Worst Players in the Premier League | The Biggest Undepreformers

The Premier League is, as you will probably agree, the best, most awesome and all-around fun league to watch. Much of it is because of the start players and their legendary performances on the pitch. The biggest situations usually create the best players who are there to rise up to the occasion.

Unfortunately, there are some that were not able to cut it. Whether transferring from a lower league to the Prem was too much for them, or they wanted to prove themselves in a more competitive league, or simply declined in age, there are many examples of players not being able to withstand the bright lights of the Premier League.

Today, we are unfortunately here to talk about the latter group of players – The worst players in the Premier League. Some of them you might know. While others you wished didn’t end on the list. But deep down inside, you knew that they were not made for the hardships of English football.

Mario Jardel

Mario Jardel was one of the best scorers in the Champions League. Playing for Portuguese giants Porto and Sporting CP as well as Galatasaray, he became a feared attacker. So it was natural for him to one day end up in the Premier League.

In 2003, the Brazilian joined Bolton Wanderers as their star signing. Unfortunately, playing in a much more physical league compared to the Portuguese or the Turkish league did not suit him. He lasted only a year with the Trotters and managed to score only once, marking him forever as one of the worst ever Premier League players.

Bosko Balaban

The Croatian Football League is today known as a hotbed of talent, creating stars like Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic, and many others. In the 2000s, Bosko Balaban was the next big thing coming from Croatia. At home, playing for Rijeka and Dinamo Zagreb, he scored for fun.

The Villains hoped that as a natural goalscorer, his talents would easily translate into the Prem as well. However, coming from a lower league and immediately trusted into the spotlights of the Premier League wasn’t something that Balaban could endure. He played in only eight games for Aston Villa and never scored a goal for them.

He went back home to Dinamo Zagreb and later had a successful stint in Club Brugge. But as far as the Premier League goals, he will be remembered as one of the worst Premier League players.

Afonso Alves

There are a lot of examples of Eredivisie’s best players and scorers coming to the Premier League and failing to replicate the same form. While there will be more on this list, the most notable name transferring from the Dutch league to England was that of Afonso Alves.

Alves used to score for fun at Heerenveen. Even finishing runner-up in the race for the European Golden Boot. He was the best scorer in the league and naturally picked up the attention of bigger clubs. The one that managed to grab his signature was Middlesbrough.

However, it was when coming to Riverside that things started to take a turn for the worse. He scored only 10 goals for Boro and doomed them to relegation at the end of the 2008/09 season.

Andy van der Meyde

The Dutch international has already made a name for himself by playing for Ajax Amsterdam and Inter Milan. Thought of as one of Europe’s best wingers, a move to the Prem was imminent. He eventually did that by coming to Everton in 2005.

The Toffees were expecting to sign a word class player. What they got instead was one of the worst players in Premier League history. During the four years he spent at Goodison, van der Meyde made a total of 20 appearances. Assisting only twice and failing to get on the scoresheet.

But during his stay at Everton, Andy faced a lot of injuries and had many off-pitch issues. He turned to alcohol and even substance abuse, which eventually ended in him divorcing his wife and becoming an addict without a club.

Roberto Soldado

During the summer when the Spurs sold Gareth Bale to Real for a record signing fee, there were a lot of new players coming to White Hart Lane. One of them was the Spanish international, Roberto Soldado, who became the Lillywhites most expensive signing. His appearances for Valencia in La Liga certainly made him a hot commodity at the time.

However, substituting the hot and hearty weather of Spain for the coldness and the chill of London did not suit Soldado at all. He stayed in London for two years and scored seven goals. The Spurs expected of him, particularly from a record signing.

He would go back to Spain and continue to act as a role player for Villarreal, Granada, and Levante, where he is still playing today.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel

In 2013 yet another world beater from Holland came to the Premier League with Eredivisie best scorer accolades. Norwich added Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who came on from Sporting CP with hopes of keeping the Canaries up. Ricky even scored on his debut, getting everyone’s hopes high that he is not going to be yet another Eredivisie flop.

But the curse started kicking in the very next game and continued till the rest of the season. So if you ask any of the Norwich supporters about who is the worst player in the Premier League? They won’t hesitate to tell you that it was Ricky van Wolfswinkel. He failed to score for the rest of the season, costing the Canaries relegation back to the Championship.

Corrado Grabbi

We’ve seen many Italian players appearing in the Premier League. But while Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Di Matteo, and Gianluca Vialli will go down in history as the most memorable Azzurin in England, the name of Corrado Grabbi is tied to him being one of the worst players in the Premier League ever.

Grabbi came to Blackburn Rovers in 2001 as one of the deadline’s Serie A goalscorers. He scored 20 goals for Ternana a year before, and 13 for Ravenna before that. But he failed to adapt to life in England, as many Italian internationals do. Grabbi appeared for the Rovers in 14 games and scored only twice.

Massimo Taibi

Massimo Taibi is often cited as one of the worst players in Premier League history. He is definitely the worst showstopper to appear in the Prem. He came to Manchester United to replace the legendary Peter Schmeichel. These were already massive shoes for anyone to fill in. But Taibi’s blunders made him a meme, and someone that the Red Devils decided they didn’t want to be associated with.

He would make only four Premier League appearances before leaving. The most infamous attempt at a save that he had was versus Southampton. When he let in Mat Le Tissier’s lacklustre kick go in through his legs.

Bebe

We can’t make a list of the worst-ever Premier League players without mentioning the legendary Bebe. The Portuguese attacker became one of Manchester United’s worst-ever signings. Stories say that Sir Alex Ferguson never even saw him play before.

Bebe acted as Cristiano Ronaldo’s replacement after he left for Real Madrid. However, he would go on to make only seven appearances across all competitions for the Red Devils. He did score twice, but he never made a significant impact on the team and definitely hasn’t lived up to the standard of being Cristiano Ronaldo’s replacement.

Milton Nunez

The tale of Milton Nunez is definitely one for the books. The Honduran striker came to Sunderland from the Greek side PAOK in an attempt to improve the Black Cats’ attacking prowess. Except, Nunez was not the player they intended to sign.

Instead, they were aiming for Eduardo Bennett, who doesn’t even play for PAOK. It is a clear case of mistaken identity which earned Nunez his first and only Premier League cap. The one game that he played was more than enough to showcase his lack of quality.

Ali Dia

The tale of Ali Dia is as old as time. Dia was the first player to con his way into the Premier League. Claiming that he was the cousin of the legendary George Weah. He eventually ended up on the books of Southampton and made his debut against Leeds in the 53rd minute of the game.

What the people at the stadium saw was a complete lack of understanding of the basis of football. Dia was clueless and looked like he had never played a game in his life. He most likely didn’t. The Saints cut him off immediately after that game. But Ali Dia will be remembered as the worst player in Premier League history.