7 of the worst Premier League January transfers ever

The January transfer window is sometimes viewed as make or break for a Premier League club.

Whether it's bringing in additional reinforcements to aid a title bid, tightening up a defence to seal a top-four finish, or signing a goalscorer to ease the threat of relegation, there's always a deal to be done for the right price.

Some January transfers have worked out extraordinarily well - Nemanja Vidic to Manchester United and Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool two that stand out - but not all bits of mid-season business go to plan.

Many actually turn out pretty poorly, either because they're panic buys that really don't fit the bigger picture, or because there's just so much pressure to perform and hit the ground running.

Here, 90min takes a look at seven of the worst pieces of January business in Premier League history.

Fernando Torres

• Year: 2011
• Transfer: Liverpool to Chelsea - £50m

When Chelsea splashed £50m on Fernando Torres in January 2011, prising him away from Liverpool in the process, they thought they had signed one of the world's best strikers at the peak of his powers.

But unfortunately for the Blues, and for Torres, his time in west London was pretty torrid to say the least. Eight Premier League goals during 2012/13 was as good as it got for the now muscle-bound Spaniard, though his winning goal at Barcelona in the Champions League did at least provide us with some liquid Gary Neville commentary.

Andy Carroll

• Year: 2011
• Transfer: Newcastle to Liverpool - £35m

2011 was the year for big winter business, with Liverpool moving quickly to replace Chelsea-bound Torres with not one but two strikers.

One of their acquisitions, Luis Suarez, turned out to be one of the best pieces of January transfer business ever. The other, 22-year-old Andy Carroll, unfortunately did not fare so well after arriving from Newcastle for the thick end of £35m.

44 Premier League games and six goals later, Carroll was off to the capital to resurrect his career on loan at West Ham, and he never returned to Merseyside after packing his bags in August 2012.

Alexis Sanchez

• Year: 2018
• Transfer: Arsenal to Manchester United - swap involving Henrikh Mkhitaryan

There was once a time when Alexis Sanchez was revered as one of the best forwards in world football. The Chilean had searing pace, possessed excellent dribbling ability, was technically strong and good with both feet, and was a lethal finisher.

So it was surprising that his move to Manchester United in 2018, which saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan head the other way to Arsenal, went as badly as it did. Yes, Sanchez had not been at his absolute best at the beginning of the 2017/18 season, but there was nothing to suggest his form would drop off a cliff in the way that it did.

His stay at Old Trafford was so bad that he scored just three Premier League goals in 19 months, ruining the fearsome reputation he'd built up under Arsene Wenger. Inter came calling on loan and that was that.

Savio Nsereko

• Year: 2009
• Transfer: Brescia to West Ham - £9m

Financially speaking, Savio Nsereko's move to West Ham isn't the worst January transfer of all time. But trust us when we say, Savio Nsereko is the worst January signing of all time.

Brought in from Brescia aged just 19, West Ham thought they had picked up one of the continent's brightest young talents after Savio starred for Germany at the 2008 Under-19 European Championships. But he started just once for the Hammers in six months and it quickly became clear he wasn't the calibre of player scouts thought he was.

Fiorentina bailed West Ham out in the summer, though the Londoners still made a significant loss, but even that move went south as he failed to play a single game for the club in three years.

Wilfried Bony

• Year: 2015
• Transfer: Swansea to Manchester City - £25m

Wilfried Bony had scored goals for fun at Sparta Prague and Vitesse Arnhem between 2008 and 2013, so it was no real surprise that Swansea offered to pay a club-record £12m to the latter in order to lure the Ivory Coast international to the Premier League.

Bony's first season in England was a huge success, with 16 goals more than enough to keep Swansea in the top flight, and he was in decent touch heading into the 2015 January transfer window. Yet it was a bit of a surprise that cash-rich Manchester City opted to make Bony the most expensive African footballer ever (at the time) knowing he wouldn't ever be first choice at the Etihad.

Indeed, Bony was always going to play second fiddle to Sergio Aguero when the Argentine was fit, so his meagre goal return of six in 36 Premier League games perhaps isn't too bad considering. Nevertheless, as soon as Pep Guardiola arrived, his days at City were numbered - the club getting just half of their money back after selling back to Swansea in August 2017.

Kostas Mitroglou

• Year: 2014
• Transfer: Olympiacos to Fulham - £12m

Kostas Mitroglou became Fulham's record signing in January 2014, penning a four-and-a-half-year contract to join from Greek giants Olympiacos. The then-25-year-old brought a very decent scoring record to England and was tasked with helping the club stave off relegation.

But after struggling with injury and fitness issues, Mitroglou took to the field in just three Premier League games. He failed to score, Fulham were relegated, and his signing was chalked up as an unmitigated disaster. Loan moves to Olympiacos and Benfica followed, where he scored a shed load of goals, but he never stepped foot in English football again.

Juan Cuadrado

• Year: 2015
• Transfer: Fiorentina to Chelsea - £23.3m

It's bad enough that Chelsea paid Fiorentina £23.3m for a player who played just 13 Premier League games for them, but the worst bit about Juan Cuadrado's move to the capital is that Mohamed Salah was allowed to leave Stamford Bridge as part of the deal.

Salah never returned, doing well at Fiorentina before going on to Roma, while Cuadrado struggled to even get a kick at Chelsea. The Colombian seemingly had bags of ability - that was on evidence during the 2014 World Cup - but Jose Mourinho didn't fancy him, eventually shipping him off to Juventus where he won countless Serie A titles.

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