EPL: The Greatest Players That Never Were: Episode 1

What makes a footballer a flop?

Every so often there's a player who is touted as the next big thing, whether they've been a superstar for another club or whether they're a hot prospect for the future, there are always players who seem to have the footballing world at their feet.

This series will take a look at the players who failed to meet the extremely high expectations that were set before them, and those who maybe weren't so suited to the EPL.

Please note that there will be no particular order to this, or indeed the slide shows which follow.

Diego Forlan: Man United 2001-2004

To date, Diego Forlan is the proud owner of a World Cup Golden Ball Award, two European Golden Shoes and a Copa America winner's medal. On top of this he amassed 128 goals during 240 games in La Liga.

But as most United fans know, things haven't always been this peachy for the Uruguayan forward.

During his time at United he averaged out at a goal every five-and-a-half games, in fact it took him 27 games before he scored his first goal in a red shirt. That's not a typo. Twenty-seven games.

Forlan and his poor conversion rate were duly shipped off to Spain, and the rest they say, is history.

Giovanni Dos Santos: Tottenham 2008-Present

The fact that Giovanni Dos Santos was a product of the Barcelona youth academy, sparked much excitement amongst Spurs fans when he signed in 2008 for a fee reported to be around £5m.

Unfortunately a lack of playing time in the Spurs first team, and several loan moves across Europe have stunted his development somewhat and he has not become the star which he once promised to be.

After a string of good performances for Mexico in the 2010 World Cup, it was highly expected that Dos Santos would make a move to Italian side Udinese, however he failed to agree upon personal terms.

Dos Santos will undoubtedly be looking for a move away from Tottenham in the New Year.

Michael Johnson: Man City 2004-Present

Some City fans saw him as "The second-coming of Colin Bell", and he was once one of England's hottest midfield prospects.

Unfortunately Johnson has lead a career plagued by injury and if that wasn't enough, then City's financial fortune has only exacerbated the problem.

City's wealth of world class midfielders has meant that Johnson has had to go out on loan in order to get first team football, and he will undoubtedly be looking for a permanent move somewhere out of Manchester in the near future.

It has also been well documented in the media that Johnson enjoys the Manchester nightlife, and a few rumours have suggested that this has been of great detriment to his development as a player.

Interestingly, Newcastle offered £8m for the player on deadline day in 2009, and his career may have panned out very differently had City accepted.

Maybe we would have seen a truly great English central midfielder. More likely we would have seen a partnership of Carroll and Johnson that would have made more front pages than back ones.

Francis Jeffers: Arsenal 2001-2004

Arsenal splashed out £8m on Francis Jeffers in 2001, following some promising performances during his time at Everton.

Wenger signed what he thought was a "Fox in the Box" but was left with more of a rabbit in the headlights, as Jeffers put in lacklustre performance after lacklustre performance.

Twenty-two league appearances for Arsenal and four goals did not show a good enough return for the £8m spent and he was sold to Charlton in 2004 at a £5m loss.

One highlight of Jeffers' time at Arsenal was his call up to the England squad in 2003, resulting in his one and only cap which he won against Australia. He also scored in this game.

For those of you remotely interested, Jeffers is currently plying his trade with the Newcastle Jets in the Australian A-League.

Andriy Shevchenko: Chelsea 2006-2009

Chelsea raised eyebrows when they decided to splash out £30.8m on a player who was four months short of his 30th birthday, however Shevchenko was a world-class player at the time so it was bound to be worth the investment, right?

Wrong.

In three years at Chelsea, Shevchenko made 48 appearances scoring a mere nine goals.

Many said that Chelsea bought at the wrong time, and that he had passed his peak when he made the move to Stamford Bridge. Others say that he wasn't made for the Premier League style of football.

Either way, £3.4m per goal could definitely be described as an inflated price. Fernando Torres anybody?