Five big money transfers gone wrong

When you pay a hefty sum to get the services of a player, there will be high expectations naturally. More often than not, this ends up badly. When so much is expected from a player, no matter how well he performs, he will be underrated. Other than a certain Cristiano Ronaldo or a Wayne Rooney, not many people have lived up to their price tag. Here is a look at the top five big money transfers that went totally wrong.

# 5 – Jonathan Woodgate

From Newcastle United to Real Madrid for $22 Million (2004)

Considering the fact that Woodgate tops the list of most injury prone footballers in England, the transfer was a stupid move by Real Madrid in the first place.

When Real transferred him, Woodgate was obviously injured. He remained injured for a full year before making his debut with the Spanish giants and what a debut it was! The guy scored an own goal and got sent off in that game.

After playing only 14 games with Real, he was offloaded to Middlesbrough for $10 million. So, technically, Real Madrid payed him $12 million dollars for 14 games.