3. Fernando Torres – Liverpool to Chelsea.
On deadline day of the transfer window in 2011, two of the biggest transfers ever seen in the Premier League would take place and become infamous for their apparent failure.
Torres had become a star at Anfield since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2007, scoring 81 goals in 142 matches for the Reds – but knee injuries had hampered the striker’s form.
That was why it was so shocking when Chelsea tabled a British record £50m offer for the Spaniard, with the forward going onto struggle at Stamford Bridge and failing to live up top such a huge price.
2. Andy Carroll – Newcastle United to Liverpool.
It wasn’t all smiles at Anfield however, as whilst the club were receiving £50m Torres they were also outlaying £35m for Carroll – a striker who had played just 18 Premier League matches.
Admittedly the forward had come into the top tier with a bang at Newcastle, netting 11 goals in the process, but Carroll was never going to live up to such a hefty price-tag.
So it proved when the Englishman scored just 11 times for Liverpool in two-and-a-half years, before being sold this summer to West Ham at a £20m loss.
1. Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano – Corinthians to West Ham United.
Nothing will quite live up to the utter bewilderment most football fans in England felt when Argentina internationals Tevez and Mascherano joined West Ham on transfer deadline day in 2006 though.
Even manager Alan Pardew looked slightly confused as the players were presented at Upton Park, before dodgy goings-on inevitably erupted.
As it later turned out the duo were partly owned by their agent Kia Joorabchian and whilst Mascherano barely played for the Hammers, Tevez’s involvement in their relegation survival battle that season would cost the club £20m in compensation.
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