(1) Winston Reid, West Ham – £ 3m

Reid has not played many minutes this season. For £ 3m West Ham had been able to sign one or two other solid players, which the now relegated team certainly would have needed.

(2) Stephen Ireland, Aston Villa – £ 8m

What ever happened to Stephen Ireland?  He seems to have completely lost  his head after leaving Man City! Competent enough to be offensive playmaker in any Premier League team, but the attitude seems  not to be there.

(3) Edin Dzeko, Man City – £ 27m

Gruesomely expensive acquisition in January. Was quite clearly not accustomed to the pace in the Premiership and his first touch was not very good. Has a potential as a future key striker at Man City if I were not convinced that Man City will be recruiting heavily again for that position.

(4) Fernando Torres, Chelsea – £ 50m

Was recruited for a senseless price, this season however, he has not lived up to the expectations. The problem is that Torres body is not what it used to be and I highly doubt that he will be playing at the same level he used to.

(5) Mauro Boselli, Wigan – £ 6.5m

£ 6.5 m is a large acquisition for a club like Wigan, but the Argentine striker played only eight games for the club and is now on loan to Genoa in Italy.

(6) Joe Cole, Liverpool – Free

Joe Cole has failed miserably in Liverpool’s red shirt and has not received a new start with Dalglish, either.  Came as a free transfer but his wage is probably not peanuts.

(7) Mario Balotelli, Man City – £ 24.5

Balotelli is a player who certainly can show off glimpse of brilliance. But that is not enough to win titles. This season, his contribution has been marginal and sometimes destructive, and I doubt that he ever will be the player that can perform at a high level week in and week out.

(8) James Milner, Man City – £ 26m

Probably one of the clearer examples of an overvalued English players.  The price was a lot for what is essentially a redundant player. I will be surprised if Milner doesn’t get dumped by to another team by Man City.
(9) Jerome Boateng, Man City – £ 11m

Sorry, Boateng is a skilled defensive player but he will never become more than a rotation player for Man City. Such players are needed but they should not cost £ 11m.
(10) Nikola Zigic, Birmingham – £ 6m

Zigic has had difficulty finding his place in the English game. It is hardly surprising. He succeeded in Spain, where his height gave him an advantage over the defenders. But in England everybody can play in the air and his strength is not that special anymore.

Outsiders:

Andy Carroll, Liverpool – £ 35m
Ramires, Chelsea – £ 18m
Sebastien Squillaci – £ 4m
Yossi Benayoun – £ 5m
Aleksandr Kolarov – £ 17m

Any comments?