The 10 WORST January deadline day Premier League signings ever ranked | OneFootball

The January transfer window presents itself as a unique opportunity for Premier League clubs to strengthen during the middle of the season.

However, for every stellar signing, there are dozens more who fail to live up to expectations after making a January move.

Transfer deadline day in January is particularly hectic and clubs can be prone to making a panic buy with the added stress of the day.

We’ve gone back throughout Premier League history and have ranked the 10 worst January deadline day signings.

10. Afonso Alves to Middlesbrough (2008)

Signed for a club record fee €12million, there were high hopes for Alves when he joined from Heerenveen.

He did score a memorable hat-trick against Manchester City during Middlesbrough’s 8-1 triumph, but other than that, this was a disappointing transfer.

During his only full season with the club, he only scored four league goals as Middlesbrough were relegated in 19th place.

The only saving grace about this deal is that Middlesbrough did recoup a decent sum when selling him to Al-Sadd in 2009. He’s to blame for everyone thinking the Eredivisie is cr*p.

9. Eric Djemba-Djemba to Aston Villa (2005)

Aston Villa forked out £1.5million to sign Djemba-Djemba on deadline day from Manchester United.

Given his struggles at United, it wasn’t a major surprise when he flopped at Villa Park. During his two-year spell on the books at Villa, he only made 11 league appearances before having his contract terminated in 2007.

8. Dele Alli to Everton (2022)

Everton signed Dele on deadline day in 2022 for a fee that could’ve reached £40million, if all of his add-ons were triggered. In the end, the deal was worth closer to £10million.

The former England international struggled to stay fit while at Goodison Park and only made 13 appearances before departing on a free transfer in 2024. He was last seen getting sent off for Como.

7. Kamaldeen Sulemana to Southampton (2023)

Sulemana joined Southampton for a club-record fee of £22million. He only managed to score twice during his debut season as Southampton were relegated to the Championship.

Even in the second tier, Sulemana struggled to make much of an impact as he only registered three goal contributions during their promotion season in 2023-24.

Unsurprisingly, he struggled in the Premier League again last season and ultimately left the club last summer to join Atalanta.

6. Juan Cuadrado to Chelsea (2015)

Cuadrado is a supremely talented player, but his move to Chelsea on January deadline day in 2015 didn’t go to plan.

The Colombian was signed for £26.8million and as part of the deal, Mohamed Salah moved in the opposite direction to join Fiorentina on loan.

In total, Cuadrado made just 15 appearances for Chelsea and failed to score before he was sold for a loss to Juventus in 2017.

5. Badou Ndiaye to Stoke (2018)

A transfer which summed up Stoke City’s recruitment policy towards the end of their Premier League stint.

Ndiaye joined the Potters for £14million with the club in the midst of a relegation battle. Unfortunately, he had little to no impact during his entire three-year stint at Stoke.

Even in the Championship, Ndiaye didn’t look like a standout player.

4. Konstantinos Mitroglou to Fulham (2014)

In a desperate attempt to avoid the drop, Fulham purchased Mitroglou for a reported fee of £11million.

The outcome? Mitroglou made just three appearances, failed to score and Fulham were relegated in 19th place. A total disaster.

3. Christopher Samba to QPR (2013)

QPR signed Samba from Anzhi Makhachkala for £12.5million and handed him a contract worth a whopping £100,000 per week.

Harry Redknapp’s side were ultimately relegated in 20th place and Samba returned to Anzhi Makhachkala after just six months at Loftus Road.

It was a far cry from the Samba we saw at Blackburn during the 2000s.

2. Fernando Torres to Chelsea (2011)

The only reason that Torres doesn’t top this list is because he scored that goal in Barcelona, which made history for Chelsea.

However, there’s no disputing that this was a total flop of a transfer. Chelsea spent a record £50million on the Spanish forward, who looked like a shadow of his former self while at Stamford Bridge.

“His attitude dropped alarmingly,” Jamie Carragher has since said, when speaking about Torres in his final months at Liverpool.

“You could tell from his body language in a pre-match warm-up what type of performance you were going to get.

“If Fernando was going through the motions, a few of us would look at each other and say: ‘Here we go again.’”

In total, he scored 45 goals in 172 appearances for Chelsea, although only 20 of those goals came in the league. For a player who cost £50million, it’s astonishing that he never hit double figures in a single league campaign for Chelsea.

Still, he did score the decisive goal that took them to the Champions League final in 2012. And Chelsea fans still rated him.

1. Andy Carroll to Liverpool (2011)

The man Liverpool signed to replace Torres at Anfield.

The Reds splashed £35million on Caroll in January 2011 and we’re still not quite sure what they were thinking. Accounting for football transfer inflation, that’s the equivalent of around £100million in today’s money.

In total, Carroll scored just six league goals for Liverpool during his 18 months at the club before he was sold for a sizeable loss to West Ham.