West Ham's worst ever Premier League signings ft Ljungberg and Zaza | OneFootball

West Ham United have been a solid Premier League side for the majority of the competition's existence. They've brought in some incredible players over the years and have done well in the transfer market for the most part. The likes of Carlos Tevez, James Ward-Prowse and Dimitri Payet are just a handful of the stars the club have bought, but they've also had some stinkers in the market as well.

The club have had more than a few misses when recruiting talent, with some pretty big whiffs throughout their history. For our money, these are the 10 absolute worst signings in West Ham's history, though.

10 Freddie Ljungberg

After nine great years in the Premier League with Arsenal, Freddie Ljungberg joined West Ham in the summer of 2007, and it was met with excitement from fans of the club. He had a proven track record in the top flight and the general consensus was it was a smart move, and he should add something to the side.

That didn't quite happen, though, and the Swede spent just one year with the club. He made 28 appearances and scored two goals through the campaign, but it was the money he cost the side that made this such a poor transfer. He was on absurd wages for the time and his impact on the pitch failed to live up to how much he made. In the end, the Hammers had to pay £6m just to get him out of his contract early, and let him leave for free just 12 months after he joined.

9 Kieron Dyer

It's hard to judge Kieron Dyer too harshly for his time at West Ham considering injuries were what largely held him back. The midfielder had become a solid Premier League player at Newcastle United, so it was a smart bit of business when the Hammers bolstered their side with him. Things quickly went south, though, and just 10 days after he signed for the side, he was stretchered off against Bristol Rovers in the League Cup with his leg broken in two places.

The injury would linger with him for quite some time and the rest of his tenure at the Hammers saw him struggle to ever really stay fit. In four seasons, he played just 35 games, only five more than he played in his final campaign at Newcastle. He spent some time on loan at Ipswich before permanently joining Queens Park Rangers but didn't play too many games for either side. He had all the ability to make for a solid signing at West Ham, but just couldn't get onto the pitch unfortunately, which makes him one of the side's worst signings.

8 Sebastien Haller

On the surface, including Sebastien Haller in this list may feel a little harsh. The striker wasn't exactly terrible at West Ham, but didn't blow anyone away either and when you consider just how much money was spent on him, the move was certainly a disappointment. The Hammers spent £45m on Haller, who had a proven goalscoring track record in the past, but he didn't quite reach those same heights in England.

In two seasons leading the club's front line, Haller had just 10 league goals, a number he'd immediately beat in just one season after he left the side for Ajax in 2020. After leaving West Ham, he's resumed his excellent form in front of goal for Ajax and now Borussia Dortmund, where he's recently bounced back tremendously after his cancer setback.

7 Benni McCarthy

For FC Porto and Blackburn Rovers, Benni McCarthy was a top-level striker. Whether it was winning the Champions League, or being among one of the top scorers in the Premier League, the South African was fantastic. It's just a shame that when he joined the Hammers, he was far from that player.

In fact, he let himself get out of shape during his time in London and was a major disappointment for West Ham. He didn't score a single goal during his two years with the club and made just 14 appearances before retiring. There's simply no way this move can be looked at as anything other than a huge failure.

6 Joey Beauchamp

Having joined from Oxford United for £1m in 1994, Joey Beauchamp's spell at West Ham went wrong almost immediately. Reportedly, he was vocal in the fact he never actually wanted to join the club, turned up late to training and was generally unhappy from the get-go. The club quickly gave up on him too.

Despite spending £1m on the midfielder, the Hammers sold him to Swindon Town for £850,000 and Adrian Whitbread just two months later. He left without ever playing a single competitive game for the club. Talk about a terrible move.

5 Marco Boogers

Considering the biggest talking point from Marco Boogers' West Ham career was the horrible tackle he made on Gary Neville that saw him sent off in just his second game for the club, it's clear that his team in London wasn't very successful. The club spent £1m on the forward in 1995, despite the fact that Harry Redknapp had never actually seen him play a full game, and it was pretty clear almost immediately that he wasn't going to succeed at the side.

He made just four appearances for the side before he was deemed surplus to requirements and less than a year after he joined, he was loaned to FC Groningnen before joining RKC Waalwijk on a permanent deal that summer. At the time, £1m was a significant transfer fee, so this was a shambles of a move.

4 Simone Zaza

When West Ham signed Simone Zaza on loan from Juventus for just under £5m in the summer of 2016, there was an obligation to make the move permanent once he'd appeared in a certain number of Premier League games, the fact he never reached that number should tell you all you need to know about his time with the club. After playing a key role for Italy in the Euro 2016 tournament earlier that summer, the club brought him in to make a difference, and it just didn't pan out that way.

Instead, he struggled to adapt to English football and played just 11 games in all competitions for the Hammers, failing to score a single goal. After joining in August, his last appearance for the club came in November and the loan was cancelled in January. Not a good showing at all.

3 Savio Nsereko

After splashing out £9m on a 19-year-old Savio Nsereko and handing him the number 10 shirt, fans at West Ham would have been forgiven for expecting big things from the youngster. He'd arrived with a certain level of hype surrounding him, and it's fair to say he didn't even come close to reaching the expectations that had been set.

He played just 10 times for the club and failed to register a single goal in those outings. It was obvious that he couldn't quite find his feet in England, and he left later that very year. £9m for 10 appearances is just a shambles. He also went on to become most famous for his arrest, having faked his own kidnapping. What a shocker.

2 Allen McKnight

During his time at West Ham, Allen McKnight's earned the nickname McKnightmare and if that doesn't tell you how poor this transfer was, we're not sure what will. Known for making numerous costly mistakes in goal, he couldn't be trusted whatsoever to stand between the sticks and fans grew to loathe seeing him in the side.

After playing in 23 games in his first season with the team, he never featured in the league again and was let go in 1991, three years after joining the side. He never played for a high-profile football team again. Considering the number of mistakes he made, and the literal nickname fans came up with to describe how bad he was, this has to go down as an all-time bad transfer.

1 Roberto Jimenez

From one goalkeeper who made some massive mistakes to another, Roberto Jimenez had a torrid time in England and has earned his place as the worst signing in West Ham's history. While he may not have cost the side a penny, the calamitous mistakes he seemed to make regularly for the team were pretty costly.

After first-choice keeper Lukasz Fabianski suffered an injury, he had to step in and take over for the Polish star, and it led to some disastrous moments for the club. He had some wild errors against the likes of Everton, Sheffield United and Newcastle, but it was his own goal against Burnley, where he punched the ball into the back of his own net that takes the cake. It was just a terrible signing and despite the fact that Fabianski was injured, he still managed to lose his spot in goal, with third-choice keeper, David Martin, usurping him. That's a damning indictment of just how poor he was, and he left the very next year, having made just 10 appearances for the club.

Check out the table below of all 10 of West Ham's worst-ever signings and their statistics with the club.