Danny boy already putting the boot into Jack - don't you just love 'em? The other two given the big pic dig out are Ndombele & Pepe - both in the third seasons with their clubs.
The Premier League record signings that are proving a problem
by Daniel Taylor 4 hrs agoAs the most expensive player in the history of Tottenham Hotspur trudged off the pitch, he might have been forgiven for thinking this was not how it was supposed to work out.
Tanguy Ndombele cost £55 million, earns £200,000 every week and has managed only ten 90-minute appearances in the Premier League since signing from Lyon two and a half years ago. His latest ordeal was the low point and, for Spurs, it was close to being attached to one of their more humiliating results in living memory
Morecambe, the 21st-placed team in League One, were threatening to dump Antonio Conte’s side out of the FA Cup, leading 1-0 past the midway point of the second half. And there were boos for Ndombele when the substitute’s board went up and the France international sulkily left the pitch, with the slowest of walks, avoiding eye contact with Conte and heading straight down the tunnel.
It felt like the endgame, the moment when it became clear there might not be any way back for Ndombele and the confirmation that, when he does go, he will almost certainly be remembered more for the wrong reasons than the right ones.
Then again, let’s not just focus on Ndombele when he is far from being the only record transfer in England’s top division who appears to have been weighed down, to varying degrees, by their price tag.
Jack Grealish, the most expensive footballer in the country, admitted recently that he had found it harder than he had originally anticipated when he joined Manchester City from Aston Villa last summer.
“I obviously thought going to City, the best club in England, the best players, I’m going to get 20 or 30 goal involvements. But it hasn’t been the case at all. I’ve actually struggled with my goals and assists. The price tag on my head, as soon as you don’t get them, people start talking and doubting you.”
Grealish missed City’s FA Cup win at Swindon Town. He was an unused substitute in three of their previous four assignments and lost his place over Christmas because Pep Guardiola found out his £100 million signing had been out on a bender. It has been a tough introductory season for Grealish in Manchester, even if it does end with a Premier League winner’s medal.
There is also a growing pattern if we consider, just for starters, the London clubs who are trying to keep up with Guardiola’s team.
At Arsenal, Nicolas Pepe has shown only sporadic glimpses of the talent that persuaded the club to sign him from Lille for £72 million.
Pepe has scored 15 league goals since moving from Lille in 2019 (Photo: Getty Images)
For Chelsea, Romelu Lukaku has just had to issue a public apology after an unauthorised interview, only five months after signing from Inter Milan, in which he revealed he was not fully satisfied at Stamford Bridge. At least Lukaku can be relied upon to score a few goals — but it has not exactly been the happy story that Chelsea might have expected after spending a club-record £97.5 million on the player.
As for West Ham, perhaps you remember Sebastien Haller, but probably not as a regular scorer. Haller scored the Premier League’s Goal of the Month with his bicycle kick against Crystal Palace in December 2020. There wasn’t a great deal else, however, to justify his £45 million fee before he was sold to Ajax for a £20 million loss. To rub it in, Haller has been superb for Ajax, scoring 33 times in 48 games.
The list goes further, too. Rodrigo, Leeds United’s record signing, cost £27 million but has had only a moderate return, with nine goals, since his move from Valencia 18 months ago.
Then, of course, there is the puzzle of Paul Pogba and his role at Manchester United as a player who polarises opinion like no other.
One senior figure at Old Trafford confided recently that he had a theory that the speed of the Premier League did not always suit Pogba, hence why the midfielder had looked more accomplished in Serie A with Juventus and often excelled for France in international tournaments.
Now there is the growing possibility that a player United lost to Juventus for nothing, then bought back for £89 million, will leave on another free transfer when his contract expires at the end of the season. Pogba is already free to start negotiating with overseas clubs and, from a United standpoint, who can really say he has been value for money?
It is a recurring theme that affects more than half the clubs in the Premier League. Indeed, there is only Liverpool, with Virgil van Dijk, among the top eight clubs who can have no issues with their record signing.
The trickier part is understanding why. But what it tells us, more than anything, is that for all the meticulous scouting, all the research and near-forensic analysis from teams of recruitment experts, this is sport and not even the most prepared football clubs always get it right.
“We have data available these days to analyse every potential signing, the amount of ground they cover every game, their passing range, the speed they run, their sprints, their stamina, and every other possible piece of performance analysis,” one recruitment specialist tells The Athletic. “But there has never been any data to analyse how those players will cope, mentally, with the responsibility of being a record transfer, with all the extra scrutiny it brings, and the raised expectations.”
Andy Cole can remember being “scared, definitely scared” after leaving Newcastle for Manchester United in 1995, in a £7 million fee deal that smashed the British transfer record. “A transfer fee of such monumental, telephone number proportions was really beyond my comprehension. And, yes, it did bother me. A lot. That record fee was a very heavy burden.”
Emile Heskey also recalls the pressures of his £11 million move from Leicester City to Liverpool in 2000. “Eventually, it seeps into your mind and you do start to question yourself. If you are reminded about it every time you are interviewed, it’s eventually going to get into your head.”
The other issue is that modern-day football is an increasingly impatient business and, unlike maybe 10 to 15 years ago, there are rarely allowances for an expensive signing to require time settling into new surroundings.
Jack Grealish hasn’t shone quite as brightly as many expected so far at Man City (Photo: Getty)
Grealish might have made a slow start but, as Guardiola has pointed out, there is still plenty of time to flourish. And it is the same for Emiliano Buendia, the player Villa signed for a club-record £33 million fee to replace him.
In Ndombele’s case, however, he is on his fourth manager at Tottenham Hotspur (or fifth if Ryan Mason’s caretaker spell is included) and, in almost all that time, there have been misgivings about his form and, occasionally, attitude.
Maybe it would have been different had Mauricio Pochettino stayed longer in the job. Jose Mourinho publicly criticised the player. Mason left him out of the EFL Cup final. Ndombele wanted to leave last summer and that made Nuno Espirito Santo reluctant to select him. Conte has also had reservations and bringing the player back into the team for a cup tie against Morecambe does not necessarily feel like a vote of confidence.
“We have to know very well that if we perform well, the fans are happy,” Conte said of the fans’ boos for Ndombele. “If you don’t perform well, the fans are not happy. This is football.”
At the other end of the scale, Van Dijk’s performances for Liverpool have fully justified his £75 million fee. Nobody at Leicester will ever question Youri Tielemans’ £40 million acquisition. Crystal Palace’s supporters are mostly supportive of Christian Benteke, their £27 million striker, despite his shortage of goals.
Joelinton has often been cast as a £40 million flop for a Newcastle United side that has won one league fixture all season and was knocked out of the FA Cup by Cambridge United of League One. He has, however, played more in keeping recently with his price tag.
Maybe we should also cut Fabio Silva a bit of slack, even though the £35 million striker has managed only 43 minutes for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league this season. Silva is only 19, with time on his side, and there was a standing ovation for the teenager when he was substituted in their FA Cup win against Sheffield United.
It is not just Van Dijk then. Danny Ings played with distinction for Southampton, for a club-record £20 million, before joining Villa last summer. Adam Webster cost Brighton the same and has also made a positive impact. Ismaila Sarr was expensive for Watford, at £40 million, but capable on his good days of troubling the most accomplished defences. Kristoffer Ajer looks a fine signing for Brentford, at £13.5 million, and Chris Wood has scored frequently enough for Burnley to justify the £15 million outlay.
Don’t forget, though, that Burnley also spent the same on Ben Gibson from Middlesbrough. In two years, Gibson made one start for Burnley in the Premier League before being moved out to Norwich City, then in the Championship.
There are also plenty of Championship clubs — Sheffield United (Rhian Brewster), Stoke City (Giannelli Imbula), Nottingham Forest (Joao Carvalho), Huddersfield Town (Terence Kongolo) and a few others — who might have wanted more from their record transfers.
It is a strangely common issue. Pre-Lukaku, the names of Kepa Arrizabalaga and Kai Havertz could also, at times, have been added to the list, having cost Chelsea a combined £143 million.
Ndombele’s substitution at 1-0 down against Morecambe was followed, within five minutes, by Harry Winks equalising for Spurs. Lucas Moura and Harry Kane completed the recovery and, for £55 million, Ndombele had a lot to think about once he reached the dressing room.
by Hazy2 » Thu Nov 04, 2021 4:25 pm 
