Sorry for the overnight delay, I was attacked by the headache monster and dozed off earlier than planned without finishing.I'm back to rip five new ones in a historical context. Granted, the explosion in transfer fees during this decade means this T5L won't be overly historical - the earliest transaction here occurred in the summer of 1998.
I have only one rule for inclusion on the final five: the player must have departed the offending club, and with no more than a 20% recovery on the initial fee paid. That being said, it's not all about the straight Benjamins; performance, length of stay, marketing influence and clubhouse influence all tend to re-value a player on the ledger in a positive light.
For instance: Chelsea were supposedly able to recoup about a third of the £30 million they splashed on Andriy Shevchenko upon his AC Milan return. What's more, people tend to gloss over the fact that he was strong in the Champions League and an FA Cup dynamo for the Blues. He also surely brought in a pretty merchandising penny, and it's not his his fault Mourinho mucked up the formation on his arrival.
In other words, he can't be listed as anything more than one of the obligatory dishonorable mentions. The others? Arsenal's £9.75 million "striker" Francis Jeffers, Chelsea's £17 million washout Adrian Mutu (who escapes the list because he was eventually forced to repay the club about 80% of his transfer fee) and Tottenham's £11.5 million flop Sergei Rebrov (it was either him or bigger jerk #4 because #5 had to be on here).
#5 - Denilson/Real Betis
Once the world's most expensive buy, the Brazilian spent most of eight seasons with Real Betis (when they were relegated he jetted off for a loan spell with Flamengo). Oh sure, he justified some of his $32 million tag (at '98 prices, do remember) by selling tickets, jerseys and wowing on the dribble/set-up. Bordeaux eventually paid another 10-15% of that original outlay to land him in 2005.
He just didn't score goals (only 13 in nearly 200 league appearances). Denilson was even nice enough to personalize this angle for Americans by starring in a great Nike World Cup commercial (he's in a yellow shirt, 25-36 seconds) and wildly flopping at FC Dallas. For those gifts alone, I didn't have the heart to either embarass him too badly or leave him off the list entirely.
#4 - Steve Marlet/Fulham
The French pretender, who liked to mime as if a target striker, cost the Cottagers far more than the £11.5 million they laid out to get him. He barely contributed as they won promotion to the Premier League, then essentially doomed a fairly talented squad to a pair of relegation fights with his wastefulness.
In all, Marlet netted 11 goals in 55 games and sucked up a lot of salary - even while performing admirably for Marseille in twin loans. It shouldn't have been a surprise, as he'd never topped the 12 goals he hit for Lyon the season before coming to Fulham.
He also rankled in the clubhouse, with the team rising up to ninth when he skipped off to France. In the end, he gained Fulham so little in return on the l'OM loan payments (factoring the portion of wages they were still paying) that it's hardly worth mentioning.
His buy really hurt this franchise. There's no telling how high they could have soared with a proper forward purchase at that time.
#3 - Shabani Nonda/Monaco
Oh boy, did they roll the wrong dice in the principality on this one. Sure, he was serviceable his first two seasons and terrific his third, but he did practically nothing in European matches and was plain awful after much of the 2004 Champions League runners up side left for greener pastures.
His knee injury would have slowed anyone, but Nonda stopped working so hard and it showed. Bottom line: he arrived for just over €20 million and left age 28 for absolutely nothing in an eager salary dump.
When there are only so many folks who even want a Monaco shirt and the average attendance is less than 10,000, that sort of transfer turnover cannot happen. The effects of his red mark in the ledger are still being felt at Stade Louis four years later.
Now, refer to the final point of #4.
#2 - Juan Sebastián Verón/Chelsea
Of course, Manchester United paid more for him, but he was terrific in the Champions League and eventually settled into Prem matches at Old Trafford. Then, the Red Devils shipped him off to Chelsea, getting back more than half of the £28 million they sent to Lazio from Stamford Bridge.
Verón spent only one season with the Blues, playing just seven league contests before shoving off to Inter Milan on a two-year loan that ended his Chelsea deal and allegedly only gained back about 13% of his fee. Naturally, this is all made worse by the fact that the Argentine's difficulty in handling the English game should have been wholly apparent from his two years with ManU.
#1 - Gaizka Mendieta/Lazio
After helping Valencia to consecutive Champions League runners up medals, the playmaker moved to Lazio for an astounding €46.7 million in 2001 - I say "astounding" because I had always found him to be overrated and made to look better by the talent around him (Aimar, Baraja, Helguera, Kily González, López, etc.).
The Albiceleste barely stomached the inneffective and ineffectual headache that was Mendieta through 20 Serie A matches, then shuttled him off for Barcelona and Middlesbrough loans that rang up a mere €5 million.
The good news is, it couldn't have happened to a "nicer" team.
- Greg Seltzer
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