The 2024-2025 Premier League season has witnessed its fair share of blockbuster transfers, but not all of them have panned out as expected. In fact, some signings have been downright disastrous, leaving fans and pundits alike scratching their heads. In this article, we'll count down the top 10 worst Premier League acquisitions of the season so far, with one 'desperate' Liverpool buy making the cut. From underwhelming performances to hefty price tags, these signings have failed to live up to the hype. Let's dive in and explore the biggest transfer flops of the season
Now that the season is halfway through, let's take a look at some players who are having trouble after signing a Premier League contract in the summer.
These are our top ten worst Premier League acquisitions of the year, including one from Manchester United.
10. Mikel Merino [Arsenal, £31.2m]
Merino is clearly a fantastic player—we witnessed that at Euro 2024—but we haven't seen that talent under Mikel Arteta yet. A shoulder injury sustained during his first training session hasn't helped, but he has been mostly unimpressive since making his debut against Paris Saint-Germain. His full debut occurred during Arsenal's season-opening loss to Bournemouth, and his only goal for the team so far was a crucial one at home against Liverpool.
Given his performances for Real Sociedad and Spain this season, as well as the fact that he has already shown he can succeed in the Premier League with Newcastle United, there is confidence in Merino to perform well. In May, we don't anticipate him ranking in the top ten (or bottom ten).
9. Julian Araujo [Bournemouth, £8.5m]
After a mediocre season on loan at Las Palmas, Araujo left Barcelona to join Bournemouth, and it is not surprising that he has had difficulty in the Premier League. Andoni Iraola obviously thought he was the one to take Adam Smith's place as his long-term right-back,but that hasn't happened at all.
He is not superior than the 33-year-old, who is unwilling to give up his starting position. Even though he only cost £8.5 million, Bournemouth made a huge mistake with this one.
8. Federico Chiesa [Liverpool, £10m]
Many were taken aback when Italian Euro 2020 hero Chiesa joined Liverpool from Juventus for such a low price, but as 2025 approaches, he has only made one Premier League appearance and has not yet played more than 60 minutes in a game. People have quickly realized why he was so inexpensive, haven't they?
Chiesa has a serious injury problem, and in his brief tenure at Anfield, he has been unable to overcome them. Although it is obvious that Liverpool considered this to be an opportunity too profitable to pass up, they probably ought to have dismissed the idea. It is hard to envisage a spot on Arne Slot's team, even if he gets himself completely fit. Mohamed Salah is presently the world's best player, but Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, and even Darwin Nunez are further up the rankings.
7. Ilkay Gundogan [Manchester City, free]
Shortly after the summer transfer window ended, Gundogan was among my top ten picks, and his transfer from Barcelona to Manchester City deserved its own article. I'm embarrassed because he has been a jerk.
Although there should have been no losers in the deal, Barcelona ended up being the sole winner, and they aren't exactly celebrating because they still can't sign Dani Olmo even after they freed up that payroll space. Gundogan returned to City on the verge of chaos, and they are currently having their worst run since the days of Stuart Pearce. The German will wish he had never come back.
City may feel differently because re-signing Gundogan didn't come with much of a financial cost, but this isn't the Gundogan we remember. He was winning all the trophies, establishing himself as one of the best players in the club's history, and scoring key goals in the title battle. It is difficult to envisage Gundogan returning to a world-class level at the age of 34, and he is a far cry from that this season.
6. Luis Guilherme [West Ham, £19.35m]
You can excuse yourself if you don't know who Guilherme is. The Brazilian winger, who was born in 2006, has only played 21 minutes in 2024–2025 since joining West Ham for little under £20 million in the summer.
Isn't that pretty much all there is to say about Guilherme? Given that he is an unidentified adolescent from South America, he is expensive and underutilized. In a second-round Carabao Cup match, he was unable to even leave the bench!
Guilherme's lack of development makes the amount of game time he receives under Julen Lopetegui concerning, but he must not be impressing his manager in training. At least his reputation grows each time he is used as a substitute, and West Ham supporters will eventually be persuaded that he is the best Brazilian teenager since Ronaldo and will fix all of their issues.
5. Niclas Fullkrug [West Ham, £27m]
They made the traditional move of signing Fullkrug, staying with those annoying Hammers. Have you ever seen a striker in history score four goals in thirty-two appearances for West Ham? Although an Achilles injury sustained after just three Premier League games has hampered his start, he is on track to reach that mark with one goal in eight for his new team.
As Fullkrug is still getting used to the Premier League and West Ham might play to his talents more, we do feel sorry for him, especially as he hasn't had a consistent run in the team yet.
Putting sympathy aside, he simply doesn't seem to be able to keep up with the Premier League's tempo, and the stigma associated with West Ham strikers is also contributing to my transgressions.
4. Odysseas Vlachodimos [Newcastle, £20m]
The transfer market numbers, which have his market value estimated at around £6 million, support our assessment that it was the most absurd of the PSR deals, and at the time we believed it was worth £12 million rather than the final stated sum of £20 million. which seems reasonable for a third-choice goalie who is thirty years old.According to reports, the Premier League will look into this specific transaction, paying special attention to why Newcastle paid an astronomical amount of money for a goalkeeper that they could have purchased for £5 million the previous year, almost exactly at the same time that Forest made a completely different deal for Elliot Anderson.
3. Oliver Skipp [Leicester City, £25m]
Although it's great to have hindsight, Leicester should have used the £25 million they paid for Skipp to acquire a center-back or an attacker. It was never going to work out to sign another Tottenham reject for the middle of the park, was it?Despite starting five of the Premier League's seven games, Skipp has only started twice and been used as a replacement four times. With him out of the lineup, Leicester's performance has barely improved; regardless of Wilfred Ndidi's replacement, they are still a pretty team.
2. Joshua Zirkzee [Manchester United, £36.5m]
It is concerning when a player's optimum position is unknown, as was the case with Zirkzee, whose transfer to Manchester United cost more than his £34 million release clause. Although it may have seemed wise at the time, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's decision to give Bologna more money in exchange for "more favourable payment terms" now seems dumb after five months.
By acquiring Zirkzee from Serie A in the summer, United attempted a similar endeavor to Rasmus Hojlund. After 18 Premier League games, the Dutchman officially has a worse scoring record than the Dane, going 14 games without even assisting on a goal, let alone scoring one.
Although Zirkzee is young and has lots of time to adjust and get better, he is having a hard time keeping up with the fast-paced nature of English football, just like Fullkrug. That being said, he has been extremely impoverished and merits a spot on the worst transfer podium.
1. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall [Chelsea, £30m]
Dewsbury-Hall, a former midfielder for Leicester City, feels fortunate to be included in a Premier League team. He has been an enormous financial waste. Even though Chelsea's owners are earning billions of pounds, it is absurd to spend £30 million on a player who is nearing the top of his game in order to turn him into Europa Conference League fodder. Enzo Maresca may have had no other intention when he left Leicester for Chelsea just before the player's transfer, but at least it helped Leicester financially. Dewsbury-Hall will undoubtedly regret moving to the capital.
Dewsbury-Hall is too talented to be benched every week, much less excluded from Premier League sides. He will probably finish the season, but he should depart in January. For him to receive some respectable minutes, at least two midfielders need to get hurt. Leicester would be foolish if they didn't at least make a cheeky inquiry because a loan back to the King Power might be imminent.
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