Five Premier League record signings who didn’t stick around | OneFootball

Aston Villa are closing in on a deal to sell Moussa Diaby to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad. The transfer comes just a year after Villa made Diaby their record signing, completing a £51.9m deal to sign the Frenchman from Bayer Leverkusen.

Diaby began brightly in the Premier League before fading in the second half of the season, with Villa prepared to sanction his sale to the Middle East.

The winger is not the first record signing to endure a short stay at a Premier League club.

Five Premier League record signings who didn’t stick around:

Andy Carroll – Liverpool

Liverpool have got a lot right in terms of recruitment across the past decade – but it hasn’t always been that way.

Andy Carroll’s arrival from Newcastle remains a source of regret after the Reds broke their transfer record to sign the forward in 2011. A return of 11 goals in 19 league games for Newcastle over the first half of the campaign persuaded Liverpool that the giant Geordie was the right fit, as Fernando Torres prepared to sour his relationship with the Reds and head to Chelsea.

On a bonkers deadline day, Liverpool saw several bids turned down, before agreeing to a £35m deal. Carroll had his moments, including a brace against Manchester City and an FA Cup semi-final winner against Everton, but there weren’t many.

Brendan Rodgers’ appointment in 2012 spelt the end for Carroll, as the new boss favoured tippy-tappy football over a towering target-man. He left for West Ham, initially on loan, having made just 58 appearances.

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Konstantinos Mitroglou – Fulham

Fulham’s fight to survive saw the Cottagers pin their hopes on Kostas Mitroglou in 2013-14. The forward signed in a club-record £12m deal in January boasting a fine goal record in Greece, but his time in English football proved to be a disaster.

Mitroglou made just three goalless league appearances due to fitness issues as Fulham were relegated from the top division.

“In January, during the relegation battle, we needed a striker. So they went and got Kostas Mitroglou, I think his name was,” former Fulham teammate Steve Sidwell told JOE’s Liquid Football.

“This f***er, he did not stop eating. He was a big boy. And you know the protein bars, every time you’d see him, he’d be walking around the training ground with a f***ing protein bar. Honesty, he did, I’m telling you now, he did not stop eating.”

After six months in West London, he returned to Olympiacos on loan, where frustratingly for Fulham he rediscovered his goal touch. A move to Benfica followed, where Mitroglou scored 52 times in 85 games.

Angel Di Maria – Manchester United

Angel Di Maria was the marquee recruit as Manchester United relaunched following a false start to the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.

David Moyes was replaced by Louis van Gaal after an ill-fated spell in charge and the new manager was backed to the tune of £59.7m to sign Di Maria. The deal broke the British transfer record as United landed a winger who had been influential in Real Madrid’s Champions League success the previous season.

Di Maria delighted in his opening performances including an audacious chipped finish at Leicester, but things went downhill – and fast.

Inconsistency crept into his performances amid rumours of unrest, with the player’s home burgled and family unsettled in England. After just one season he was sold on, joining Paris Saint-Germain at a discounted fee.

He – or his wife – have not been complimentary of Manchester or United since his exit.

“Di Maria hates ​Manchester United,” former PSG goalkeeper Marcin Bułka told Polish YouTube channel Foot Truck.

“He has no good memory of the time he spent there. In fact, when something related to Manchester United appears on television, he changes the channel quickly.”

Sebastien Haller – West Ham

West Ham have had a patchy record when it comes to signing strikers, with money spent and squandered in the search for a reliable number nine.

Sebastien Haller appeared the ideal option after arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt for a £45m fee, having scored 33 goals in 77 appearances across two seasons with the Bundesliga side. However, Haller proved to be an awkward fit at West Ham and while 10 goals in 48 games was not an awful return, it’s fair to say better was expected.

After just 18 months, West Ham cut their losses and sold the striker to Ajax for £18.8m. He promptly finished his first full season as the Eredivisie’s leading scorer and became the first player to score four goals on his Champions League debut since Marco van Basten in 1992.

Romelu Lukaku – Chelsea

Romelu Lukaku returned to Chelsea billed as the difference-maker in the club’s quest for the title. After failing to make the grade in West London as a teenager, Lukaku scored 193 goals across spells at Everton, Manchester United and Inter Milan to emerge as one of Europe’s most reliable goal-getters.

An influential season in Inter’s 2020-21 title success saw Chelsea splash out a record £97.5m to sign the Belgium international, a transfer that looked a perfect fit on paper but unfolded as a nightmare in reality.

Lukaku’s modest return of 15 goals was enough to end the season as Chelsea’s leading scorer but a controversial interview, in which he questioned Thomas Tuchel’s tactics and declared his love for all things Inter Milan, alienated the fanbase.

After one season he was loaned back to Inter, before another season on loan at AS Roma in 2023-24.

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