Signings. Every transfer window, our club signs some shiny new players and we ooh and ahh… until they flop. Only a small percent of signings actually go on to have a successful career at their new club. Look back at your club’s last few transfer windows. How many actually have succeeded? Chances are only 1 or 2 signings per window succeed, sometimes none have. Well, now that I’ve lowered the mood of basically everyone reading this, let’s see what signings I think will fail the hardest. To make it more interesting, I’m putting them in a starting XI format. Yes, this is the same format as most Football Daily videos. Yes I couldn’t come up with anything else to write about, there is no football on. Let’s begin.
Honorable Mentions
Fabio Carvalho
Transfer: Liverpool -> RB Leipzig
Fee: Loan
Age: 20
Nicolas Jackson
Transfer: Villarreal -> Chelsea
Fee: 37m
Age: 22
Joao Pedro
Transfer: Watford -> Brighton
Fee: 34m
Age: 21
Konrad Laimer
Transfer: RB Leipzig -> Bayern
Fee: Free
Age: 26
Goalkeeper: Guglielmo Vicario
Transfer: Empoli -> Spurs
Fee: 20m
Age: 26
This isn’t a serious signing. Don’t let the hype fool you, Guglielmo Vicario is a mid table keeper at best. If Spurs really think they’ve signed a number one, they’re mistaken. In 73 Serie A games, Vicario only kept 15 clean sheets and conceded an average of 1.5 goals per game. That can rise to 2 per game in the Premier League potentially. By this time next year, Spurs’ search for a Hugo Lloris replacement will still be on.
Right Back: Calvin Ramsay
Transfer: Liverpool -> Preston
Fee: Loan
Age: 19
This screams the type of loan that won’t work out. Yes, Amad Diallo succeeded at Sunderland, but that’s the exception, not the rule. With a club that has no stakes in Ramsay’s development, he won’t get special treatment, and he won’t do that well. I’ve seen this dozens of times.
Center Back: Caglar Soyuncu
Transfer: Leicester -> Atlético Madrid
Fee: Free
Age: 27
As you will see throughout this post, I don’t think the Leicester departed after their relegation will succeed. Caglar Soyuncu should have left Leicester in 2019, when he was linked with a 40m move to Barcelona. Atleti still isn’t too bad of a consolation, but for a team as defensively sound and no nonsense as Atleti, Soyuncu isn’t the most reliable tool in the shed. Odd to think that he’s still only 27.
Center Back: Pau Torres
Transfer: Villarreal -> Aston Villa
Fee: 33m
Age: 26
On paper, this move should work. I think Aston Villa may have done well, but for some reason, I don’t think it’ll work out. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Pau Torres has been linked with clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, and the big 6 of the Premier League for years now and finally leaving Villarreal for Aston Villa seems a bit underwhelming. Also, the Diego Carlos move last summer wasn’t exactly an undisputed success. I just feel skeptical about this move.
Left Back: Raphael Guerreiro
Transfer: Dortmund -> Bayern Munich
Fee: Free
Age: 29
Why? For literally everyone involved, this deal makes no sense. Raphael Guerreiro would be the starting Left Back for 17 of the 18 Bundesliga clubs, but not Bayern. They already have Alphonso Davies, who has proven himself as a top 3 left back in the world. Bayern don’t need more unused wages every season to be unhappy about playing time. Dortmund wanted to keep Guerreiro, their LB stalwart for the best part of half a decade. They’ve had to sign Ramy Bensebaini as a replacement, a good full back and probably one of the best fits for the role, but he still has a ways to go until he becomes Guerreiro. Such a strange move.
Center Midfield: Youri Tielemans
Transfer: Leicester -> Aston Villa
Fee: Free
Age: 26
As you can tell, I’m not a fan of Leicester’s or Aston Villa’s business. Since 2015, Youri Tielemans has been a highly touted wonderkid, and I think this move will confirm that he won’t reach those heights onced promised. Tielemans was close to a big move to Arsenal last summer, which would have boosted his career massively. I don’t think this will work, though.
Center Midfield: Kang-in Lee
Transfer: Mallorca -> PSG
Fee: 22m
Age: 22
This move just confuses me. Why would Kang-in Lee move to PSG now? He’s not at the right level yet to get consistent minutes in PSG’s midfield. If he wanted to move to Ligue 1, a club like Marseille, Lens, Lille, or Monaco would have done the trick to improve his career. I can see him going the way of the likes of Pablo Sarabia or Mauro Icardi; a few years at PSG, followed by loans out for 1 or 2 years, before being sold for nothing or essentially nothing in 4-5 years with his stock at an all time low. His bank account will thank him, though.
Center Midfield: Mason Mount
Transfer: Chelsea -> Man Utd
Fee: 64m
Age: 24
How has Chelsea fleeced Man Utd with that price tag. I’d pay 40m tops for him. Man Utd’s midfield is in need of a rebuild, but this isn’t the player to sign. Mason Mount showed his lack of talent in midfield last season in Chelsea’s 12th place finish, and I think he’ll show that he’s more of a liability this season.
Right Winger: Timothy Weah
Transfer: Lille -> Juventus
Fee: 14m
Age: 23
Another strange signing. Timothy Weah isn’t a Juve quality player, he seems like a panic signing when Juve absolutely didn’t have to. He didn’t turn too many heads at Lille last season, so I’m confused about this one. I think he’ll flame out early and Juve will be looking for a winger again next summer.
Center Forward: Christopher Nkunku
Transfer: RB Leipzig -> Chelsea
Fee: 60m
Age: 25
I like Nkunku’s game, and I think he can become a great striker, but Chelsea isn’t the place. We’ve seen soooooooo many attackers fail at Chelsea, just since 2010. If I named them all this post would be twice as long. This seems like a tap-in.
Left Winger: Ben Brereton Diaz
Transfer: Blackburn -> Villarreal
Fee: Free
Age: 24
This is the wrong move. I know he’s declared for Chile and decided to start using Diaz in his name, but until 2021 he was simply Ben Brereton from Stoke-on-Trent. I mean, the only reason he declared for Chile was because a few fans noticed he was half Chilean on Football Manager. Villarreal isn’t the place for him. He’s lived in England his whole life, he should have moved to a Premier League side, and the transition to La Liga will be tough.
That’s all for this post, I hope you enjoyed it. I obviously am not hoping that any of these guys fail, these are just the guys who I believe will. I’m Jim James, until next time.