12 Transfers from 2014 Summer Window Destined for Failure
Football transfers are a tricky business, a trapeze act of weighing up gain versus loss, potential versus instant impact and value versus waste. Some clubs are better at this business than others.
However, everyone is capable of getting it wrong, and whether it be down to the wrong setting or a club forking out way over the odds for its signing, some deals this summer are on a course for misery.
In this sense, "failure" can be an ambiguous term open to interpretation from case to case. Some players simply won't get a chance to play in their new environments, while others will and simply won't reap any reward from it.
Here, we take a look at 12 of those bound for disappointment upon swapping clubs over the summer, some predictably dim in their prospects moving forward.
1. Bebe, Manchester United to Benfica
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Finally calling it quits on his loan-ridden days at Old Trafford, Bebe's Manchester United tale came to a most unceremonious end this summer when the forward finally moved back to Portugal on permanent terms.
His impact with the Red Devils was about as minimal as can be, and the fact that the Primeira Liga champions have chosen to pay a fee in order to get their hands on the Premier League flop is a quizzical decision at best.
Bebe's first steps as an Eagle haven't suggested there will be any sensational turnaround in form just yet, and despite some success while on loan with Pacos de Ferreira last season, those in Lisbon may be understandably underwhelmed by his acquisition.
2. Michu, Swansea City to Napoli (Loan)
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A hero to the masses in south Wales, Michu opted to take his talents to Naples this summer despite the high chance of playing nowhere near as prominent a role in Napoli's line-up.
It's a risk that appears to be coming to fruition if early signs this season are anything to go by. The attacking midfielder-cum-striker has made just two appearances from a possible five in Serie A this season.
It's difficult to see where Michu fits into a setup that already houses the likes of Marek Hamsik, Gonzalo Higuain and Jonathan de Guzman, each of whom can fulfil a similar part in the squad and arguably to better degrees.
3. Didier Drogba, Free Agency to Chelsea
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Didier Drogba's Chelsea prestige was always something people predicted would be damaged if he ever chose to move back to Stamford Bridge, and that's all too quickly becoming a possibility this season.
Playing largely as a backup to Diego Costa (and to a lesser extent Loic Remy), there seems no great personal benefit to his comeback except that of trophy prospects.
And even then, one might debate how much of a hand the 36-year-old will have in winning said titles, unlikely to have anywhere near as much of a senior impact as he had in his previous tenure in west London.
"Failure" in this sense isn't defined as Drogba not justifying a price tag or seeming terrifically out of place; instead, it is more in regards to spoiling the tapestry he's already woven, which should have been left well enough alone.
4. Mauricio Isla, Juventus to Queens Park Rangers (Loan)
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Were it not for a recurring knee injury stubbing his progress in Serie A's ranks, Mauricio Isla may well have found himself as an integral component at Juventus right now, an Italian champion with the domestic ranks at his feet.
Instead, a post-World Cup hype thanks to his impressive performances with Chile have led one of the most versatile players around to Loftus Road, a good (albeit strange) loan signing.
It's good for QPR in that they've got their hands on a potentially great player, but it is bad for Isla in that he's joined an outfit who are by no means assured of top-flight survival.
Of course, being a temporary deal, Isla is at no great risk in terms of his career prospects going forward, but there is the chance his renown could slump like that of Christopher Samba, Esteban Granero and Julio Cesar in the past.
We're only six games into the 2014-15 Premier League campaign and QPR have already conceded 13 goals, the second-highest amount in the division. Isla stands to be hurt by their very possible relegation.
5. Kaka, Milan to Orlando City
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"He was taken from us too soon" is the message many a European fan will have thought upon hearing Kaka had made the switch to Major League Soccer this summer.
Orlando City are the lucky recipients of the Brazilian's extreme talent and, in fairness, have an asset on their hands who could become a league hero in the years to come, just as countryman Pele did in the 1970s.
However, it does strike as something of a lose-lose deal for the midfield maestro who, apart from in a financial sense, has significantly limited his prospects in moving to the United States.
If Orlando City succeed in their inaugural MLS campaign next season, then sure, Kaka will gain some praise, but if they don't (a very plausible outcome), what does that leave for the Kaka legacy?
6. Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Schalke to Bayer Leverkusen (Loan)
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Admittedly, Kyriakos Papadopoulos is a selection on this list who could easily go one of two ways—we've simply opted for the darker, far less promising path, which involves an increasingly lengthy injury quagmire.
The Greek international's success at the Veltins-Arena has repeatedly been blocked by a series of debilitating knee injuries, and Bayer Leverkusen chose to take the slight risk of loaning his talents in the hope that things will improve.
However, it's an unfortunate component in elite sport that when an up-and-coming prospect suffers such recurring obstacles that early in his or her career, it tends to haunt his or her days, and only in very rare cases will previous potential ever be realised.
Upon moving to the BayArena, Papadopoulos told German magazine Kicker (h/t FIFA.com): "I didn't have any problem with (Keller), but he just didn't have any faith in me. That's why I'm here now. I don't know why I was never given another chance at Schalke."
The centre-back goes on to say Leverkusen is a step up from Schalke, but then one would think that risks only limiting his first-team chances further.
That competition, combined with his extremely high chances of suffering another knee injury, makes his summer transfer one that has all signs pointing toward misery.
7. Ji Dong-Won, Sunderland to Borussia Dortmund
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Prior to his signing at Signal Iduna Park, it was well-founded that Ji Dong-Won was drawing interest from Borussia Dortmund, who were on the verge of losing Robert Lewandowski and understandably seeking reinforcements.
However, there were still questions as to why the Sunderland misfit was one of those on their radar. And despite a successful loan spell with Augsburg, one might have questioned if his first-team prospects in North Rhine-Westphalia would be all that realistic.
Well, with the signings of Ciro Immobile and Adrian Ramos, along with those already at the club such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, it looks as though such questions were well-placed after all.
The South Korean is currently contending with injury and yet to make his Black and Yellows debut, instead settling for a place with Dortmund's reserves in Germany's third tier.
Suffice it to say such prospects weren't the dreams Ji had upon switching back to the Bundesliga, but it's hard to ever see things ever really looking up.
8. Iago Aspas, Liverpool to Sevilla (Loan)
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A return to Spain by all means seems like a logical idea for Iago Aspas given his unremarkable 2013-14 campaign in Liverpool, but early signs suggest a move to Sevilla may not have been the best move.
Los Palanganas once again look like a team with sizeable scope this season, and the competition for places in attack may be similarly difficult to that of Anfield.
Aspas is yet to start a La Liga fixture for his new loan club, and while it may have been with Celta Vigo that the forward came upon his last spell of prolific success, the other talents at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan may impede his path more than first thought.
The likes of Aleix Vidal, Vitolo, Jose Antonio Reyes and now loan signings Denis Suarez and Gerard Deulofeu all look capable of starting ahead of Aspas, and it could be another unnoticeable season ahead.
9. Nicklas Bendtner, Free Agency to Wolfsburg
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The September deadline passed, and Wolfsburg were the club who ultimately decided to give Nicklas Bendtner his chance at a fresh start, undoubtedly after a plethora of other clubs considered the same but then came to their senses.
Free agent or not, the former Arsenal flop just doesn't represent a safe investment. The Danish international is reckless and a menace to his foes, but that's more in reference to nude antics in Copenhagen, per Dominic Fifield of The Guardian.
On the pitch, the Gunners may well wish he showed as much enthusiasm, but a record of four league goals in his last four seasons isn't really the ratio one would consider all that appealing.
10. Emmanuel Frimpong, Free Agency to F.C. Ufa
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If the memoirs aren't already being penned (they very well might be), someone should think about securing a book patent for The Wacky Adventures of Emmanuel Frimpong, whose mazy career path took him to Russia this summer.
After just four months with the club, Frimpong was released by Barnsley upon their relegation to League One, and of course F.C. looked at his potential signing with a salivating grin.
The once highly tipped Arsenal prospect and cousin of grime artist Lethal Bizzle has always been a character of intrigue, whether it be due to his outspoken social media presence or booting things in the face of Rafael van der Vaart.
Perhaps the Russian Premier League recruit will prove us wrong, but it's difficult to imagine the midfielder really getting to grips with language in the Republic of Bashkortostan, not to mention the other dozens of hurdles before him.
11. Shane Long, Hull City to Southampton
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By and large, this was a financially efficient summer for Southampton, but one can't help wonder at which point the prospect of signing Shane Long for £12 million was met with the response: "Buy, buy, buy!"
The sales of Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and Calum Chambers helped fund better-value moves for the likes of Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic and Fraser Forster. And despite his price-tag, it turns out Long is by no means an automatic starter.
Instead, Pelle, Tadic and Sadio Mane have looked more promising in these early exchanges, and when Jay Rodriguez makes his full return to fitness, one can only see Long dropping further out of sight.
Is he a grand option to have coming off the bench when a poacher's nose is needed? Perhaps, yes. But for a club not quite on the spending parameters of its Premier League peers just yet, Long will need to do some convincing before his purchase looks astute.
12. David Luiz, Chelsea to Paris Saint-Germain
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Would we have said the same of Fernando Torres in 2011? Probably not, but here is another mega-money transfer involving Chelsea that has all the makings of a deal which could turn ugly in time.
At the time of David Luiz's £50 million switch to Paris Saint-Germain, eyebrows were raised regarding the value of the deal and whether or not the Brazilian international was even close to being worth that amount.
By the time the 2014 World Cup was over, those eyebrows were propelled into the stratosphere with shock at just how much PSG may have overpaid for their sometimes suspect signing.
With Thiago Silva absent through injury, Laurent Blanc's side have managed to keep just one clean sheet in its last five games across all competitions, and a conundrum awaits the manager when the stalwart makes his return.
Of course, having paid such a staggering figure, PSG will in all likelihood retain Luiz for the duration of his five-year contract. But it speaks volumes that the club isn't altogether certain whether it has paid for a high-priority defensive recruit or a midfielder.
All appearance and goal statistics come courtesy of WhoScored.com.
