Five Premier League record signings

Ndombele, Grealish, and Pogba are among five Premier League record signings who have struggled since their huge moves.

BREAKING A CLUB’S RECORD TRANSFER FEE DOESN’T ALWAYS END IN SUCCESS – as Tottenham has discovered.

Tanguy Ndombele, Spurs’ most expensive player ever, is hoping to leave the club this month after being booed by his own fans during the FA Cup win against Morecambe.

Since his departure from Lyon in 2019, Ndombele has battled immensely.

In his third season, the midfielder has appeared in 61 Premier League games, scoring six times.

Mauricio Pochettino welcomed the seven-cap France player to the club, but the Argentine was fired just three months later.

Since then, Ndombele has struggled for playing time under Jose Mourinho, Ryan Mason, and Nuno Espirito Santo.

In fact, the former Ligue 1 star has struggled so much that he was booed after getting sent off against Morecambe in the FA Cup third round at home.

According to reports, Ndombele is keen to leave Spurs this month and start over, despite the fact that he is still only 25 years old.

Ndombele, though, is far from the only player who has struggled to live up to the hoopla surrounding a club-record transfer to the Premier League.
We look at five of the most noteworthy…

Lukaku, Romelu (Chelsea)

After winning the Serie A title with Inter Milan in a £97.5 million trade last summer, the Belgian striker returned to Stamford Bridge.

With the Blues in dire need of a natural centre-forward, Lukaku’s arrival appeared to be the ideal solution as the European champions sought to win their first Premier League title since 2016-17.

However, Lukaku, who is 28 years old, has only scored five goals in 13 league games this season and has missed a number of games due to injury and illness.

Worst of all, the striker took part in an explosive interview in which he revealed his desire to return to Inter and lashed out at Chelsea’s lack of playing time.

For the top-of-the-table meeting with Liverpool, Thomas Tuchel dropped the club-record buy.

Lukaku has subsequently returned to the starting lineup, scoring in Saturday’s 5-1 FA Cup victory over Chesterfield.

Lukaku, on the other hand, has work to do if he is to win back Chelsea fans and avoid becoming a near-£100 million flop.

Grealish, Jack (Man City)
Grealish finally left Aston Villa to join Pep Guardiola’s star-studded Manchester City squad in the summer of 2021.

Before dazzling and becoming a great fan favorite with the Three Lions as England reached the Euro 2020 final, the England star had been in scintillating form for his boyhood club.

Grealish’s international teammate Harry Kane was expected to cost City a lot of money.

Despite the fact that Guardiola sorely needed a center-forward, he passed up Kane in favor of Grealish, who cost a club-record £100 million.

At the Etihad, though, the midfielder has been unable to rediscover his best form.

Grealish, 26, has been playing alongside Raheem Sterling, while Bernardo Silva, who was previously tipped to leave the club, has been in superb form.

Grealish has struggled to get game time due to Gabriel Jesus’ frequent use on the wings and Guardiola’s preference for a false nine – as well as the presence of great central midfielders like Kevin de Bruyne.

This season, the former Villa captain has only two goals and two assists in 14 Premier League games, hardly the return of a £100 million player.

But, as with Lukaku, he has time on his side.

Paul Pogba is a French footballer who plays for Manchester United (Man Utd)

Pogba is one player who does not have the luxury of time.

The 28-year-old 2018 World Cup winner’s contract with Manchester United expires at the end of the season.

Injury and transfer rumors have delayed his 2021-22 season, as has much of his second term at Old Trafford following his £89 million arrival from Juventus in 2016.

Pogba left United in 2012 to join Serie A heavyweights Juventus, rapidly establishing himself as one of the game’s most dangerous players.

Under Mourinho or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he has struggled to establish himself in the United XI, and he has yet to regain full fitness under Ralf Rangnick.

Pogba could, in theory, fit into Rangnick’s 4-2-2-2 as one of the more versatile players.

But there’s a lot of rivalry for spots with Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho, Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, and others.

Pogba was frequently used on the left wing in a 4-2-3-1 formation under Solskjaer.

It’s becoming increasingly evident that the Frenchman will leave the club this summer on a free transfer.

Old Trafford bosses will be hurt by spending £89 million on Pogba only to see him fail to repeat his best form for six years before losing him for nothing.

Pogba played 143 times during his second stay at the club, scoring 28 goals and assisting 36 times.

Nicolas Pepe is a Spanish actor (Arsenal)

Arsenal fans were anticipating a star-studded front line of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, and Pepe in the summer of 2019.

Arsenal, then managed by Unai Emery, paid Lille a club-record £72 million for the Ivorian winger.

Pepe, 26, had a slow start to his career, scoring just five goals in 31 Premier League games in his first season.

Last season, he showed flashes of life by scoring 10 league goals in 29 games.

Mikel Arteta has effectively ruled Pepe out this season, preferring Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, and Gabriel Martinelli.

Pepe has only made nine appearances, four of which were as a substitute, and has yet to score.

The ex-Lille star’s time in North London could be drawing to an end, with the Gunners’ junior players looking more at ease.

Pepe is currently costing Arsenal £4.8 million each goal.

Rodrigo is a character in the film Rodrigo (Leeds)

WHILE not as pricey as the others on this list, Leeds paid a club-record £26 million for Rodrigo to help them get through their first season back in the Premier League.

But it hasn’t been the ex-Valencia man, 30, who has been the bright spot on the Elland Road side.

Raphinha and Patrick Bamford have shined in attack, while Kalvin Phillips has played a significant role in midfield.

The 27-cap Spain star has only scored nine times in 28 games – with just two goals in 12 matches this season.