Failed deals worth millions of euros and pounds sterling, players who have become the worst disappointments for their clubs - this is our list of the most unsuccessful football contracts in history.
10. Julien Faubert
There are people who are still asking what Real Madrid saw in this French footballer in 2009 to lease him for € 1.5 million with the option of buying him in the future for € 6 million. At first, neither the player himself nor his agent Ivan Le Mi did not believe in such luck.
As a result, Faubert played world-class football for only 60 minutes, having played in two matches of Real Madrid. Once he did not come to training, mistakenly thinking that he had a day off. And during the game with Villarreal, the player simply fell asleep on the bench, although he himself claims that he only closed his eyes for 30 seconds. After this, the Frenchman simply did not have a chance to stay at Real Madrid, and he returned to his native club West Ham.
9. Gaisk Mendieta
In 2001, the Roman club Lazio became interested in one of the best penalty takers in modern football. He decided to spend 48 million euros on Mendieta, which at that time was one of the the most expensive football transfers in history... Gaiska left the club "Valencia" in the glory and having the rank of champion of Spain.
However, he did not adapt very well to the tough Italian football, and never once in 20 matches did he shine on the field as in his native Spain. Then in the career of Mendieta there were such clubs as Barcelona and Middlesbrough, but the player never returned to the success that he had at Valencia.
8. Philip Kristanval
Philippe's career began at AS Monaco, for which he played 81 games. In 2000, Kristanval received the title of "Best Young Football Player of the French Championship". And in 2001 he moved to the Barcelona club for 6.5 million euros.
In two seasons with Barça, he played 31 games, but always looked slow and awkward. After that, Kristanval's career began to decline, due to a series of injuries. The clubs in which he played broke contracts with him, and as a result, he decided to leave the football field for good.
7. Yoann Gourcuff
After a disappointing and short period at Milan, Yoann Gourcuff's career took on a second wind when he joined Bordeaux in 2008. His performance even deserved comparisons to Zinedine Zidane, as Yoann helped Bordeaux win the league and the League Cup.
“If you can't beat him, buy him” - apparently, the managers of the Lyon club thought and signed a contract with Gourcuff for 22 million euros in 2010. However, in his five years at Lyon, Gourcuff has missed over 90 games due to injury and now plays for Dijon.
6. Ricardo Quaresma
The Portuguese footballer arrived at Italian Internationale for almost € 19 million back in 2008, but he never convinced Mourinho of his effectiveness. In December 2008, Quaresma was named the main disappointment of the season in Italy, and received the Golden Urn anti-award.
Mourinho borrowed Quaresma at Chelsea, where many do not even remember such a player as he never started playing for the club. He returned to the Italian club and was later able to resume his career in Turkey, but his reputation was torn to shreds.
5. Ricardo "Kaka" Isexon dos Santos Leyti
It seems unlikely that this Brazilian footballer could end up on the list of the worst football contracts of the century. In his youth, Ricardo (in his homeland he is called "Kaka", short for his name) was one of the best players of his generation, a stylish and strong midfielder. He was the last player to win the Ballon D'or before Messi and Ronaldo's decade reign.
Kaka became the most valuable footballer in the world when he joined Real Madrid in 2009 for € 68.5 million. But it soon became apparent that his best years were behind him. The reason for this was a serious injury, and during the rehabilitation the place of the Brazilian in the squad was taken by Mesuta Ozila. In 2013, Kaka was sold back to Milan for a loss of € 45.5 million - still officially the largest of all time.
4. Francis Jeffers
After spending his youth at Everton, Jeffers thought he had struck a bargain when he moved to Arsenal for £ 8m in 2001. If he played efficiently, he would have received another 2 million pounds sterling.
However, it became clear that the footballer made a huge mistake, quickly earning the title of Arsenal's worst acquisition. He was injured and did not participate in any of the final matches.
3. Afonso Alves
An impressive 45 goals in 39 appearances for Dutch Heerenveen ensured Alves the title of “the next Pele” and professional English club Middlesbrough became interested in the promising footballer. In 2008, he poached Alfonso for £ 12 million, setting a new price record for the British.
But Alves scored just six goals in his debut season, half of which were against Manchester City, and the following season was even worse with just four in the English Premier League. Unsurprisingly, the Alves acquisition was one of the biggest financial blows for Middlesbrough in the club's history.
2. Carlos Alberto De Jesus
Carlos Alberto's € 7.8 million contract may well be considered the worst football transfer in Bundesliga history. It is difficult to talk about a player who played for Werder Bremen for only 195 minutes and did not show himself in any significant way.
Carlos Alberto explained his weak play and return in training with insomnia. For the Bremen it was too expensive insomnia, so they hurried to "float" the Brazilian footballer first in "Sao Paulo", and later in "Botafogo" and "Vasco da Gama".
1.Andrey Shevchenko
If there has ever been a striker, for the acquisition of which it is worth breaking a piggy bank, then this is Andriy Shevchenko. He is considered the top scorer in the history of the Ukrainian national team and the second scorer in the history of the Milan club, for which he played for 7 years.
However, due to the economic problems of the club, Shevchenko decided to change it to the English Chelsea. The transfer was estimated at 30 million pounds. But Shevchenko's not getting younger limbs and the pace of English football did not agree with each other, making this the worst contract in the history of football. In addition, he suffered a severe back injury and two operations. After two difficult years at Chelsea, Shevchenko returned to Milan and then to Dynamo Kiev, as his brilliant career unfortunately came to an end.
The worst is NEYMAR. They paid a lot of money for it. They pay a huge salary…. And he wants to play, wants not, he always found a bunch of all sorts of excuses .. IN THE TOTAL, he is still trying to make it so that he supposedly is not to blame for anything.
But what about Toorres from Liverpool to Chelsea?