Sport
Worst signings of the season | 2019/20 Premier League
At the start of the 2019/20 Premier League season, the transfer market was the most inflated it has ever been. The end result of this was clubs paying over the odds for players, some of whom inevitably ended up as disappointment. Who were the biggest failures though? Here are our worst signings of the season.
Worst signings of the season
Che Adams (Southampton)
Southampton bought Che Adams for £15m after he smashed 22 goals in the Championship for Birmingham City the previous season. Little did they know that it would take the forward nearly a year to score his first goal for The Saints. While strike partner Danny Ings excelled for Southampton, finishing second in the race for the Golden Boot and making our list of the best transfers this year, Adams was often left wondering when he would break his duck.
A spell of four goals in July suggests there is some hope yet for Adams but he still has a fair way to go to back up the hefty investment and must be classed as one of the worst signings of the season.
Cedric (Arsenal)
In what was a tumultuous year for Arsenal, nothing sums up the Gunners’ season than the peculiar signing of Cedric from Southampton.
Hardly starting games for The Saints, Cedric moved to The Emirates on loan as defensive cover for Hector Bellerin, only to get injured days after joining in January. The injury put him out of action for weeks, before the season was suspended due to Covid-19.
Amazingly, Arsenal opted to sign the Portuguese right-back permanently on a free transfer in July, with him having barely played any competitive minutes all season. Some brief cameos once the campaign resumed suggest that the move might not be a total flop but his fitness issues still raise more questions than answers
Joelinton (Newcastle)
Goalscoring has been a long term problem for The Magpies, so a £40million move for Brazilian forward Joelinton made it seem as though the club were finally addressing their issues. Unfortunately, that didn’t prove to be the case.
Joelinton stuttered and stumbled his way through the Premier League season, scoring just twice in 38 games. He was outscored by no less than two Newcastle centre-backs and also missed numerous game-winning chances. After such a heavy outlay, the Geordies can’t afford to give up on him yet but he doesn’t seem the answer their never-ending quest for a prolific striker. Undoubtedly one of the worst signings of the season, if not the worst.
Ralf Fahrmann (Norwich)
It looked like Norwich had pulled of a coup signing German goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann on loan after earning promotion back to the Premier League. However, the former Schalke number one found life in the Premier League anything but glamourous, making just one appearance for The Canaries as coach Daniel Farke opted for the more experienced hands of Tim Krul all season long.
Fahrmann’s loan was terminated in March where he returned to Germany briefly before being loaned out again to the much less prolific SK Brann in the Nowegian Eliteserien.
Takumi Minamino (Liverpool)
Japan’s Takumi Minamino secured a dream move to Anfield in December after Liverpool took advantage of a £7.5m buyout clause which RB Salzburg were forced to accept in December. However, Minamino has found game time fleeting so far and the winger has failed to make any significant impact due to the red hot form of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah.
With no goals in 14 appearance for the Premier League champions, Minamino is unlikely to be promoted into the starting eleven as next season begins. He is undoubtedly regarded as one for the future so perhaps labelling him as one of the worst signings of the season is a tad harsh.
Tanguy Ndombele (Tottenham Hotspur)
Spurs’ difficult season can be summed up by the fortunes of French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele. Signed for a hefty £55m from Lyon in July last year, Ndombele’s fortunes couldn’t have started any better with a goal in his debut game.
Unfortunately for all involved, that would prove to be the highlight of his maiden season and his fortunes went rapidly downhill once Jose Mourinho took over from Mauricio Pocchetino. A string of poor performances led Jose Mourinho to publicly criticise the midfielder’s form and he was regularly left on the bench thereafter. After a difficult first season, Spurs are apparently willing to give Ndombole a second chance but he will need to rapidly improve.
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