5 worst swap deals in football history
Player swap deals in football involve two clubs swapping players with or without an exchange of money. Swap deals are not very uncommon in football and are generally a great way of letting go a redundant player and signing a target player in the process. It is also beneficial for football clubs who don't have the financial resources to pull off a particular transfer.
However, like other forms of player transfers, not all swap deals in football are successful; some of them make you wonder - what on earth was the club thinking to get a particular player.
You'd think that football clubs are capable of determining players' market values and viability of deals. Yes, it happens most of the time but not every time. This article is about player swap deals that did not work out the way they should have.
Recently, two big football clubs, Barcelona and Juventus, agreed a player swap deal that left many scratching their heads and many fans of the Spanish giants particularly flabbergasted and enraged.
The deal involved Barcelona's Arthur going to Juventus and Miralem Pjanic of Juventus going the other way. Barcelona paid € 60 million for 30-year-old Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic and Juventus paid € 72 million for 23-year-old Arthur Melo.
Many Barcelona fans are disgruntled with the manager and have asked for his resignation. The move was bizarre as Barcelona let go an young rising superstar and have brought in an ageing midfielder.
The Barcelona core is not getting any younger. The likes of Gerard Pique, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal and Sergio Busquests are all over the age of 30. Adding Miralem Pjanic to the mix does not make any sense from Barcelona's perspective whatsover but Juventus managed to negotiable an unbelievable deal for themselves.
On that note, we look at the five worst player swap deals in football history.
# 5: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal to Manchester United) - Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United to Arsenal)
Alexis Sanchez was one of Arsenal Football club's best ever acquisitions while Mkhitaryan was delivering some fine performances for Manchester United.
Sanchez was particularly prolific for Arsenal, scoring 80 goals and providing 45 assists across 166 matches in all competitions. The Chilean football player was one of the top players in the Premier League at the time. When his swap deal with Manchester United was announced, with Mkhitaryan going the other way, everyone thought the Old Trafford club had pulled off a stunner.
Alexis Sanchez and Manchester United had a simple mutual goal - to win trophies. Having a signed a deal that earned him more than € 400,000, the football fans at the Manchester club expected fireworks from Sanchez right from the start.
However, they were in for massive disappointment as the Red Devils had signed a player whose form and ability had dipped so badly that he was now a pale shadow of his former self. Sanchez looked horribly out of touch at United and did nothing to justify his lofty wages.
In 45 appearances, he managed to score only five goals for Manchester United before he was loaned off to Italian football club Inter Milan.
#4: Ashley Cole (Arsenal to Chelsea) - Wiliam Gallas (Chelsea to Arsenal)
This deal seemed reasonable at the time. William Gallas was desperate to leave Chelsea and reportedly threatened to score own goals if that could force a move out. Ashley Cole on the other side of London was unhappy with the £ 60,000 a week he was being offered at Arsenal.
The two London football clubs then made a swap deal involving the two players with Arsenal receiving an additional £ 5 million for the arrival of Cole at Chelsea. As it turned out, Chelsea emerged the clear beneficiaries of this swap deal.
Ashley Cole reached greater heights with Chelsea. He won the Premier League, Champions League and Europa League with Chelsea and also won four FA Cup titles. Cole went on to establish himself as one of the best full-backs in Premier League history with Chelsea.
However, Gallas' career nosedived. The Frenchman became notorious for his numerous squabbles with teammates and for the infamous instance when he kicked the advertising hoarding and sat down sulking near the semi-circle after giving away a penalty.
Also Read: Top 10 Juventus players of all time