, he was dealing with a calf injury, and while it was thought that he would only miss the first month, it took him almost months to play his debut for PSG.

Even worse, he caught up another muscular injury that prevented him from playing again. In total, he only played 3 games in 2021.

He, being Sergio Ramos, never forgot his usual routine though; He scored in one of those matches and got a red card in another one. 2021 was definitely a year to forget for the Spaniard and he is hoping to see good things happen in 2022.

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