With the European season coming to a close in the coming weeks, here are 10 of the worst signings made over the 2018/19 campaign, including two Real Madrid players and an FC Barcelona star.
Click through the gallery above to see 10 failed signings made over the past year, according to Soccer Laduma!
Although many Los Blancos supporters were not happy when Zinedine Zidane announced his exit from the club at the end of last season, nobody could have foreseen just how poorly things would turn out without the Frenchman.
President Florentino Perez decided to work Keylor Navas out of the team by signing former Chelsea shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois, who has since had a disappointing debut campaign at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Belgian has kept just 10 clean sheets in 35 appearances all season, although, given time, he could still turn his fortunes in Madrid around.
Another failed Real signing was the re-signing of Mariano Diaz, the striker who was given the difficult task of inheriting the legendary No. 7 jersey from Cristiano Ronaldo. Diaz has found the back of the net just four times in all competitions since his return to the club, and is already being linked with a move away.
Over at Barca, things did not quite work out for Brazilian winger Malcom this season, although not all the blame can be put on him. The 22-year-old has found himself, at times, being treated as a third-choice player at the Catalan club, and started just 10 games throughout the 2018/19 campaign.
Considering that Atletico Madrid spent €70 million (R1.1 billion) on him, Thomas Lemar has not justified his big-money switch from Monaco, having scored just three goals in 42 games for Los Rojiblancos since his arrival.
Another player whose move did not work out this season was Yaya Toure's, with the African playing just five matches for Olympiacos in three months. There was a lot of anticipation surrounding the Ivorian's move back to Greece, but the midfielder failed to deliver.
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Several other high-profile names feature – click through the gallery above to see all 10 signings we believe flopped this season!
Can you think of any other signings that failed to live up to their hype? Let us know in the comments section below.
