LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 20: Timo Werner of Chelsea in action during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on September 20, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Every transfer window has its hits and misses and we normally don’t know which could be which until the season has rolled in a bit. We are already a good month into the season as the transfer window is now shut.
The Premier League again dominated the headlines with its super spending from most of the 20 teams. Things were a bit quieter than previous years due to the COVID situation. Nonetheless, we witnessed some epic deals and some questionable ones as well, while some just flew under the radar. Below we take a look at 3 Premier League transfers that could turn out to be a flop for the clubs.
Chelsea have a bad history of spending big money on forwards that have failed miserably at the club. Names like Fernando Torres, Alvaro Morata, Michy Batshuayi and so on come to mind. They splashed the cash this season again on a striker despite having Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud in their ranks.
Timo Werner joined Chelsea in an eye-watering £45m deal. However, the German is yet to find his feet and has scored just one goal in 5 games (source – Transfermarkt). More than anything, he has looked flustered and isolated on occasions. Chelsea will be hoping he does not follow the footsteps of his predecessors at Stamford Bridge.
Yes, the prodigal son has returned home. But has he though? When Gareth Bale left Tottenham in 2013 for Madrid, he was tipped to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s successor. He returned as a player who was warming the benches and spending more time on a golf course than on a football pitch.
Tottenham brought the Welshman back on a loan deal with Real Madrid still bearing half his wages (source – NBC Sports). Mourinho’s biggest concern will be keeping Bale fit and firing. The forward played just 20 games last season, scoring thrice (source – Transfermarkt). At 31, Gareth Bale could easily be an expensive liability at Spurs.
Manchester City’s defensive issues last season meant that Guardiola needed a centre-back. The club got him two. Ruben Dias is a discussion for some other time as Nathan Ake is the one we are focusing on.
The Dutch defender joined City from Bournemouth for a rather substantial £41m that could end up weighing on him. With the new addition of Ruben Dias, Pep Guardiola could go ahead with Dias and Laporte as his first-choice centre-backs.
Ake is unlikely to feature in any important games unless Laporte is out for a substantial time. He might just have to settle for the bench until then. Hence, spending big for a back-up defender doesn’t look like a smart deal.
