After being deemed surplus to requirements at Atletico Madrid, Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan is expected to try his luck in the Premier League once more after a previous unsuccessful spell with Manchester United between 2002 and 2004. It is fact that some continental players cannot cope with the physical demands of the English Premier League and also struggle to adjust to the weather, lifestyle and culture. We have listed a few «superstar» players who came to play in the Premier League and ultimately went back with tail between legs.

Diego Forlan – Joined Manchester United in 2002 from Argentinian side Independiente and only managed to score 17 goals in 95 appearances for the Premier League champions. This statistic paled in comparison to fellow striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s tally of 150 goals in 210 appearances and Forlan was soon offloaded to Spain when Wayne Rooney joined the club in 2004.

Winston Bogarde – Often ridiculed by fans of English football, Bogarde took full advantage of his lucrative contract at Chelsea by refusing to leave the club even though he was reduced to playing with the reserves and even the youth teams. He eventually saw out his contract and subsequently retired from playing when it expired – he was on a reported £40,000 per week!

Juan Sebastian Veron – When Manchester United shelled out a then English transfer record of £28.1 million many people thought that they were getting a genuine world class superstar. Unfortunately Veron couldn’t handle the pace of the Premiership and wasn’t allowed the time and space he was used to and he was often very ineffective in games. United were lucky to recoup £15 million for Veron from Chelsea 2 years later but he was ineffective there too and after spending 2 seasons on loan abroad he moved back permanently.

Hernan Crespo – A prolific scorer wherever he played, Crespo found himself in South London with Chelsea in 2003 after signing from Inter Milan for £16.8 million. When Jose Mourinho took over as Chelsea manager in 2004 he was loaned out to AC Milan, then returned back to Chelsea, then loaned out again to Inter Milan. Although Crespo scored 20 goals in 49 appearances he never fully adapted to the English game and is subsequently regarded as a transfer flop.

Jon Dahl Tomasson – After being selected for the award of Best Dutch Talent in 1996 whilst at Heerenveen, Tomasson was in high demand and eventually chose to join Newcastle United to form, what then manager Kenny Dalglish said would be a perfect partnership with Alan Shearer. Although the partnership started well, Shearer got injured and Tomasson was played out of position as a striker instead of attacking midfielder. He wasn’t comfortable with this new role and his performances were well below par. He ended up scoring 4 goals in 35 appearances for the Toon before returning to Holland with Feyenoord where his career was revitalised and he ended up as one of the best players in his position in Europe.

Tomas Brolin – After impressing for Sweden at Euro 92 and the World Cup in 1994, Brolin signed for Leeds United in 1995 from Italian side Parma. He was expected to make a huge impact but unfortunately this never came to fruition as a fallout with then manager Howard Wilkinson about his defensive abilities and the fact that he didn’t pull his weight meant that he spent a lot of time on the subs bench. After a farcical couple of years where he went to FC Zurich and Parma on loan and also joined Crystal Palace, Brolin retired from football at the age of 29 and has since held the accolade of the worse signing in the history of Leeds United.

Andrei Shevchenko – Arguably the best striker in the world at the turn of the new century, Shevchenko left AC Milan for Chelsea with a record of 173 goals in 296 games for £30.8 million. An indifferent spell in West London resulted in the player netting 9 times in 43 games over a 3 year spell. He spent a year back at AC Milan which was also unsuccessful and he ultimately ended up back at his first club Dinamo Kiev.

Sergei Rebrov – Shevchenko’s Dinamo Kiev strike partner signed for Tottenham Hotspur for £11 million in June 2000 but never realy shone and a return of 10 goals in 60 appearances for the club resulted in him getting shipped out on loan to Fenerbache. He then returned to England with West Ham and had another poor spell only scoring once in 27 games before returning back to the Ukraine with Kiev.

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