Premier League Players Who Haven't Lived Up to the Billing This Season
They arrived to no shortage of fanfare. In some instances, they broke transfer records; in others, they were saddled with the weight of expectation.
In total, they cost nearly £80 million, and precisely none of them have made a meaningful impact so far this season.
Over the next few slides, we’ll examine these underachievers and their contributions.
Or lack thereof.
Iago Aspas, Liverpool
1 of 5
Liverpool may be off to a flyer this season, but their £7.2 million acquisition from Celta Vigo has played little part in their early success.
After making four starts to kick off his Premier League career, the 26-year-old sustained a thigh injury that will keep him out of the lineup until later this month.
That is, if he can even work his way back into it.
Liverpool have had little trouble scoring goals this term, and Aspas was rather ineffective in the matches he played, anyway.
Erik Lamela, Tottenham Hotspur
2 of 5
The £30 million Tottenham Hotspur spent on former Roma attacker Erik Lamela represented a record signing for the North London outfit, but as of yet, they haven’t got anywhere close to what they paid for.
An unused substitute six times already this season, the Argentina international has made just four Premier League appearances and has yet to find the back of the net.
Of course, he’s only 21 years old. And against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League earlier this month, he had the look of a forward who was breaking out of his shell.
Arouna Kone, Everton
3 of 5
Arouna Kone did next to nothing in five Premier League matches before being sidelined for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Talk about a waste of £6 million.
New Everton manager Roberto Martinez had brought the Ivory Coast international with him to Goodison Park from Wigan, where Kone managed 11 goals in 2012-13, but in this instance, the Spaniard’s trust ended up proving frivolous.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Norwich City
4 of 5
Norwich City thought they had pulled off a coup when they landed Ricky van Wolfswinkel for £8.5 million from Sporting Lisbon during the summer.
After all, the Dutchman had previously been linked with some very big clubs, and bringing him to Carrow Road appeared to represent a big, big statement of intent from the Canaries.
But appearances can deceive, and so far this season, van Wolfswinkel has been nothing short of a bust—a one-goal scorer now relegated to the substitutes’ bench.
Marouane Fellaini, Manchester United
5 of 5
First they wanted Thiago Alcantara, then they wanted Cesc Fabregas, and then Sami Khedira and then Ander Herrera.
Instead, what Manchester United got was Marouane Fellaini, the Belgium international who had spent five seasons with new Red Devils boss David Moyes at Everton.
So far the 25-year-old, who cost a whopping £27.5 million, has started only two Premier League matches and seems to have the look of a deer caught in headlights—someone not at all comfortable with his surroundings.
