25 Stephane Guivarch, Auxerre to Newcastle United, £3.5m, June
1998
The World Cup winners medal that the striker collected with France
needed to be seen to be believed by frustrated Newcastle
fans.
24 Glen Johnson, West Ham United to Chelsea, £6m, July 2003
The first signing of the Roman Abramovich era has still to
establish himself four years and one loan spell at Portsmouth
later.
23 Corrado Grabbi, Ternana to Blackburn Rovers, £6.75m, June
2001
The Italian striker scored two goals in 30 Premier League
appearances. Thats £3.38m per goal.
22 Adrian Mutu, Parma to Chelsea, £15.8m, August 2003
As if six goals in 27 league games was not bad enough, the Romania
striker was sacked after failing a drugs test for cocaine.
21 Tore Andre Flo, Rangers to Sunderland, £6.75m, August 2002
Four goals in 29 league appearances by the Norway striker helped
Sunderland towards an ignominious relegation.
20 Joey Beauchamp, Oxford United to West Ham United, £1m, June
1994
The Oxford-born winger was so homesick after joining West Ham that
he left two months later without playing a competitive game. He
returned closer to his roots with a move to Swindon Town.
19 Hugo Viana, Sporting Lisbon to Newcastle United, £8.5m, June
2002
The young Portuguese midfield player spent most of his two years at
the club on the bench.
18 Andrea Silenzi, Torino to Nottingham Forest, £1.8m, August
1995
The Italian striker was so poor that Forest allowed him to leave
for nothing.
17 Florin Raducioiu, Espanyol to West Ham United, £2.4m, July
1996
Lasted only six months after missing training to go shopping.
16 Sasa Curcic, Bolton Wanderers to Aston Villa, £4m, August
1996
Fell out with Brian Little, the manager, amid accusations of a wild
lifestyle off the pitch.
15 Alex Nyarko, Lens to Everton, £4.5m, July 2000
Complained that the English league was too physical. Walter Smith,
his manager, appeared to side with the Everton fan who ran onto the
pitch at Highbury to confront the Ghanaian over a supposed lack of
effort.
14 Ade Akinbiyi, Wolverhampton Wanderers to Leicester City, £5m,
July 2000
Known to some Leicester supporters as Ade Abadbiyi, he was
lampooned by fans across the country for his desperate
misses.
13 Chris Sutton, Blackburn Rovers to Chelsea, £10m, July 1999
The striker was a regular goalscorer with Norwich City, Blackburn
and Celtic but never recovered from missing a couple of sitters on
his debut for Chelsea, for whom he scored once in 28 Premier League
appearances.
12 Jean-Alain Boumsong, Rangers to Newcastle United, £8m, January
2005
Somehow made it into Frances World Cup finals squad last year but
Newcastle fans were relieved when the error-prone central defender
left for Juventus.
11 Juan Sebastian Veron, Lazio to Manchester United, £28.1m, July
2001; United to Chelsea, £15m, August 2003
To spare the Argentinian from appearing twice, these two moves have
been placed together. If anything, Chelseas signing was worse,
given that they knew Veron had failed to adjust to English
football.
10 Darko Kovacevic, Red Star Belgrade to Sheffield Wednesday, £2m,
December 1995
The forward made no impression at Hillsborough but promptly became
a prolific goalscorer in the Spanish league with Real Sociedad when
he left.
9 Robert Fleck, Norwich to Chelsea, £2.1m, August 1992
The Scottish striker was a cult hero at Carrow Road but a carthorse
at Stamford Bridge, where he scored five times in 40 league
appearances.
8 Bosko Balaban, Dynamo Zagreb to Aston Villa, £6m, August
2001
The Croatia forward did not start a league game in his two and a
half years at the club.
7 Sergei Rebrov, Dynamo Kiev to Tottenham Hotspur, £11.5m, June
2000
The player who formed an outstanding attacking partnership with
Andriy Shevchenko at Dynamo Kiev lost his radar after joining
Tottenham.
6 Marcelino, Real Mallorca to Newcastle United, £5m, June
1999
Dubbed the lesser-spotted Magpie, he played just 17 Premier
League games in three and a half years at St James Park.
5 Steve Marlet, Lyons to Fulham, £11.5m, August 2001
The Frenchman provided just one goal per five league games, fell
out with Chris Coleman over his refusal to play out of position and
spent two years on loan to Marseilles.
4 Tomas Brolin, Parma to Leeds United, £4.3m, November 1995
Injury had left Brolin overweight and over the hill but Leeds paid
well over the odds for the Sweden striker. He left two dismal years
later when his contract was cancelled.
3 Albert Luque, Deportivo La Coruna to Newcastle United, £9.5m,
August 2005
One of a host of expensive signings by Newcastle to have
disappeared down a black and white hole. The Stevens Inquiry placed
a question mark over the transfer and the rest of the world placed
a question mark over why Newcastle bought him at all.
2 Valerien Ismael, Strasbourg to Crystal Palace, £2.75m, January
1998
Hopeless in South London, the French central defender has since won
the German league and cup double both with Werder Bremen and Bayern
Munich.
1 Per Kroldrup, Udinese to Everton, £5m, June 2005
Everton paid a fortune for the Denmark central defender but then
showed no interest in actually playing him amid suggestions they
had suddenly discovered he couldnt head the ball. Made one league
appearance before returning to Italy.
