4. Scott Parker
Signed: 30th January 2004 Fee: £10,000,000 Signed in the January transfer window of the 03/04 season, Scott Parker was desired by many clubs after displaying great performances at Charlton. Chelsea were willing to pay the
rather large sum of £10 million for him to secure the deal and I'm sure Parker will have snapped up the offer hoping to be playing regular first team football at a top English club. However, this was not the case as Parker fell out of favour with managers Claudio Ranieri and later Jose Mourinho and often found himself warming the bench. This was a crying shame for English football which had seen other promising players, such as Shaun Wright Phillips, go to Chelsea with high hopes only to be let down. Parker's signing was poorly thought out by Chelsea, and his sale to Newcastle the following season was a relief for English football fans.