Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal flops in worst 10 Premier League signings of the season

We are at the halfway point of the season, so let’s have a look at some players who are struggling after earning a Premier League transfer in the summer.

Including one Manchester United player, here are our top 10 worst Premier League signings of the season.

10) Mikel Merino (Arsenal, £31.2m)

It is not quite happening for Merino at Arsenal… yet. He is obviously a tremendous player – we saw that at Euro 2024 – but we are yet to see that ability under Mikel Arteta.

A shoulder injury in his first training session hardly helped, but he has been fairly underwhelming since making his debut against Paris Saint-Germain. His full debut came in Arsenal’s first defeat of the season at Bournemouth and his only goal for the club so far was an important one at home to Liverpool.

There is faith in Merino coming good given his performances for Real Sociedad and Spain this year, plus the fact he has already proven he can cut it in the Premier League with Newcastle United. We don’t expect him to be in the top (or bottom) ten come May.

9) Julian Araujo (Bournemouth, £8.5m)

Araujo joined Bournemouth from Barcelona after an average year on loan at Las Palmas and it has not come as a surprise that he has struggled in the Premier League. Andoni Iraola clearly believed he was the man to replace Adam Smith as his long-term right-back but that has absolutely not been the case. It turns out he is not better than the 33-year-old, who refuses to lose his starting spot.

He may only have cost £8.5m but Bournemouth got this one completely wrong.

8) Federico Chiesa (Liverpool, £10m)

Many were stunned to see Italian Euro 2020 hero Chiesa join Liverpool from Juventus for such a low fee but we are days from 2025 and he is yet to play more than 60 minutes in a match and only has one appearance in the Premier League. It has not taken very long at all for people to realise why he was so cheap, eh?

Injuries are a real problem for Chiesa and he has been unable to shake them during his short time at Anfield. Liverpool clearly saw this as an opportunity too lucrative to ignore but they probably should have laughed off the prospect. Even if he gets himself 100 per cent fit, it is difficult to see a place in Arne Slot’s team. Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and even Darwin Nunez are all ahead in the pecking order, while Mohamed Salah is currently the best player in the world.

F365 SAYS: Chiesa a world-class flop who can replace Salah at Liverpool while not being fit to lace his boots

7) Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City, free)

Gundogan was in my top 10 signings shortly after the summer transfer window closed and his move from Barcelona to Man City earned its own thinkpiece. Egg on my face for he has been pants.

It was supposed to be a transfer with no losers but the only winner has turned out to be Barcelona, and they’re hardly celebrating given they’re still unable to register Dani Olmo despite freeing up that salary space. Gundogan rejoined City on the brink of disarray and now they are on their worst run since the Stuart Pearce days; the German will wish he never returned.

There wasn’t much of a financial hit for City from re-signing Gundogan, so they might feel differently, but this is not the Gundogan we remember. He was coming in with clutch goals in the title race, playing an integral role in winning every trophy, and cementing himself as one of the greatest players in the club’s history. He is a far cry from that this season and at the age of 34, it is hard to imagine Gundogan reaching a world-class level again.

6) Luis Guilherme (West Ham, £19.35m)

You can be forgiven for not having a clue who Guilherme is. The 2006-born Brazilian winger was signed by West Ham for just under £20m in the summer and has only played 21 minutes in 2024/25.

That is basically all there is to be said about Guilherme, isn’t it? Considering he is an unknown teenager from South America, he cost a lot of money and is not being used. He couldn’t even get off the bench in a Carabao Cup second round match!

The amount of game time Guilherme is receiving under Julen Lopetegui is cause for concern as he is unable to develop but he must not be impressing his manager in training. At least his stock rises more and more every time he is an unused substitute, with West Ham fans likely to be convinced sooner or later that he is the greatest Brazilian teenager since Ronaldo and will solve all of their problems.

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5) Niclas Fullkrug (West Ham, £27m)

Sticking with those pesky Hammers, they made a classic signing in Fullkrug. Has there ever been more of a ‘four goals in 32 appearances for West Ham’ striker in history? With one goal in eight for his new club, he is on course for that record, though his Premier League start has been hindered by an Achilles injury suffered after only three appearances.

West Ham could play more to Fullkrug’s strengths and he is still adapting to the Premier League, so we do feel for him a little, especially considering he is yet to have a proper run in the team.

Sympathy aside, he just doesn’t look like he will ever get up to the pace of the Premier League and the West Ham striker stigma is also playing a part… for my sins.

4) Odysseas Vlachodimos (Newcastle, £20m)

Stinky PSR loophole transfer. Enough said.

3) Oliver Skipp (Leicester City, £25m)

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the £25m Leicester spent on Skipp should have been spent on an attacker or centre-back. Signing another Tottenham reject for the middle of the park was never going to end well, was it?

After starting five out of seven matches in the Premier League, Skipp has been an unused substitute four times and only started twice. Leicester’s form has hardly improved with him out of the side – they are pretty pants no matter who plays next to Wilfred Ndidi.

2) Joshua Zirkzee (Manchester United, £36.5m)

Not knowing a player’s best position is cause for concern and that is the case with Zirkzee – whose move to Manchester United was more expensive than his £34m release clause. Sir Jim Ratcliffe decided to pay Bologna more money but for ‘more favourable payment terms’ – which could have been passed as smart at the time but looks rather foolish five months on.

United went for a similar project to Rasmus Hojlund by bringing Zirkzee from Serie A in the summer and the Dutchman officially has a worse scoring record than the Dane after 18 Premier League games, when he went 14 without a single goal involvement, let alone goal.

Like Fullkrug, Zirkzee is struggling to adapt to the pace of English football, but unlike Fullkrug, Zirkzee is young and has plenty of time to adapt and improve. Saying that, he has been really bloody poor and deserves a place on the worst transfer podium.

1) Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Chelsea, £30m)

Former Leicester City midfielder Dewsbury-Hall is lucky if he finds himself in a Premier League squad. He has been a huge waste of money.

Chelsea’s owners might be worth billions of pounds but dropping £30m on a player approaching their peak to make them Europa Conference League fodder is ridiculous, even for them. Dewsbury-Hall will surely be regretting his move to the capital but it at least helped out Leicester financially, which might have been Enzo Maresca’s only intention having left them for Chelsea shortly before the player’s transfer.

Dewsbury-Hall is too good to be missing out on Premier League squads, let alone be sat on the bench every week. He should leave in January but he will likely see the season out. All he needs is for at least two midfielders to get injured to get some decent minutes.

A loan back to the King Power could be on the cards and Leicester would be silly if they don’t make a cheeky enquiry, at the very least.

Honourable mentions: Ian Maatsen, Neto, Raheem Sterling, Fabio Carvalho, Joao Felix, Eddie Nketiah, Manuel Ugarte, James Ward-Prowse, Maxwel Cornet

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