Top seven big signings that made their clubs worse ft. Cristiano Ronaldo

Some big moves have not always paid dividends.

Some of the best football players of their generations have been acquired by the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona, Juventus, PSG, Chelsea, and Real Madrid. While these big signings have often taken these clubs to the next level, sometimes the clubs have ended up worse off for signing such massive names.

It sounds absurd. How can a club be made worse by adding established, legitimate football royalty? Because, in real life, football doesn’t work as it does in FIFA Career Mode.

Let’s look at seven well-known players who had a negative impact on the team they joined.

Top seven big signings that made their clubs worse

7. Ruud van Nistelrooy to Manchester United

Before bringing the Dutchman to Old Trafford in 2001, Sir Alex Ferguson had been pursuing him for more than a year as they waited for him to heal from a major knee injury. Manchester United had recently won the Premier League three times in a row. They were meant to be kept at the top by Van Nistelrooy. But was he really what they needed?

During his five seasons, Van Nistelrooy had just one league championship, an FA Cup, and a League Cup, which was his lowest point in the Premier League era. Although the Dutchman wasn’t the only source of their issues, it wasn’t a winning strategy to centre everything on a penalty-box poacher.

6. Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona

Even after all these years, Barcelona’s choice to part with Samuel Eto’o, a crucial member of Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning team, is still puzzling. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a terrific striker, but Guardiola’s meticulously crafted team was never going to mesh well with his extravagant nature.

Although Barca won the championship again, Ibrahimovic left within a year. Eto’o, meanwhile, eliminated his old team from the Champions League while winning a second consecutive treble with Inter Milan. Oh no.

5. Florian Wirtz to Liverpool

Florian Wirtz is reminding us of Juan Sebastian Veron at Manchester United, regardless of the reason. After leading Xabi Alonso’s Invincible Bayer Leverkusen team, it’s simple to forget how much sought-after Wirtz was.

The disappointment is summed up succinctly by Jamie Carragher:

“I’m sorry to say this, Florian Wirtz, it’s not working and it hasn’t worked so far,“ the former Liverpool defender said. “I struggle to think of one game where he’s won Liverpool the game, he’s been the man if you like.

“He was bought in to be a star of the Premier League. I felt he could be the Kevin De Bruyne that City had, that I think at times got Man City over the line with Liverpool in league title runs.

“But I think you could make a case for there being 10 or 12 players in Liverpool’s Premier League era in that position who have done more than Florian Wirtz.”

4. Lionel Messi to PSG

To be fair, Lionel Messi‘s two years at Paris Saint-Germain were essentially routine for the Qatari enterprise. Domination at home, consecutive league titles, and failure in Europe. One may legitimately contend that he didn’t exacerbate them.

However, Messi was arguably the best representation of the project’s failure before Luis Enrique came. Not enough balance, too much star power. In 2020, PSG was on the verge of winning the Champions League, but their issues were made worse by the addition of another attacker who provided Neymar and Kylian Mbappe with nothing off the ball.

Also Read: Journalist reveals Lionel Messi could have stayed at PSG under Luis Enrique

3. Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus

With 101 goals in 134 games for Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo’s legion of internet admirers will claim we’re talking gibberish.

Alright. That’s a lot of objectives. Excellent job, Ronaldo. However, it also ignores the main point of this context. Did Ronaldo’s presence improve the Juventus team? No. Was it worse? Clearly so.

They had previously won seven straight Scudetti, and they won two more. The Old Lady had fallen to fourth by Ronaldo’s last season, starting a championship drought that is still going strong now. You may identify that signing as the crucial error that led to their downfall.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United

After bringing Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford, Manchester United drastically regressed in an environment where the sport is typically seen as a team effort. The honeymoon was short-lived. Trying to manage an elderly superstar who wouldn’t (couldn’t?) press caused Solskjaer’s team to fall apart.

They had finished second and gone undefeated on the road the previous season. Then, in their first game, they crushed Leeds United 5-1. Nine months later, United had their lowest Premier League point total ever, ranking sixth.

1. Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid

Kylian Mbappe has made 114 appearances for Real Madrid, scoring 94 goals. Amazing. However, we’ve previously discussed Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, and Messi. Football is a team sport.

The biggest problem is probably not replacing Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, but Madrid are becoming more and more like the unsuccessful Galactico idea that Mbappe left behind. Is that just a coincidence?

Between them, PSG and Real Madrid have clinched four of the last five Champions Leagues. Despite playing for both throughout that time, Kylian Mbappe has no record.

Maybe it’s time to follow Luis Enrique’s suggestion and ask yourself why after looking in the mirror.

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