38 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

Kepa's transfer was forced by Courtois forcing his way out and not showing up for training. Bilbao doesn't sell players, you have to pay the release clause, which we ended up doing. The contract was so long because if you pay such a high fee it makes sense to tie him down to a long contract, besides he was suppose to be our number 1 for years to come. If we had offered him a 3 year deal he would have left on a free and we would have lost all the money we invested. 

It doesn't matter what bilbaos policy is, if we thought he wasn't worth 73m we shouldn't pay 73m. 

He was worth 20-25m when we bought him based on his career. If Bilbao don't want to sell for that price, then go and get another keeper.

Their weird rules don't mean we have to spend more money. It was an incredibly poor business decision.

59 minutes ago, RomansRoubles said:

Touche. Or bought 2 Kantes 😉

 

Edit: Our current contract situation. Lukaku till 2026 😞 (source: Athletic)

 

Maybe we could offer Romelu 500k a week to change his deal to 2023 only. Then he can rejoin his precious inter on a free and we can be shot of him after suffering one more year.

5 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

It doesn't matter what bilbaos policy is, if we thought he wasn't worth 73m we shouldn't pay 73m. 

He was worth 20-25m when we bought him based on his career. If Bilbao don't want to sell for that price, then go and get another keeper.

Their weird rules don't mean we have to spend more money. It was an incredibly poor business decision.

but it was on very short notice, we would have gone into the season with Willy Caballero as #1. I agree it's too much money

we should have had more replacements in place for reasonable prices. I also remember that some scouts didn't rate Kepa as he was considered too short. But Sarri wanted a goalkeeper who could play from the back and there weren't really that many available 

Edited February 8, 20224 yr by azpi28

3 minutes ago, sonic90 said:

Torres was by far the most destructive to the club, he stopped us signing any competing striker until the 13/14 season proved to Roman we were a striker away from winning.

It led to us signing ex Liverpool team mates and his ex coach, who failed to win the League cup and CWC even though RDM had done all the hard work making it easy for him.

The things he gets credit for are a bit of a stretch, like scoring in the Nou Camp when we were already winning, winning-the-corner-that-led-to-the-equaliser-in-the-final.. can't credit him for luck..

Above all he got support from the fans but he ultimately to this day blames the club for his failures.

I honestly thought he'd be the worst it ever got in terms of sheet net negative but as it stands Lukaku is even worse. Fully agree with your comments 're the Nou Camp infact he made two big mistakes after coming on that could/should have cost us, one losing his marker who luckily went too early so the goal was chalked off and the other losing the ball in a dangerous position that would have almost certainly ended up in a goal but for Bosingwa's interception. If anyone should be hailed as the hero of that injury time period it's him.

One thing I disagree with is I don't think Benitez was signed to get the best out of Torres, well not solely anyway. I think by then it was pretty clear/likely Jose was returning so getting the Poundland version on an interim basis was a way to get a lot of the integration part out of the way.

48 minutes ago, Argo said:

I actually thought Ben Haim was going to do pretty well for us. Not oust JT or Carvalho well but he looked very good for a Bolton side regularly challenging for Europe and I think we made enquires about him a couple of years before. For a 3rd/4th choice I didn't really have any complaints.

Sidwell however was very odd, it was very obvious he was at his ceiling playing for Reading.

Any one of them as a free signing and you'd have thought nothing of it but Ben Haim, Sidwell and Pizarro all signed at the same time was such a weird move.

We signed Ivanovic and Anekla come the January which was a sort of acknowledgement of the poor business we'd done that summer.

But coming off the back of the title wins we really should have cemented ourselves as one of the best teams in Europe but instead took a big step back in terms of the overall quality of the squad and we've never really got close to that level ever again.

31 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

but it was on very short notice, we would have gone into the season with Willy Caballero as #1. I agree it's too much money

we should have had more replacements in place for reasonable prices. I also remember that some scouts didn't rate Kepa as he was considered too short. But Sarri wanted a goalkeeper who could play from the back and there weren't really that many available 

Everything you are saying I agree with. 

But that is all reasons why it was our worst ever transfer for me. 

Overpriced, not scouted well, panic buy, etc

Courtois leaving shouldn't have been a surprise, a well run club should always have options. 

16 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

But coming off the back of the title wins we really should have cemented ourselves as one of the best teams in Europe but instead took a big step back in terms of the overall quality of the squad and we've never really got close to that level ever again.

Unfortunately, this has been our story every time. When we are in a strong position, we make braindead decisions in the transfer window and go backwards. This is why clubs like Bayern and City are able to maintain their level as they look to continuously improve. 

Torres - He'd lost 3 yards of pace by the time he signed for us. A couple of key goals but what a waste of money. 

Benayoun - What was the point in this transfer? My favourite bit of it was when he didn't play for us and our boy Bosingwa kung-fu kicked him in the back.

Cuadrado - Dreadful. Couldn't pass, shoot, or do anything.

Drinkwater- The signing made sense at the time, as he and Kante won the league with Leicester and were key players during that campaign. But every single manager we've had has passed over him. Terrible attitude to hard work. 

Bakayoko- I don't even need to explain why. Sunday league quality. The worst transfer by far.

On 07/02/2022 at 15:56, wizardous said:

Fernando Torres would definitely be the first name here for me. English transfer record at the time. Of course, the expectations were extremely high, but what we got was 3 and a half seasons of playing with 10 men when he was on the pitch, tons of missed sitters, and Rafa Benitez desperately brought in to try and bring the best out of him.

The thing that pains me the most about the Torres transfer is the fact that we could have got Aguero for way cheaper.  Oh what could have been (if our striker curse did not ruin him too). Our scouting really sucks and we haven't learnt any lesson since then (see Lukaku).

Giving it some thought, this is harder to answer than I initially expected.

The notoriously expensive (in contemporary context) disasters often have caveats; Torres scored a decisive goal in the Europa League Final, and was part of our first Champions League-winning squad, and not to mention scored that goal against Barcelona. Kepa was also part of a Europa League-winning side, and has provided a number of memorable moments in penalty shoot-outs (including one against Tottenham in a League Cup semi). Most of the egregiously overpriced squad players who turned out to be sh*te didn't actually impact the squad all that negatively and barely presented a drop in the ocean financially or in terms of overall negative impact. (Veron, Drinkwater, Rahman, etc.) Even Shevchenko scored that belter against Tottenham!

The world in which we have existed for the past two decades has made it hard for an individual signing to be all that harmful. Should Tiemoué Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater prove to be 70 million pounds' worth of idiot, an über-wealthy club can simply spend a further 90 million pounds on Jorginho and Mateo Kovačić the following summer and immediately rectify the problem. What does it matter if Juan Cuadrado doesn't work out straight away when six months later you can go out and buy Pedro Rodriguez? After our two worst transfer windows in recent memory we've finished 10th and 5th; on each occasion, the following season we have qualified for the Champions' League and won a major trophy.

While it is tempting to shrug and simply pick five expensive players I don't like, I think the most harmful transfers would have to come from before a time in which we have so much money that potential negative impact is almost entirely mitigated. I'm in my thirties so have only ever known a Chelsea in the top flight, and even as a kid we were in a position to sign Chris Sutton for £10m, realise he's sh*t, sign Ballon d'Or winner George Weah on loan in January to cover the remainder of the season, win the FA Cup and finish in the quarter-finals of the Champions' League, then spend £15m on Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink the following summer. Realistically the answer to this question came during a time when the stakes were far higher, and the club wasn't in a position to simply spend their way out of trouble, i.e. before I was born.

Of course there are other metrics one could use (e.g. return on investment) but frankly I think the previous post was quite serious enough.

Alternatively, I could in fact give into temptation, shrug, and come up with my completely arbitrary list which is definitely well-considered and not just the first five dumb jokes which came into my head:

1) Kevin De Bruyne - a fantastic player for our direct rivals who has scored against us. The only legitimate part of the bizarre vendetta against José which doesn't include the word 'Tottenham'.

2) Mohamed Salah - this should have been the moment when we finally eschwed our 'signing players who score against us in the Champions' League' policy. A fantastic player for our direct rivals who has scored against us.

3) Thibaut Courtois - enormous bellend. Also shagged De Bruyne's missus or something (possibly vice versa). Hopefully cried when he conceded a goal to Timo Werner.

4) Frank Lampard - was ultimately too good. Responsible for a fanbase full of entitled cry babies. Publicly mentioned that voted Conservative.

5) Michy Batshuayi - inexplicably cost more than N'Golo Kanté despite being signed in the same transfer window. I have never, nor will I ever understand the obsession with Spongebob Squarepants. If you are an adult the only acceptable cartoon is King of the Hill, or episodes of the Simpsons which were released when you were of cartoon-watching age. If you are a nerd you can watch Futurama I suppose, or if self-loathing Bojack Horseman. Oh, he did score that goal against West Brom which won us the title though. Never kicked a cat though.

Pending: Romelu Lukaku - I shall wait until the end of the season...

For me I will go with most disappointing in terms of a player I rated and/or had high hopes for and ultimately they were a big let down.

5. Brian Laudrup - came from Rangers as a well established international os some skills and effectiveness. Within months he gets home sick despite being in the UK for years and sods off.

4. Gabrielle Ambrosetti - was labeled the Italian Ryan Giggs, boy did you fool me with that Luca...

3. Chris Sutton - I was actually at the time excited for this transfer and felt he would have a mix of everything we needed bar electric pace for our front man. So bad that we used him in defense before sending him to Celtic.

2. Adrian Mutu - coming from Francos former side and having red a bit on him and watched videos this guy seemed to have a fair bit of magic about him. Unfortunate the only "magic" he was interested in was qhat he shoved up his nose.

1. Shaun Wright-Philips - Back before City were mega money and we could sign top players from them. I thought SWP had everything needed to become truly special for us but he turned out to be a bang average player that never got closed to the hype.

 

14 hours ago, RomansRoubles said:

Touche. Or bought 2 Kantes 😉

 

Edit: Our current contract situation. Lukaku till 2026 😞 (source: Athletic)

 

100m is too cheap for prime Kante.

 

1. Winston Bogarde = Wasted money paying him to sit on the sidelines because he refused to leave after he was deemed surplus to requirements by Ranieri.

2. Romelu Lukaku = For the price we paid, a horrible signing with what he said off the pitch and he's produced very little on the pitch.

3. Adrian Mutu = Tested positive for cocaine. Still owes the club 17m Euros for damages.

4. Tiemoue Bakayoko = Still have nightmares of his performance against Watford (4-1 loss) a few years ago.

5. Danny Drinkwater = Never rediscovered his good form from his Leicester days.

15 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

The notoriously expensive (in contemporary context) disasters often have caveats; Torres scored a decisive goal in the Europa League Final, and was part of our first Champions League-winning squad, and not to mention scored that goal against Barcelona.

Torres' performances in the Europa League in 2013 were underrated. Played a pivotal role not only in the final but in the lead up to it as well.

The goal at the Camp Nou goes without saying. Will forever go down in history...

Think if we are just talking transfers of any era...

worst 4 have to be our transfer outs:

1) Jimmy Greaves age 21
2) Kevin De Bruyne age 23
3) Arjen Robben age 23
4) Mo Salah age 23

5) Rom Lukaku in -

On 09/02/2022 at 11:50, Jezz said:

Torres' performances in the Europa League in 2013 were underrated. Played a pivotal role not only in the final but in the lead up to it as well.

The goal at the Camp Nou goes without saying. Will forever go down in history...

Torres put the fancy icing on the cake but it was actually Bosingwa that made the contribution (a interception that prevented a 2 on 1 vs Cech) moments before that stopped us going out.

I'll give you the Europa run but him being considered the hero of the night at the Nou Camp doesn't sit right with me atall.

On 08/02/2022 at 20:47, PloKoon13 said:

we were in a position to sign Chris Sutton for £10m, realise he's sh*t, sign Ballon d'Or winner George Weah on loan in January to cover the remainder of the season, win the FA Cup and finish in the quarter-finals of the Champions' League, then spend £15m on Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink the following summer. 

I think we spent £12m on signing JFH and a further £4m on signing some Icelandic bloke Eidur something or other from Bolton. 

1 hour ago, Argo said:

Torres put the fancy icing on the cake but it was actually Bosingwa that made the contribution (a interception that prevented a 2 on 1 vs Cech) moments before that stopped us going out.

I'll give you the Europa run but him being considered the hero of the night at the Nou Camp doesn't sit right with me atall.

Absolutely. Just like with the Gronkjaer goal v Liverpool, his goal in the Nou Camp did not put us through. Ramires' wonder goal put us ahead on away goals. Torres just meant we could enjoy the last few seconds.

I recall we were under pressure until Torres's' goal, makes him a hero for me along with a number of others.

We could have conceded late and lost in ET or on penalties.

 

3 minutes ago, strider6004 said:

I recall we were under pressure until Torres's' goal, makes him a hero for me along with a number of others.

We could have conceded late and lost in ET or on penalties.

 

Every player involved in the CL final wins are hero's, none of them a failed to do their duty, and collectively became champions of Europe. Thats why Torres is not on my list, i couldn't do it.

1 minute ago, coco said:

Every player involved in the CL final wins are hero's, none of them a failed to do their duty, and collectively became champions of Europe. Thats why Torres is not on my list, i couldn't do it.

Always felt Torres was trying just some inner torment he couldn't reconcile.

31 minutes ago, strider6004 said:

I recall we were under pressure until Torres's' goal, makes him a hero for me along with a number of others.

We could have conceded late and lost in ET or on penalties.

 

What would have happened if Torres didn't score is debatable, however there's little doubt what would have happened if Bosingwa didn't intercept that through ball with two Barca player's clean through behind him.

I'm not saying Torres doesn't deserve credit for the composure late on but it wasn't a contribution that directly prevented elimination, Ramires' goal was as what Bosingwa's interception or Cech's gazillion saves.

12 minutes ago, Argo said:

What would have happened if Torres didn't score is debatable, however there's little doubt what would have happened if Bosingwa didn't intercept that through ball with two Barca player's clean through behind him.

I'm not saying Torres doesn't deserve credit for the composure late on but it wasn't a contribution that directly prevented elimination, Ramires' goal was as what Bosingwa's interception or Cech's gazillion saves.

For sure they were key moments in the game. 

All the defenders that stood in when Terry was sent off and missed the final also deserve recognition too considering the opposition. 

Great team spirit. 

1 hour ago, strider6004 said:

I recall we were under pressure until Torres's' goal, makes him a hero for me along with a number of others.

We could have conceded late and lost in ET or on penalties.

 

Not possible. Couldn't have gone to ET or pens because they hadn't scored an away goal and we had. Obviously Torres's goal sealed the win but it was Ramires's goal that put us through.