Teams look to the transfer market to help fill gaps or solve their woes, but not every signing can be a success, something that was apparent in Serie A in the 2022-23 season.
Italian teams spent a total of €851.2m in transfer fees across the two windows – not including wages or commissions – and some players proved better value for money than others. The most expensive signing of the 2022-23 season was Juventus’ purchase of Gleison Bremer from rivals Torino, costing €41m.
Taking costs, performances and statistics into account, which players were the most disappointing signings of the 2022-23 campaign?
1 – Charles De Ketelaere
It’s fair to say that this is not a particularly brave choice to begin with. The young Belgian was highly rated at Club Brugge and was the main focus on Milan’s work in the summer transfer window last year, costing them around €35m.
Unfortunately for De Ketelaere and Milan, he failed to live up to his potential in his debut season in Serie A, providing just one assist in 32 Serie A appearances. The underlying numbers were no kinder to the 22-year-old, who produced an xG of 2.0 and an xA of 2.0 in that time.
Some excuses for his poor debut campaign are valid, such as the fact that the jump from Belgium to Italy is a big one and that his talent is apparent, even if his adaption is taking longer than initially hoped.
Whilst it’s far too early to suggest that De Ketelaere is a total failure at Milan, he clearly needs to show something more in his second season if he wants to continue wearing the red and black shirt for the coming years.
2 – Paul Pogba
Another obvious, and possibly slightly unfair, pick for this list. The Frenchman emerged as a star during his first spell in Turin, leading to his €105m return to Manchester United in 2016, but he failed to live up to expectation with the Red Devils and left on a free transfer last year.
Whilst his struggles with fitness and various injuries have been no secret, Juventus clearly didn’t realise just how problematic this could be, handing him a four-year contract worth €8m net per season.
Pogba suffered a knee injury during the pre-season in July and ignored the advice of the club and multiple doctors, not wanting to jeopardise his spot in the France squad for the 2022 World Cup by undergoing surgery. He elected for a conservative treatment plan, and this backfired majorly, exacerbating the injury and forcing him to undergo an operation in early September.
The Frenchman had to wait until late February to make his first appearance for Juventus, and he did little to help his case when he was spotted skiing in the winter break, frustrating the fans. After two cameo appearances in Serie A, he was again sidelined with a muscle injury, having injured himself taking a free kick in training.
When things finally started to go right for Pogba in the latter stages of the 2022-23 season, having shown flashes of his brilliance, he suffered a hamstring injury that again forced him out of action, capping off an entirely miserable season for the 2018 World Cup winner.
3 – Divock Origi
What happened to the player who produced a handful of decisive moments for Liverpool in the Champions League? Because he certainly didn’t join Milan on a free transfer last summer. The Belgian striker was given a four-year deal worth €4m net per season, and he did not justify that investment in his debut season in Italy.
Calling Origi a player on the fringes would be disrespectful to those trying to break into the first team. The 28-year-old showed almost nothing of note for the Rossoneri, managing just two goals in 27 Serie A appearances. His underlying numbers were even worse than fellow flop De Ketelaere, producing a combined xG+xA of 3.3.
For Milan, the most sensible option now seems to be simply cutting their losses and selling Origi this summer, allowing them to at least make some capital gains in their balance sheets. Considering that they’re a team trying to stay at the top in Italy and maintain their recent growth, it may be best to consider the Belgian a risk that didn’t pan out.
4 – Luis Maximiano
Lazio lost both Thomas Strakosha and Pepe Reina last summer, forcing them to invest in the goalkeeping department. They decided to pay around €10m for Luis Maximiano, a player who’d shown positive signs with both Sporting CP and Granada, and the deal initially looked to be a smart one.
Well, it didn’t take long for this to change. Six minutes, in fact. The 24-year-old was sent off after less than 360 seconds into his debut in the season opener against Bologna for handling the ball outside the penalty area, a moment that truly defined his first season in the Italian capital.
After this, Ivan Provedel took over, and quickly proved himself a brick wall for Maurizio Sarri, leaving Luis Maximiano on the fringes of the squad. Whilst he made a handful of appearances in the Coppa Italia and Conference League, it wasn’t enough to justify his price tag, and it’s no surprise that the Biancocelesti are already looking to send him packing after 12 months.
5 – Andrea Belotti
Once upon a time, Belotti was one of the most exciting strikers in Serie A, having scored 26 goals in 35 games for Torino in the 2016-17 season. Whilst he struggled to hit those heights again, he still left the Granata with 113 goals in 251 appearances, and was an interesting addition to Jose Mourinho’s Roma squad when he arrived on a free transfer last summer.
Linking up with players like Tammy Abraham, Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini, Belotti was expected to be a moderately reliable source of goals for the Giallorossi, but he failed to live up to this expectation, netting just four times in 1999 minutes of action across 46 games.
Whilst he’s far from the most expensive disappointment on this list, the 29-year-old still proved a frustrating and oft-forgettable figure in the Italian capital, looking a shadow of the player that was once considered to be one of the more reliable centre forwards in Serie A.