Football is driven by the idea that money buys success. Fans expect clubs of a certain stature to spend, and those clubs recognise that top level talent costs the most. For precisely that reason, moneybags Chelsea and Man City have led the way in the transfer market over the last decade, with big spending Man United staying in touch and Arsenal seemingly finally catching up. Even Everton recently broke their transfer record, spending £28 million on Romelu Lukaku in the hope of kicking on to the next level. But with bigger transfer fees comes bigger risk: the Premier League has seen its share of transfer howlers - and there's been too many to count - but there are a certain few that stick out in the minds of English football fans. Bosko Balaban's move to Aston Villa at the turn of the century fell flat on its face, whilst the likes of Sergei Rebrov, Francis Jeffers and even Michael Owen ended up not proving to be worthwhile big money buys. But their transfers pale in comparison with the top ten ridiculously over-priced flops in Premier League history. The following list is a collection of players who have been signed for extortionate amounts of money, only to show themselves up as costly failures. From players with a rotten attitude and told off by their owner, to men who have just forgotten how to play football, they're all featured here.
Football writer (predominantly) with work previously published by Mail Online, Manchester Evening News, Daily Mirror, USA Today and Chelsea FC. Regular contributor for Huffington Post, who holds tempestuous relationships with WWE and FIFA 15.
