The 2022/23 Premier League season has been done and dusted for a couple of weeks now with the players looking at a few weeks of personal time after the completion of their national duties.
Like every year, the off-season gives us the chance to analyse the players who were brought in previously for huge sums or on loan and have not lived up to the expectations.
Let us take a look at the top 10 biggest transfer flops of this past Premier League campaign.
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Arthur Melo (Liverpool)
Amidst being linked with a number of clubs, Liverpool pounced upon the opportunity to sign Arthur Melo on loan from Juventus with an option to buy. Unfortunately, Arthur’s time at Liverpool didn’t go according to plan, as he suffered a major calf injury in November and featured just once in the Premier League.
Liverpool have not exercised their option to buy him and the Brazilian midfielder is now returning to Juventus.
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Philippe Coutinho (Aston Villa)
Philippe Coutinho managed to revive his career to a certain extent last season with a successful loan spell at Aston Villa. This prompted Aston Villa to make Coutinho’s move permanent from Barcelona in a €20m deal at the start of the campaign.
But the Brazilian playmaker’s return to England hasn’t turned out to be a fairytale redemption story. He only managed a goal in 20 league appearances, injured and unrecognisable from the star who lit up Liverpool a few seasons ago. Coutinho fell out of favour under Unai Emery and will likely return to his country ahead of next season.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Chelsea)
Despite spending close to £600m on transfers across the previous two transfer windows, Chelsea failed to bolster their options up front and ended up signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona on the summer transfer’s deadline day.
Aubameyang began his Chelsea career well with three goals in his first five games but went off the boil and eventually became a peripheral figure. The constant chopping and changing of managers didn’t help his cause either, and the Gabonese failed to add to his tally of three goals.
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Goncalo Guedes (Wolves)
One of the strangest signings of the season, Goncalo Guedes never looked of Premier League standard ever since he kicked a ball in a Wolves shirt. It was amazing Wolves splashed £27.5m to sign him from Valencia last summer.
Guedes royally struggled to make an impact at Wolves and left the club for Benfica on loan in January. Always looked out of place, was poor on and off the ball and never really managed to strike a relationship with the Wolves fans. The Portuguese’s loan spell with Benfica has been frustrating due to injury problems, and he underwent second knee surgery a couple of weeks ago.
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Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea)
Having arrived at Chelsea from Napoli as one of Europe’s best central defenders, Kalidou Koulibaly has struggled to live up to the lofty expectations of the fans and pundits alike.
Koulibaly has been a shadow of his former self, failing to exert his authority and dominate the Premier League as he did in Serie A for many seasons. The Senegalese looked devoid of confidence and energy for the majority of the past campaign, and Mauricio Pochettino’s arrival will be make or break for the centre-back.
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Marc Cucurella (Chelsea)
Marc Cucurella’s performances at Brighton had attracted the eyes of both Manchester City and Chelsea, and after City walked away amid a transfer standoff, Chelsea decided to splash £63m to secure his signature.
Cucurella was expected to strengthen the left-hand side of Chelsea’s defence, but he looked terribly out of place and struggled to show his best form under Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard. As a result, the large outlay on a player who was supposed to address one of Chelsea’s key positions has proven underwhelming.
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Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City)
Manchester City made Kalvin Phillips one of their first signings of the summer transfer window, bringing in the defensive midfielder from Leeds United for £42m in a deal which was considered a coup of sorts at the time following the departure of Fernandinho.
However, Phillips’ career has taken a big drop. Plagued with injuries and fitness issues, the England international started just two Premier League games for Man City this past season. The 27-year-old was never expected to displace Rodri from City’s starting XI but give the Spaniard a breather in between games, which he has failed to do so in what has been a disappointing individual campaign at the Etihad Stadium.
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Richarlison (Tottenham)
Much has been made of Tottenham’s £60 million signing of Richarlison from Everton, with the Brazilian international becoming the second-most expensive acquisition of the north London club.
Richarlison struggled with injuries initially, and when he returned to full fitness, he lacked confidence and form. Although the 26-year-old forward was always an energetic, industrious and willing runner, more would have been expected from him than just one goal and three assists given the outlay Spurs made on signing him.
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Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)
If one looked at Darwin Nunez’s statistics from his last season at Benfica, expectation would have been sky-high after his big-money move to Liverpool. He was brought in to offset the departure of Sadio Mane and form a terrifying trio with Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz up front.
However, Nunez has failed to justify his £85m price tag in what was a mixed debut campaign at Anfield. The Uruguayan managed only nine goals and three assists in 29 Premier League appearances, missing a host of glaring opportunities in front of goal. Yet, he has endeared himself to the Kop with his pressing, hard work and fighting attitude, and demonstrated his potential to become an elite Premier League striker.
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Mykhaylo Mudryk (Chelsea)
A signing that is yet to pay off for Chelsea after they beat London rivals Arsenal to his signature in the January transfer window. One of Chelsea’s big-money signings in the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital era, Mykhaylo Mudryk has struggled to have any kind of impact since his arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk. In fact, the winger has made the headlines mostly for wrong reasons.
Mudryk was tearing defences apart in the Champions League when playing for Shakhtar, but barring glimpses of talent on the few occasions, he has flattered to deceive. The Ukrainian international is young and needs a shot of confidence booster to get going in England. After all, the Premier League is a different kettle of fish and it was always going to take some time for him to adapt.