And welcome back to the P .D. Football Podcast.
My name is Presh. My name is Darren. How are
you doing today? I'm good. I'm fatigued again.
Two weeks off the fatigue, but I think this time
it's just because I didn't get enough sleep.
How's everything on your end? I'm great. Avatar
just came out on VOD, so I can watch it at home
now. Oh. Another six times. I watched it five
times. You know, don't slander me. Don't make
it seem like I'm a... We're getting to double
digits. Yeah, like I'm some sort of avatar addict
that, you know, watches it six times in theaters.
I only watched it four. I mean... And the fifth
time was... I pirated it, okay? Okay. Alright.
Anyway... So we're still on the international
break. Therefore, we're doing another evergreen
episode. That means you can listen to it at any
time and it will still be largely how we feel
as opposed to our regular episodes where opinions
can change on a week to week basis. So the only
rule this week is that the buying club was in
the Premier League at the time of the transfer.
So, for example, Jamie Vardy was bought when
Leicester win the championship. Therefore, he
can't be considered. The other thing is I didn't
consider non -footballing reasons. So, for example,
Benjamin Mendy was arrested on rape charges and
said he had to terminate his contract. So I'm
not going to consider instances like that where
non -footballing reasons are the cause of the
transfer not working out. So my rationale for
both lists was number one thing is the impact
that they made. So, for example, there's a player
on a team that won a lot of trophies, but...
that player didn't contribute to the trophies
i'm not gonna like for example anderson do you
go yeah yeah anderson for man united the number
two thing i considered was trophies so you know
you can come in be like a gunman for a team score
100 goals but if you don't win any trophies you
know it's very hard for me to consider you as
one of the best transfers the third thing i looked
at was the transfer fee paid so you know obviously
i'm going to give better more preference to a
lower fee than a higher fee even if the player
is not as good yeah so yeah do you have a criteria
that you use that you want to share or my criteria
was mostly the price point versus the quality
of the player i don't think i really paid much
attention to how much they won obviously i mean
the players on on my list would have won something
but uh i looked at more I looked at more in terms
of their impact as an individual footballer in
relation to the price they were bought at and
the time. All right, so similar things, just
not trophies. Yeah. All right. So there's going
to be a forward bias for me because goals and
assists are measurable, whereas other positions
are more subtle. And the last thing is all monetary
values that I mentioned will be given in Great
British Pound Sterling. Yeah, mine too. i've
given the fee paid the fee paid at the time as
well as the fee adjusted for inflation but something
that i can't control for is football inflation
so in the year 2000 the total fees paid by for
players in the premier league was 320 million
pounds in the year 2025 it was 3 .1 billion pounds
roughly a 10 times increase and far outpacing
monetary inflation so there's uh you know if
i say oh well this guy was bought for 1 million
in the 90s you know just uh uh i'll give you
the adjusted inflation but realize that it's
it's actually much higher than you would assume
because of the transfer fees at the time yeah
i mean i i guess that there would be in relation
to what the football market was valued at yes
that's what i'm saying football inflation yes
which is something it's very difficult to account
for and i don't think how yeah especially with
the with regards to the premier league specifically
in the last 10 years it's been most of the transfers
in the premier league have been hyper inflated
because people know premier league clubs have
money or other teams know premier league clubs
have money so i think generally we might consider
a fee that might have sounded absurd in the early
2000s to be the best transfer of all time in
a modern context so yes so similarly to the previous
evergreen episodes we're going to go from five
to one uh you go with your five i'll go with
my five i'm starting with best uh we started
with best transfers of all time If we have the
same transfer, like say, for example, mine is
number two, but it's your number five. Because
it's your number five, you're going to bring
it up first. And I'm just going to join in on
the conversation and mention everything I would
have mentioned in the number two slot. So we
have one conversation about the play instead
of, you know, two different conversations. All
right. So do you want to start with your number
five best transfer of all time in the Premier
League? My number five, I went with Mo Salah.
36 .9 million, Roma to Liverpool. I think, again,
it might sound higher than some of the other
numbers on the list, but I think relative to
what you paid in the modern market, especially
post -2015, I guess, or post -Neymar, it was
an inflated market already, especially for Premier
League clubs. I think you got statistically,
in terms of output, the best winger in the history
of the league. I think, yeah, one of the best
players in Premier League history, generally.
So I think it was both him and Mane. I was considering
it was a toss -up for either one. I didn't want
to have too many signings from one team on the
list, you know. So I think, yeah, it was a player,
36 .9 million, half the price of what Arsenal
paid for Nicolas Pepe. So I think in a similar
sort of market, I think. Getting one of the best
players. I mean, it's arguable. You will argue
differently, of course. But at least in terms
of output, one of the best players of his generation
was a snip for me. Well, a lot of people consider
him the best ever Premier League player. So that's
a very good shout for the fee that we paid. So,
decent shout. But he's not on my list. I didn't
think he would be because you have your own personal
opinions about Salah. But I think he put him
in the... He's much like I think the other time
I made the argument about what Alexis Sanchez
could have been like in a better team. I think
he could have been similar to Mo Salah. So I
think if he had been in our team, Arsenal at
the same time, we'd have probably seen him elevate
us a bit more. His contribution would have been
recognized a bit more as opposed to being in
a team where I think most of the time Van Dijk
was probably the standout player. The price point,
I wish we had his contribution, a contribution
like that at Arsenal from any player, I think.
The only player in our history that comes close
to that is Thierry Henry. So I think it's hard
to say. Obviously, I thought he wouldn't make
your list because you have your own personal
opinions about him. But I think he's a player
that elevates any team, I think, with just the
fact that he can finish and create chances in
the final third. I think, yeah. For me, one of
the greatest, if not the greatest, Premier League
winger of all time. So, 36 .9 million in the
modern market is, for me, probably one of the,
not just Premier League transfers, but one of
the best transfers in modern history. Nice. My
number five is N 'Golo Kante from Cayenne to
Leicester. 5 .6 million. At the time, in modern
day money, it would be 7 .8 million. Yeah, that
for me was my number two. But I put him as a
double from like... Kyan to Leicester and Leicester
to Chelsea because I think he's impacted both
of us well yes okay well for me just the one
I could have also mentioned the Chelsea transfer
because that was 32 million in the modern market
yeah 32 million for like the greatest in the
world the greatest defensive midfielder our league
has ever seen arguably uh that's again another
a snip But I just think that the Cayenne one
was a much more impressive transfer. He only
stayed there for one season, but in that one
season, he took them from the relegation favourites
to title winners. So they had finished just outside
the relegation places the year before. They buy
him and immediately win the league. To slander
or trivialize anything Mahrez or Vardy did in
that season. But I still think he was the most
important player by a long way. The argument
is that both Mahrez and Vardy were there the
year before. And they didn't put up the same
numbers. It's when Kante gave them the base to
build off. That's when magic happened. I don't
think a midfield with Danny Drinkwater and...
Who was the number 10? They played 4 -4 -2, so
I guess it would be like Albrighton on the left,
Mahrez on the right, Drinkwater, Kante in the
middle. Yeah, I mean, I don't think that's a
Premier League winning midfield without Kante,
you know. Absolutely not. And even when he signed
for Chelsea again, because I think I put both
transfers as number two. I think that's cheating.
It is cheating a bit, but I couldn't decide which
one was better because I think for a little while
he turned... Chelsea into the best team in the
world you know and I think that that in itself
he was more important than any player there people
will say Eden Hazard but I think by the time
they'd won the Champions League Hazard had left
and even when they won the Champions I mean they
won the Premier League under Conte I think That
was against you guys and Man City. No, it wasn't
us. We were like a top four team. No, I'm saying
it was still in the context of playing against
it. Maybe it was one year in for Guardiola, two
years in for Klopp. They hadn't developed their
projects. But I'd say Chelsea's project was also
not at a developed stage, even if they'd spent
a lot of money. I think they had good management.
They had a good squad. Kante came in and managed
it well. I still think they probably, as they
showed the next season when he struggled with
injuries, they weren't a Premier League winning
team without him. Absolutely, absolutely. Now,
do you want to go for your number four? My number
four was probably the... I said I think Alisson
is the greatest goalkeeper in Premier League
history, but in terms of price point, I think
Pidichek from Rennes to Chelsea. 7 million I
think in the modern market maybe it translates
to about 10 million which is I think for who
most people consider to be the greatest goalkeeper
of his era I think it's a bit of a snip I think
he was the some people would say Terry you know
they had a good back four at all times but even
when players were injured players moved on I
think Peter Cech had a lot of clutch moments
especially in the Champions League final 2012
you know I think he was, I think the final performance
in any other game, Bayern might have won it,
you know. So I think, yeah, a lot of Premier
League titles. He wasn't good at Arsenal, not
his chance for Arsenal. I wouldn't consider a
good one. But I think for Chelsea, the amount
of clean sheets, I think broke the clean sheet
record and then beat it. So, yeah, I think to
get a goalkeeper of that quality for that price,
when the market was starting to be inflated,
I think it was a good signing for Chelsea. for
me i put him at my number four yeah all right
that's a good shout but the this i don't have
a goalkeeper on my list for the same reason that
i mentioned earlier that go attackers are the
flashy signings you know whereas goalkeepers
i just don't think a goalkeeper can impact a
team in the way a striker can or any forward
player you know even buying allison was not the
What's the word? He didn't elevate us from one
to another. He just took an already good team
and made them better. I just don't think goalkeepers
have the impact. But I think a lot of the times
we see in modern football, not having an elite
goalkeeper can sometimes prevent a team from
competing at the top end. And I think it's hard
to say, especially if you look at the semifinals.
I mean, I know it's not related to the Premier
League, but him being a signing for Chelsea in
the 2012 winning campaign, I think maybe Drogba
got the headlines, but the semifinals and the
finals, I think the amount of shots on target,
I think 24 or something by Bayern in the final,
Barca had over 30 between both legs. I understand
what you're saying, but just when I think of
the 2012 Champions League winning campaign, I
think of Torre scoring at the Bernabeu, was it?
It was against Barcelona, and then I think of
Drogba scoring in the final against Bayern Munich.
Yeah, but a lot of Chelsea fans will also think
of check saves, the penalty saves. Sure, but
I'm saying I'm a Chelsea casual, meaning I don't
watch every Chelsea game. So if that's what I
remember, that's what I assume the general public
sort of remembers. Yeah, I mean, I agree with
what you're saying, but I think at the same time...
He is one of the most impactful signings. I agree
with that. Especially because I think he was
one of the first signings of the Abramovich era.
So I think he kind of made the push towards other
big players going towards Chelsea, I guess, as
well. Because he could have gone to a lot of
clubs at the time. He was one of the most sought
-after keepers, I think, in the world at the
time. He chose Chelsea over a couple of other
big clubs. I don't remember who it was. I think
for me, I wanted to have a couple of different
signings on the list. So I thought of Petr Cech
and I thought of how many times he's probably
been a difference maker. He's a bit like Courtois,
you know, like a good price point and a good
impact for me. Yeah. My number four is Cristiano
Ronaldo from Sporting to Manchester United for
12 .24 million. In current day money, that will
be 22 .6 million. Is he on your list at all?
No, he didn't make my list. Unfortunately, I
just didn't think of it because it didn't cross
my mind. All right. I just think he's so low
on the list because you think he's the best ever
player in the league, possibly. He would be the
number one transfer for such a low fee. But I
just don't think he made the biggest impact.
And what do I mean by that? Man United were already
a winning team. Kante took a relegation. threatened
team to win the league. Ronaldo took, let's say,
a top two team and made them a top one team.
Yeah, and I mean, I think at Man United, until
his last season, you couldn't really say, or
his last two seasons, you couldn't really say
he was a complete player. So I wouldn't say that...
the signing from Sporting was directly impactful
in the way that the other signings on my list
are. But nevertheless, he's still one of the
best ever Premier League players. He's definitely
the greatest player the league's ever seen. yeah
so uh do you think that's a good transfer yeah
i think it's a great transfer obviously i mean
there's no doubting it at least the only reason
it didn't make my list was because of the time
it took him to settle in you know yeah sure a
lot of people say he was there for six years
right so his first three years weren't as good
and then the next three years were like world
dominating best ever yeah the last two were sensational
you know so that's why he's my number four your
number My number three was Thierry Henry, Juventus
to Arsenal. He's my number two. He's generally
considered by the most amount of neutrals as
the league's greatest ever player. I said in
time, I think that will change, obviously, once
the modern Man City team gets appreciated historically.
For now, to this point, he's generally... the
undisputed number one if you take a vote amongst
premier league neutrals you know i think 11 million
in 1998 was kind of heavy but i don't think it
was like you had you had zidane going to juventus
at the same time for like 30 40 million you had
11 million in that time is 21 .4 million today
yeah so i mean for tyrion we probably cheaper
than ronaldo's fee and five years earlier so
yeah I mean generally not less that I think outside
of Ronaldinho and Ronaldo he's generally considered
the next best player in that generation by most
people you know so it's like I think yeah for
me just his impact at Arsenal I think he transformed
Arsenal more than anyone into a global force
like I think even the fact that people to this
day I don't think there's a number that's made
more famous by one player in footballing terms,
because the number 10 already had historic value,
number 8 already had historic value, but most
people who think of number 14, I know Cruyff
used it before, but I don't think the game was
that global at that time, and most people associate
number 14 with Thierry Henry. I think he turned
Arsenal into a brand more than anything because
of the way he played. That's my number three.
Just to add on to that, because I also had him
on my list, he won two Premier League titles
and a combined 249 goals and assists for him.
And like I mentioned in the previous episode,
of the players with 100 goals or more in the
Premier League, he has the highest ratio of goals
to games the league has ever seen. So, incredible
player, incredible transfer for such a low fee.
That's about it. I guess you got to give your
number two because my number two was already
revealed. No, my number two was Henri. Oh, okay.
So my number three. Oh, yeah, your number three,
sorry. My number three is Vincent Company from
Hamburg to Manchester City. Six million, which
would be 9 .9 million in today's money. That's
a good shout. I didn't think of that, actually.
yes uh well i did my research you know uh it's
not that artist google best transfers and then
select a few i mean i i i did the same but uh
yeah a lot of the ones that are listed i just
did not agree with like uh but yeah anyway vincent
company Leader, legend. He won four titles with
Manchester City and he was crucial in most of
them. I just always remember it was a Monday
night game and they were going up against United,
like playing United, and they were going up against
United in terms of the Premier League trophy
and Kompany scored a header to win 1 -0 and that
set them up to... I think that's the year they
won it on goal difference. Yeah. Maybe. I cannot
recall for the life of me, but... Against Leicester.
No, no, no, against Man United. Oh, yes. I think
that is the year they won it on goal difference,
yes. Yeah, so just, yeah, Vincent Kompany, I
think everyone knows how good he is in this era.
If there's newer football fans that don't remember,
he was pretty good. Yeah, I mean, like, one of
the greatest centre -halves. I wouldn't say he
was one of the greatest centre -halves, but in
terms of, like... No, in the Premier League.
No, no, even in the Premier League, I wouldn't
say he was one of the... He'd be, like... I don't
know if he'd make my top ten. I'd have to think
about it. I'd put him in the top ten. But I'm
just saying in terms of clutch, clutch and leadership
and the impact he made, that's why he's on my
list at number three. Yeah, and I mean, I guess
he oversaw the different eras of the modern Manchester
City, you know, because I guess now they have
an identity, but they went from Mantrini to Pellegrini,
who played more like Wenger, then they went from
Pellegrini to Guardiola, and the company was
a part of all of that, so, you know. I definitely
agree with you. Probably one of the top transfers
in Premier League history. Unfortunately, missed
out on my list. All right. So, you've already
given your number two. So, who's your number
one? My number one? Obviously, I mean, the price
point. It's arguable whether it's worth it or
not. I mean, obviously, I think it's worth it.
I just went off the basis that I think he's the
best player the league's ever seen. So, I went
with KDB Wolfsburg to Manchester City. I think
55 million. In the modern market for possibly
one of the top five players in the game at the
time is to see it. I mean, he wasn't at the time.
I guess Guardiola, I think he signed under Pellegrini,
but it was in Guardiola's vision. He signed one
year before Guardiola. Guardiola wanted to build
his team around him. I guess that was the player
he told Man City to sign. Well, it's very interesting,
right? KDB, Sterling, and I think Gundogan, they
were all linked with Bayern. And then suddenly
they weren't linked with Bayern and they all
went to Man City. Yeah, and I mean... So I think
this conspiracy theory is that Pep phoned them
up and said, hey, I'm going to City, don't come
here. Yeah, so I mean it's kind of the same justification
I use for Henry. I think, does the price point
justify the quality of the player if the player
is the greatest player the league's ever seen?
I think... Like, let's just say you guys had
won more titles against them, I would have given
the spot to Virgil van Dijk because he would
have had the same sort of impact, you know. So
I think whatever he cost wouldn't have been in
my thinking then. For me, it's just that he was
the player that defined this generation of the
Premier League for me. And possibly for a long
time will be the best player the league has seen,
you know. So any price is worth it in my mind
for KDB, you know. fair enough that's a very
good shout i didn't have him on my list because
55 million is a bit like it's kind of like you're
rated you know what i'm saying if if i'm buying
you for 50 million plus you're like you're a
name you know what i'm saying it's we expected
him to come into the league and do a good job.
Like, Henry was not a failure at Juventus, but
he was seen as an underperforming player. Like,
people didn't know about... Who else did I mention?
Like, Ronaldo wasn't known. Kante wasn't known.
Kompany wasn't known. I feel like KDB was a known
element when... But I feel like there was still
a risk factor in it, because... He didn't do
well at Chelsea. He went to Wolfsburg. He did
well, but there'd been a lot of players, you're
seeing it with Wurz now, that have come from
the Bundesliga. So I think Pep still took a bit
of a risk on him. That's fair. Formed a team
around him. He was already injury -prone at Wolfsburg,
so you were taking a risk on building a team
around a player who's injury -prone and relying
on their clutch moments. And I think he came
up with probably, we've said it before, more
clutch moments than anyone in the history of
the league. Right. My number one is Eric Cantona
from Leeds to Manchester United for 1 .2 million.
Now 2 .7 in today's... So this is one of the
most legendary transfers in history. And when
I was growing up in the early 2000s, people were
still talking about it. The context for this
being the best transfer in Premier League history
is that Man United hadn't won the league in 26
years. He came in and instantly transformed them
from top four contenders to league winners. In
his time, he won four titles in five years before
leaving. I don't know where he went after that.
Four titles in five years. That's incredible.
Yeah, really good. T -List didn't make my list
because I didn't watch him. He was the first
name on my list because people, not to this day,
but I guess because I'm talking about it, to
this day, people talk about what an incredible
transfer he was and how he changed United from...
I mean, he was the first... I think people generally
consider him the first superstar in the Premier
League. So, I think... Yeah, definitely could
be a shout for number one. I never watched him
play, so I wouldn't have known what his impact
was like exactly. I don't watch him either. I
buy into the folklore. Yeah, based on reputation,
that's why he's on this list. I love him as a
person. I remember his UEFA speech. He was talking
something about the flies. You got to go look
at it. It's one of the funniest things, but I
don't remember exactly what he said, but he was
criticizing. He's a very big character. Yeah,
he's funny. Sorry, he was criticizing what? He
was criticizing UEFA, UEFA's classism. Oh. But
you've got to go watch it. It's one of the funniest
videos I've ever seen. I'll definitely look that
up. Do you want to do some honorable mentions,
or do you have any honorable mentions? I mean,
obviously, we could, like, go to the B. Thousands
of honorable mentions, Dennis. Well, I mean,
I wrote down three honorable mentions, not like...
Oh, yeah, I mean, for me, obviously, as an Arsenal
fan, I think Dennis Bergkamp, I think 10 million
around the same time as Thierry Henry, maybe
a season before, probably would also translate
to 20 million in the modern market. So I think,
again, at that time, you were picking up a player
who was already like... being described as one
of the best players of his generation that had
just become injury prone and fallen out of form.
So I think to get a player who was by and large
already one of the best players in the world
for 10 million is also a snip, you know. I think
if there's any other honourable mentions, I mentioned
it earlier, Sadio Mane. I think both to Southampton
and then to Liverpool, I think big impacts at
both clubs. I think Southampton became... recognisably
worse once he left, you know. So I think, yeah,
probably a few more. I mentioned Werdlo van Dijk
would have been number one even though he went
for 77 million. I think he had a similar impact
to KDB. He probably didn't play in as good a
squad, you know. So yeah, I don't know. What
about you? Well, just one thing you said. I totally
disagree. I think we had a better squad than
Man City. I think Guardiola is a better coach
than Klopp. I mean, you could make that argument,
but I think their depth was insane. All right.
Anyway, my honorable mentions. Number one, Andy
Robertson from Hull City to Liverpool, 8 million
at the time, 10 .8 million now. That was the
first name that came to my head when you said
best transfers, because he's arguably the best
left -back the league has ever seen, and he was
8 million. Yeah, I mean, that's also a snip.
That didn't cross my thinking. The thing is,
again, I have this bias towards attackers. I
just don't think a left -back is like... You
don't buy a left -back to win the league, you
know? Yeah. Yeah, that's just how it is. Not
similarly, but my honourable mention number two
is Patrick Vieira from AC Milan to Arsenal. 3
.5 million, which would be 7 .1 million in today's
money. Another absolute steal. Absolute steal,
yeah. Won three league titles with Arsenal, two
FA Cups. Captain, I mean, leader. Yes, captain,
leader, legend, could be said for a lot of these
players. Again, I just didn't want to have too
many transfers from one club on the list, so
I chose Henry. That was why Vieira didn't make
my list. And my third honorable mention, similarly
to Robertson, and similarly to Peter Cech, I
have Peter Schmeichel, who went from Bromby to
Manchester United for £500 ,000, which would
be £1 .1 million today. So Alex Ferguson called
him the bargain of the century. Could be. I mean,
that's generally considered also. Before Petitric,
or alongside Petitric, the greatest goalkeeper
the league's ever seen, but I never watched him,
so that's why he didn't make my list. But once
again, I just can't give credit to a goalkeeper
to say, okay, he impacted and turned this team
into a league -winning team. I just can't do
that. Sorry. I don't know what it is, but just
call it a bias or whatever, but yeah, fuck goalkeepers.
All right. Do you want to get into the worst
transfers of all time or do you want to say anything
else about the best transfers? I said everything
I need unless you have anything to add. No, nothing
at all. So I think this time I'll start with
five and then you five and then we'll go on like
that, right? So my number five worst transfer
of all time in the Premier League, Nicolas Pepe
from Lille to Arsenal, 72 million. Yeah, I mean
that almost made my list as well. I think it
didn't make my list purely because... I don't
think he was that bad in terms of, I think, during
his whole time there, he might have been the
player with the most output in his time there
after Aubameyang. So I think he just came into
a really shit Arsenal team, so it's hard to see.
But he didn't make them better. You know what
I'm saying? If it's a bad team, you look better
by comparison because you're good. Yeah, no,
but I'm saying, like, I don't think his numbers
were, like, where I'd say, oh, the only thing
that would make him the worst transfer is the
price point. Or one of the worst. Because I don't
think his impact, like, he came into a team that
was already crap and he... That team didn't produce
any clutch moments. So you can't say, oh, okay,
he didn't produce clutch moments because if there
was any clutch moments coming from anyone outside
of Aubameyang, it was usually Nicolas Pepe, you
know. All right, you would know better than me.
But just basically all I did was I checked the
most expensive list of players and then I just
picked off the ones that I thought. Definitely
would have been a contender for my list. This
guy didn't make any difference to, you know,
the team that signed him. So I thought, okay,
Nicolas Pepe, one of them. Anyway, your number
5? My number 5 was Fernando Torres Liverpool
to Chelsea Went from the best to worst striker
in the league overnight i think um yeah at least
the the controversy around it the fact that you
guys were building a project around him at the
time and it was a sneaky move i don't really
like sneaky moves like that you know so i think
uh also you guys ended up getting a crazy deal
in the end because what he became at chelsea
was was was terrible but A lot of people say
it's a confidence issue. Would he have had the
confidence if he stayed at Liverpool? Would his
confidence have taken a knock? Who knows? But
I think he picked up a lot of injuries at Chelsea
as well. So hard to judge. I mean, obviously,
he came up with the clutch moment in the Champions
League semi -final, which I'm sure in the long
run, all Chelsea fans will forgive the price
point because they won the Champions League.
But I think at the end of the day, they thought
they were getting the best striker in the league.
I'm going to have to disagree with what you said
because at the time, and again, I would know
better about a Liverpool team, Torres was totally
washed. We were hoping he would get better, but
the fact that he snaked us in hindsight was pretty
funny because we didn't want him. But we were
buying Luis Suarez to play with Torres, and Torres
leaving made us sign Andy Carroll. I disagree
with what you said about him being the best in
the league at the time he was maybe the best
in the league maybe two years earlier in 2008
I wouldn't have followed Liverpool closely those
times but at the time he just wasn't as good
so we thought at the time 50 million we robbed
him so there's that the second thing is as like
you said he won the Champions League so and he
contributed to it so I can't say you know this
is a bad player because like he contributed to
a Champions League win that's huge that's a yeah
I mean I don't take that away from him. I just
think what Chelsea thought they were signing
in relation to what they got. I think for one
clutch moment, again, if I was a Chelsea fan,
I'd forgive him. But there's players on the best
list that don't contribute to a Champions League
win. Yeah, I know what you're saying. But again,
I didn't necessarily consider trophies or winning
things in my thinking. So I was like purely...
The player. Chelsea thought they were signing
the Tories that won Spain the Euro in 2008. Fair
enough. They didn't get that. I think they got
a player far off that. So much so that Drogba
still had to continue to lead the line for the
next four years. My number four. Tanguy Ndombele
from Lyon to Spurs. 65 billion. He came in with
a huge reputation. This is when I first started
watching TIFO football and consuming internet
football content. Everyone was talking about
Ndombele and how press -resistant he was. He's
going to come and dominate the league. He was
just bad. Jose Mourinho criticized him for his
work ethic. He used to walk around the pitch.
I think almost every coach that he had at Tottenham
criticized his shape or him coming back to...
the season unfit consistently or consistently
being out of shape you know so i think uh yeah
probably a player maybe i didn't i didn't watch
him much but the games where i saw he did seem
to have a bit of technique on him you know but
it just seemed like there was a fitness issue
you know when i say worst transfer it's because
he didn't do well here i'm not saying he's a
bad player in fact he went to napoli and won
the squadetto with the Antonio Conte a slower
league suits him though yes that's the thing
so I'm not saying he's a bad player I'm just
saying his transfer didn't work out at all and
the player he was at Spurs is not even perhaps
even like a championship player that's the level
he was playing at when he was here in the league
yes your number four my number four was I mean
obviously there was some personal bias in this
one but I'm happy it didn't work out in the long
run, but it was Alexis Sanchez to Manchester
United from Arsenal. I think he himself said
from his first training session he wished he'd
been back with us. I think, again, at the time
he was really one of the top two or three players
in the league. He was carrying us by himself.
I think maybe at different times it was a comparison
between him and Hazard. People were saying who's
the best winger in the league at the time. I
think just before the Guardiola and Klopp era,
I think Guardiola wanted to sign him as one of
the first players in his Manchester City stint
as well. I think he was going to be the player
that was the person who produced the end product.
I think he ended up having to settle for like,
even though I think... he signed sterling before
i think he didn't sign sterling with the intention
of making him an output heavy player you know
sterling was signed before guardiola yeah that's
what i'm saying i think even i think i don't
think i think when guardiola came in his idea
was that probably to use sterling for his creative
abilities as opposed to maybe his more for his
dribbling and his ball carrying and then i think
when he got there he said okay maybe i could
use this guy for his output I think it still,
at the start, wasn't working out. He came back
and tried to sign Alexis Sanchez. I think at
that stage, Alexis was delivering crazy numbers
of goals and assists and almost single -handedly
carrying Arsenal, you know. So I just think,
yeah, terrible signing for all parties concerned.
We didn't get a good deal on our end with Mkhitaryan.
I think he did very little for us in his time
there. So, yeah, just a terrible transfer all
round. So this wasn't on my list, but it was
in my honorable, I guess dishonorable mentions.
I, and I've spoken about this before, Man United
loved to do a spite siding. Yeah. Meaning Manchester
City wanted Alexis Sanchez. Man United went in.
Paid over the top. I understand it was a free.
The wages were crazy. It was a swap transfer,
but the wages, he was over 300 ,000 pounds per
week. And he had like a bunch of extra signing
bonuses. And like for the output that Alexis
Sanchez gave them, not good enough. Not good
enough at all. My number three. And we're seeing
a pattern here, right? With the best transfers,
a lot of Man United signings. But also in the
worst transfers, a lot of Man United signings.
Yeah, I guess that's our personal biases. My
number three, Jadon Sancho. Borussia Dortmund
to Manchester United, 73 million. He's done awfully
for them. I know he did score one goal against
Liverpool, which people love to share with me.
Van Dijk fell over and Sancho scored. And yeah,
that's... the entirety of his contributions at
Man United. I mean, he would have probably been
in my honourable mentions. I think maybe the
only reason I didn't put him in my list was just
purely because it's hard to gauge with Sancho
exactly how he was managed at Manchester United,
I think. The price point is crazy, but I think
at the time, people were considering him as being
one of the best young players in Europe, so you
weren't going to be able to get him for cheap.
I think it didn't work out, definitely made my
honourable mentions. The reason I didn't put
it on my list was purely because, like I said,
I didn't want to have too many transfers from
one team, and I think I already have two from
Man United on my list, so he just missed out
on that basis. All right, who's your number three?
My number three was Anthony. My number two. Ajax
to Manchester United for £85 million. Yeah, probably.
I mean, generally spoken of as one of the worst
signings in football history, not just Premier
League history. I think he's not even doing that
well at Betis, but the fact that people are praising
him shows how much of a... of a bad signing he
was how badly he was doing at Manchester United
you know so I think or maybe La Liga is an easier
league maybe maybe in your opinion that will
never change my opinion alright I'm just I'm
pointing out some stuff but again I do think
the Premier League I've always said it has a
physicality and an athleticism that no other
league has where you know That's a separate point.
But I think Anthony List, he came in, scored
a winner against us, and then people thought
that was going to be the... He scored three goals
in his first three games. Yeah, and they were
against Arsenal, Man City, and someone else,
I think. I don't know who the games were against,
but that's why United fans, especially in my
WhatsApp group, my friends were going buck wild.
They're like, oh my God, it was a lot of money,
but we got somebody. We got the next Neymar.
Yeah, okay, I didn't say that, but similarly.
Similar stuff. I mean, obviously I'm exaggerating,
but they were thinking... No, no, no, you're
not exaggerating. They said similar stuff. Yeah,
they said similar stuff. I mean, they were thinking
of putting a... I don't know if they were saying
they signed him with a ball -on -door clause
or something similar to Martial, so... Anytime
Man United signs a player and puts a ball -on
-door clause in it, I don't think it's going
to work out good for that player, you know. Another
reason I think this is a horrific transfer is
that nobody was... betting against, not betting
against them, like, nobody else was bidding against
them. Yeah, so how do you go close to £100 million?
Nobody is fighting with you. I guess the thing
at the time is Ajax didn't want to let him leave.
So Ajax were like, no, we don't want to let him
go. And then United just came with a dump truck
full of money and said, no, we're taking him.
But this is, it's just like, the whole deal is
crazy because, I mean, I understand. you pay
more for attackers. But I think when I was online,
even looking at the response from Ajax fans at
the time of the transfer, I think they were so
happy. Yes, of course. Even at the time, people
were like, yeah, this is a bad transfer. I mean,
I'm not saying they wanted Drury and Timber as
much as us. I feel like... he would have been
better value for 85 million than anthony anthony
if they had gone in at the same time you know
that would have been a ridiculous fee but at
least you're getting a defender who's consistent
who's been one of the best in his position in
the league for a little bit now, you know. I
feel like, what did Anthony give you if you were
going to go all out for an Ajax player? Just
go all out for their best player. I mean, you
paid for him to watch a game and he signed for
us. That doesn't make sense, you know. But I
think, yeah, just one of the most absurd signings
in Premier League history, you know. Yeah, so
your three was my number two. So what is your
number two? My number two is Mikhailo Mudrik.
Shakhtar to Chelsea. I think 75 million, they
went over the odds to beat us to a signing. Again,
another spite signing. A signing they didn't
need and looks like he might never ever play
a game in his career. So I think you've just
spent close to 100 million because, I mean, it
won't reach 100 million because I'm sure they're
not going to have to pay the add -ons now. But
75 million for a player who's probably played
two or three games and never going to play again
is also... A horrible signing, you know, I think
probably will go down as one of the worst in
football history, especially because I think
by the time he comes back, he's not going to
be able to play at a Premier League level, you
know. I didn't consider him. I mean, excuse me.
I considered him, but I didn't put him in this
list because that's non -footballing reasons.
Yeah, I mean, obviously you had your reasons,
I had mine, but I think just based off of how
much they paid for him. Yes. And the fact that
they wanted to build their team around him, it's
just been a horrible signing all round, you know.
Fair enough. So my number one is Kepa Arizabalega
from Let's Go Bilbao to Chelsea, 72 million.
I've never seen an impressive performance from
him. In fact, he's pretty awful a lot of the
time. Most recently, I understand this is from
Bilbao to Chelsea, but most recently he fumbled
for Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final. He has
not improved since the time that he was initially
signed. He embarrassed Maurizio Sarri in the
League Cup final by not coming off when he substituted
him. Yeah, just an overall bad player. Still
the current record for most expensive goalkeeper
of all time. And, yeah. I mean, yeah, he would
have also been in my honorable mentions. I think
the only reason I really didn't put him in was
because, again, I think it's hard to measure
what his impact was or wasn't, again. Like, because
I think... Chelsea couldn't have done much better
or worse in that time period. I think you guys
and Liverpool were way ahead of them. you know
when he had the whole spat with Sarri they still
finished third they still won the Europa League
I think overall it just wasn't like I would have
thought he was that bad where he like affected
Chelsea or dragged them down the table it was
like completely like I think it's more like okay
his attitude it didn't work out and then you
thought you were getting one of the best goalkeepers
in the world but you didn't so I put him in my
honorable mentions not Not on my list, though.
All right, fair enough. What is your number one?
My number one is, from unemployment to 53 minutes
on the pitch for Southampton, Ali Dia. Surely
has to be the worst. I forgot about that. I watched
a documentary on him. Surely has to be the worst.
All right, please give some context to the listeners
on who Ali Dia is and what happened. Ali Dia
is basically... An amateur. An amateur footballer.
No different to someone playing five -a -side
on the weekends. So, somehow, I don't know what
the story is. I watched a documentary on it.
He manages to organize a phone call between himself
and Graeme Souness, who was the Southampton manager
at the time. By some strange coincidence, he
manages to convince him that he's George Weah.
on the phone call i don't think he or he's related
to something like that and he's been involved
in football for a number of seasons so graham
sunes for god knows what reason decides to sign
him up on the spot and play him the next weekend
after i think the southampton players said when
he got to training they were like this guy can't
control the ball how why is he here so i mean
Kudos to Alidea though for managing to get a
career as a Premier League footballer from the
unemployment line. It's quite an achievement.
I wish I could do it even for an hour. The fact
that he played even 53 minutes is a sensational
achievement. I don't know if this is the best
or the worst transfer. We'll let people decide.
From Alidea's perspective, it's the best. All
right. Any honourable mentions you want to give
up to? No, I think most of my honourable mentions
were on your list. So it's like... Yeah. Yeah,
we already discussed that. All right. And Alexis
Sanchez was my only honourable mention that you
gave already. So I think that's the end of our
list. Is there anything else you want to say?
No, I mean, I think just, you know, glad to have
the Premier League back. We can stop doing these
fucking evergreen episodes. Yeah, I mean, it's
just also good to have some football to watch,
you know, like at least that's back. I don't
know. I guess a lot of the, we see Arsenal, Man
City slowly now as well, Barcelona pulling their
players out of the international break. I think
that's the right thing to do, honestly. I don't
think these international friendlies just before,
maybe if you're in Sweden or Poland. circumstance
where you have a competitive game to play I'd
understand it but yeah I think that's just been
doing the headlines I think Arsenal catching
a lot of flack online for pulling our players
out but I'm glad the Premier League's back and
I'm glad we're prioritizing it you know I don't
think players should need to play these games
at all to be frank you know so we have about
A couple minutes left over because we try to
get to an hour, as close as to an hour as possible,
right? So I'm just going to kind of fill up the
time. And this is an evergreen episode, so I
probably shouldn't do this, but I just want to
talk about some recent news. Yeah. And that's
Dezerby is back in the league. Oh, yes. Dezerby
at Tottenham. Easily my favorite coach in the
world. Just attacking madman. Plays just, you
know, very intense, high -energy football, which
I love to watch. The players are always very
good on the ball. So, you know, watch out for
Spurs next season. The only thing I could say
is that maybe when he joined Brighton, he lost
his first five games. Or not lost his first five
games. He didn't win his first five games. So
there were draws and losses, right? So Spurs
desperately need one win right now. Just one.
So I don't know. So, I mean, I'm interested to
see. how he would develop some of their players,
especially like Van der Veen or Bergwijn. But
if he gets relegated, I don't think he's going
to get that opportunity because he'll almost
certainly be sold off. But I think if he was
to get relegated, his brand of football, I think,
would get them up very quickly if he agreed to
stay. Also because they just have better players
then. Yeah, but I think most of those players
would be forced to sell them. I think if you
look at when Juventus got relegated, Yeah, yeah,
because they can't afford the wages. I understand
that, but I'm saying they would hold on to a
core of... Of players that were still better
than what the championship had to offer. Yes,
that's what I'm saying. Presumably, presumably.
But, I mean, if you take out that core of top
players, how good is the Tottenham squad actually?
Because we've seen now two back -to -back seasons
where they've been in the relegation in and amongst
the bottom teams in the league. I think they're
way better than their... league position indicates
i just think they've been mismanaged to a nth
degree i agree but i'm saying if you like let's
just say now they go down if they lose van der
finn if they lose bergweil if they lose udogi
if they lose archie gray we linked with archie
gray i love it i love archie gray if they lose
archie gray kulishevsky when he comes back from
injury how good is that team then relative to
the championship teams i still think they're
better sorry or also levy siemens will leave
so it's like that's not a big loss he hasn't
done anything he hasn't done anything he's come
on a huge transfer fee he could be on this uh
the only thing the only reason i didn't put in
like florian wirtz alexander isaac is that they
haven't you tried their new transfers they could
still bang give it like three four years they
would be on this list Yeah, but anyway, sorry,
you were saying about Spurs? Yeah, so I mean,
De Zerbi is also one of my favourite coaches.
I would love him to save Tottenham. I've said
I don't want them to get relegated. I would love
to also see how a player like Bergwijn would
develop under him. So I wish him the best. I
still think he's got a bit of a tough job because
I think Tottenham have the hardest fixture list
out of any of the teams in the bottom there.
And like you said... They have the best squad,
though. That's what I think works in their fashion.
And I think De Zerbe is the type of personality
that in the immediate moment can get a tune out
of them in a man -management sense. I think in
the long run, that's something he still has to
work on. I think he fights with his players a
lot, but right now he could be the guy they need.
I feel like he'll keep them up, you know. Last
thing I want to end off with is a stat. De Zerbe
has the highest win percentage of any Marseille
manager ever. Oh, yes, yes, I did see that when
I think someone tweeted it when he signed for
Tottenham. Number one and number two was Igor
Tudor. So, that's not saying much, is it? I mean,
yeah, let's see. Igor Tudor, hopefully it works
out better for Deserby. I'm pretty sure it will,
though. Right, well, thank you for listening.
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