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Some English Premier League clubs have made January signings which have been spectacular failures.
Here are the five worst January signings in
Premier League history.
Juan Cuadrado - Chelsea
Competitive Matches: 15
Goals: 0
The Colombian utility player joined Chelsea from Italian side Fiorentina in January 2015 for a reported fee of £23.3 million, which could potentially rise to £26.8 million; Mohamed Salah went the other way on loan.
Much was expected from Cuadrado, but he could not adjust to the physicality of the Premier League and made only 15 competitive appearances for the Blues during his two-and-a-half-year stay with the club.
Cuadrado returned to Italy where he was a big name and spent two seasons with Juventus on loan from Chelsea before he was sold to the Italian giants in May 2017.
Andy Carroll - Liverpool FC
Competitive Matches: 58
Goals: 11
The English marksman moved from Newcastle United to Liverpool FC in January 2011 for a fee of £35 million, making him the most expensive British footballer of all-time at that time.
Carroll, who had netted 11 goals in 19 league games at Newcastle in the same season, struggled with injuries at Liverpool and scored only six goals in the Premier League during his two-and-a-half-year spell with the club.
The Reds decided to cut their losses and sold Carroll to West Ham United ahead of the 2012/13 campaign.
"Do you know what. I was injured at the time, and all I'm thinking is, "Please, just fail the medical". The minute I got on that helicopter I wanted to come back. I knew it had to happen. Whatever age, I needed to walk back on that pitch and play for Newcastle again," Carroll told HITC about how he felt ahead of his medical at Liverpool.
"I remember leaving here in Kevin Nolan's car because loads of people were outside. We went to his house and watched it on TV. I was like, "I'm not going". I'd just bought a house, and a cat the day before! But then I was told, "You're going", and that was that."
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Wilfried Bony - Manchester City
Competitive Matches: 46
Goals: 10
The Ivorian marksman joined Manchester City from Swansea City in January 2015 after the two teams agreed an initial transfer fee of £25 million, which could rise to £28 million, which would then make him the most expensive African footballer at the time.
However, Bony struggled to replicate the form that made him one of the best strikers in the Premier League during his time with Swansea where he became the league's top scorer in the calendar year of 2014 with 20 goals.
The Citizens shipped him out to Stoke City on loan for the 2016/17 season, but he saw limited game time under manager Mark Hughes and was sold back to Swansea in August 2017.
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Alexis Sanchez - Manchester United
Competitive Matches: 45
Goals: 5
The Chilean forward moved to Manchester United from their English rivals Arsenal in January 2018 in a big transfer which reportedly saw him earn a whopping £500,000-a-week.
Sanchez, who was expected to help the Red Devils compete for the league title, proved to be one of United's worst signings in the Premier League era as he constantly underperformed - producing uncharacteristically lethargic displays.
The Red Devils have since loaned him out to Italian giants Inter Milan and United are said to be keen to get him off their wage bill by selling him in the next transfer window.
Fernando Torres
Competitive Matches: 172
Goals: 45
The Spanish striker joined Chelsea from Liverpool FC in January 2011 for £50 million, which set a new record for a British transfer and made him the sixth most expensive footballer in history.
Considered to be one of the best strikers in the world during his time with Liverpool, Torres was very inconsistent during his time with the Blues and was often criticized by the Chelsea fans for being wasteful in front of goal.
Torres returned to his former Spanish club Atletico Madrid in January 2015 following a two-year loan spell with Italian giants AC Milan.
"Chelsea was not good from the beginning. I did not find a team that suited me on the pitch," Torres said on Give Me Sport.
"[There was a] good organisation [off it] but the different personality [of the team] was not for me, even though I got what I wanted [by winning trophies].
“When I was at Chelsea, I did not start well for a few reasons. We won almost everything I wanted to win. But maybe that was not enough for me."
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