Manchester United have been revealed as the Premier League’s chief over-spenders since 2012 in a study published on Wednesday.
Angel di Maria, Marouane Fellaini and Memphis Depay are held up as three of the top four biggest disappointments over the last four seasons in Soccerex’s Transfer Review by Prime Time Sport.
Christian Benteke sits in second place following his £32million move from Aston Villa to Liverpool last summer, with the striker having since been sold to Crystal Palace.
At £59.7m from Real Madrid, Di Maria is rated the biggest waste of money in a paper based on the transfer fee and minutes played.
The Argentina midfielder was eventually allowed to leave for Paris Saint-Germain, while both Fellaini and Depay will feel they still have time to turn their United careers around.
Tottenham and Liverpool were also highlighted as having difficult recruitment spells over the four years, with Mario Balotelli, Lazar Markovic, Roberto Soldado and Heung-Min Son all named as failing to live up to expectations.
The three clubs have made shrewd buys in that time as well – Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Roberto Firmino and Juan Mata to name a few – but Prime Time Sport claims their bad business has outweighed the good.
Manchester City’s deal for Nicolas Otamendi from Valencia was also commended as the most profitable signing of last summer by the study.
Perhaps more gallingly for the Premier League as a whole is the revelation that 42 per cent of players signed for more than €10m (£8.4m) appeared in less than half the minutes of their club’s games.
TOP 10 DISAPPOINTMENTS
1) Angel Di Maria (Man United) 2) Christian Benteke (Liverpool) 3) Memphis Depay (Man United) 4) Marouane Fellaini (Man United) 5) Roberto Soldado (Tottenham) 6) Son Heung Min (Tottenham) 7) Lazar Markovic (Liverpool) 8) Stevan Jovetic (Man City) 9) Mario Balotelli (Liverpool) 10) Felipe Luis (Chelsea)
NB: List compiled using Premier League minutes played during first season in team
Story By Daily Mail
