Mesut Ozil, Mario Balotelli and the Most Overrated Players in the Premier League
The eight players on this list, who cost their current clubs an estimated and combined £133.7 million, are clearly not fulfilling their vast and obvious talents.
These players are not being permanently branded "overrated," but rather at the moment their pedigree and lofty status is not being reflected by their performances on the pitch.
Here I have complied a list of the most overrated players in the Premier League based on the disappointing contributions they have made to their clubs over the last 12 months.
Mesut Ozil
1 of 8
Let me be clear, I am not talking about the Mesut Ozil who won a World Cup with Germany this summer, nor am I talking about the Ozil who so impressed in La Liga during his three years at Real Madrid.
I am talking about the Ozil who has been seen for the last 15 months in an Arsenal shirt.
When he arrived at the Emirates last year, he was hailed as Arsenal’s savior, a game-changer, who would help elevate them from merely a top-four team in to potential Premier League champions.
But so far Ozil has represented a poor return on Arsenal’s record investment of £42.4 million, and he has been too peripheral in too many games.
Ozil is undoubtedly a special talent; he just has not shown it enough for Arsenal yet.
Mario Balotelli
2 of 8
A CV boasting Inter Milan, Manchester City, AC Milan and Liverpool should insulate a striker from being included in a list of overrated players.
But the clue is none of Mario Balotelli’s first three clubs have been that keen to hold on to him, and so far he hasn’t given his new club Liverpool much reason to persist with him beyond this season.
Since his £16 million arrival at Anfield in the summer, the 24-year-old Italian has failed to score in the Premier League, and he has shown an alarming lack of effort as well.
If he fails at Anfield, he is unlikely to have another big club take a chance on him.
Joe Hart
3 of 8
Joe Hart might boast two Premier League winners medals, and 47 caps for England, but he remains an often unconvincing presence between the posts for both club and country.
During last season, his Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini lost faith with him and replaced him with Costel Pantilimon for a runs of games. Already this season, he has benched him in favour of summer signing Willy Caballero more than once.
Hart is capable of great saves and great moments, but he has yet to find the consistency of the world’s very best goalkeepers, and at the moment his position as City’s first-choice goalkeeper continues to look vulnerable.
Erik Lamela
4 of 8
In the summer of 2013 the blow of losing Gareth Bale to Real Madrid was significantly softened for Tottenham by the coup of luring Erik Lamela from Roma.
Since then, Bale has scored 27 goals for Real Madrid and helped them with their 10th Champions League, while back in north London, Lamela has struggled to make any impression and has yet to score in the Premier League.
While it is clear the Argentinian is a real talent, this has rarely been seen so far in his 28 appearances for Tottenham.
The Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is still waiting to see some return on the £25.7 million he spent on Lamela.
Chris Smalling
5 of 8
The brutal truth is you could select most of United’s central defenders to be included in this list, but in this instance Phil Jones and Jonny Evans have been spared at the expense of Chris Smalling.
The England international possesses the attributes to be a commanding centre-half, but all too often they are not on display. He can be hesitant, caught out of position, and even outmuscled off the ball.
He is still relatively young for a central defender at 24, and he will get better, but a lot more was expected when Sir Alex Ferguson paid Fulham a fee the BBC reported to be £7 million for him in the summer of 2010.
Andy Carroll
6 of 8
It is simply staggering that the West Ham striker, who is still only 25 years old, has so far been sold for a combined £50 million.
In 2011 Liverpool signed Carroll from Newcastle for £35 million, but after only 11 goals in 58 games they cut their losses, and sold him to West Ham for a still rather large £15 million in 2013 after already spending a season on loan there.
While it should be acknowledged Carroll has been plagued by injuries at Upton Park, he still has failed to impress, contributing just nine goals since the summer of 2012.
A striker who has commanded two such large transfer fees should be one of the best in the world and a prolific goalscorer, but Carroll at the moment is neither.
Jack Wilshere
7 of 8
A straw poll of friends and fellow football writers asking for nominations for overrated players produced the same name from all of them: Jack Wilshere.
Again, this is not to dismiss or denigrate him, but rather an acknowledgement that so far he isn’t fulfilling his vast potential.
Still only 22 years of age, Wilshere is a rare talent blessed with great technical skill, awareness and presence in midfield.
And yet he hasn’t yet asserted himself enough in games, for either Arsenal or England, and as he admitted last year in The Daily Mail, "my goal ratio is embarrassing,” which now stands at just five goals in 93 games for Arsenal, and he has yet to score after 24 caps for England.
Marouane Fellaini
8 of 8
It might seem harsh to include Fellaini in the week in which he finally scored his first goal for Manchester United, but the Belgian still has a long way to go.
In the summer of 2013, Fellaini became the first established central midfielder United had signed for six years since Owen Hargreaves.
It was hoped he would bring some much needed authority to United’s midfield, but he visibly shrunk from the player he was at Everton and contributed little to his new side, in fact, precisely no goals and just one assist.
His impressive goal at West Brom on Monday night shows what he is capable of, but he still faces a battle to win a regular place under Louis van Gaal and to shrug off the tag of being one of the Premier League’s most overrated players.
