10 Premier League Record Signings Who Were A Waste Of Money

2. Robinho

At the end of the 2008 transfer window, Robinho secured a £33M move to English club Manchester City, just hours after they were bought out by the Abu Dhabi United Group. The move came as shock to many football fans after the player himself had publicly stated his desire to play for Chelsea, thought to be favourites to the Madrid star's signature. He was convinced instead to sign for City on a four-year deal in a move that at the time made him holder of the British record transfer fee. At Santos and Madrid, Robinho had carved a name out for himself as an impeccable dribbler of the ball and proved his knack for a goal or two in Spain and his native Brazil, but in England the samba star was nowhere to be seen instead regularly missing out through injury and falling down the pecking order. In his second and ultimately last season at City, Robinho started just ten Premier League games without scoring a goal and soon fell out of favour with the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tevez all reaching double figures. As Manchester City continued to invest in new players it was clear that there wasn't a place for the Brazilian forward anymore and he was sent on-loan to his former club Santos before eventually signing for AC Milan for less than half of the fee they paid for him.