Liverpool FC have a rich history and have had some of the best players across the world play for their club including Kenny Dalglish, Mohamed Salah, Steven Gerrard, Luis Suárez, and Ian Rush. Although they’ve signed an impressive amount of elite players, they’ve also made many bad signings over the years.#
In this article, we’re going to reveal 11 of the worst Liverpool signings of all time. We discuss players that failed to shine in the north-west of England, including Andy Carroll, Christian Benteke and Loris Karius. Read on to learn more about this topic.
11 Worst Liverpool Signings of All Time
The 11 worst Liverpool signings of all time are:
- Andy Carroll
- Loris Karius
- Mario Balotelli
- El Hadji Diouf
- Christian Benteke
- Naby Keïta
- Iago Aspas
- Alberto Aquilani
- Arthur Melo
- Paul Konchesky
- Ben Davies
11. Ben Davies
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
During the 2021/22 Premier League season, Liverpool were experiencing an injury crisis at centre-back, with Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joël Matip all having significant spells on the sidelines.
Jürgen Klopp had to rely on his young guns, Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams, for many high profile matches and also brought in Ben Davies from Preston North End on an initial fee of £500,000, plus £1.1 million in performance-related add-ons.
Many questioned Liverpool’s signing of Davies from a Championship club, after losing such elite talent to injury. It made the addition feel more like a panic signing.
Unfortunately, Davies never made an appearance for the reds, and was subsequently loaned out to Sheffield United the following year, further questioning why Liverpool made the signing in the first place.
10. Paul Konchesky
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| 15 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Next in our list of the worst Liverpool signings of all time is defender Paul Konchesky. The left-back signed from west-London club Fulham in a deal worth somewhere in the region of £3-4 million.
He made 15 Premier League appearances for the club during the 2010/11 season, with his time at the club ending abruptly. This was the result of Konchesky making a vital mistake in a match against Tottenham Hotspur, which allowed Aaron Lennon to score the winner in the 90+2 minute.
He was then jeered by Liverpool supporters after he was substituted in a match against Wolves following his mistake, swiftly wrapping up his time in the north-west. His mum even took to social media to try and protect her son from cruel fans. He joined Nottingham Forest on loan for the remainder of that season before securing a permanent move to Leicester City.
9. Arthur Melo
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Another Liverpool signing that failed to make a senior appearance for the club was midfielder Arthur Melo. The club were in the market for central-midfield reinforcements, and Arthur fit the bill perfectly after strong spells at Barcelona and Juventus.
It was reported that Liverpool had paid €4.5 million in loan fees, with an option to purchase the player for €37.5 million at the end of the one-year loan. His spell was hindered by injury, though, and he only managed to play 13 competitive minutes for Liverpool during a Champions League defeat against Napoli.
It’s safe to say that Liverpool’s fans were disappointed with the signing of Arthur, and the club sensibly didn’t take up the option to buy the player at the end of the 2022/23 season.
8. Alberto Aquilani
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| 18 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
There was a huge hole in Liverpool’s midfield following the departure of Xavi Alonso to Real Madrid in 2009. The club moved swiftly to find a replacement, with Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani joining the club from Roma in a deal worth £17 million (plus bonuses).
Replacing Alonso was also going to be tricky, as he was one of Liverpool’s greatest Premier League midfielders. Liverpool’s fans were intrigued to see how Aquilani would get on in a red shirt, and he didn’t earn his first start until December during the 2009/10 season.
His time on Merseyside was underwhelming to say the least, with bouts of injury keeping him out of the squad. He made just 18 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 1 goal and recording 6 assists. He was shipped out on loan on two occasions to Juventus and AC Milan, after falling down the pecking order before leaving the club on a permanent basis to Fiorentina.
7. Iago Aspas
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| 14 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Liverpool signed forward Iago Aspas from La Liga side Celta Vigo after scoring 39 goals in 97 matches, agreeing to sign the player for a reported fee of somewhere between £7-9 million.
His time in England was not as fortuitous as that in Spain, with him making just 14 appearances for the reds, scoring 0 goals and achieving a single assist. The player somewhat became the laughingstock of the side, with a memorable corner kick not doing him any favours.
During a match against Chelsea, Liverpool were chasing a winner, however Aspas passed a corner straight to Chelsea winger Willian. It was such a bad set-piece that it became his most talked about action for the club. You can watch this corner in the video below:
6. Naby Keïta
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| 84 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
Guinean midfielder Naby Keïta arrived at Liverpool with a lot of expectation on his shoulders after the club paid his release clause from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig. In total, Liverpool paid £52.75 million for his services as Leipzig secured a Europa League spot after finishing 6th in the league.
A price tag as high as this one meant that Liverpool supporters had high hopes Keïta would be a mainstay in their 3-man midfield for years to come. He did stay at the club for 5 seasons, leaving recently during the summer transfer window in 2023. After making 84 appearances for the club, he recorded 7 goals and 5 assists, but was regularly in and out of the team, falling behind players like Fabino, Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcântara.
It’s safe to say that Keïta never truly lived up to his price tag, and became one of the more expensive worst Liverpool signings of all time.
5. Christian Benteke
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| 29 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
Striker Christian Benteke’s arrival at Liverpool was highly anticipated after being a roaring success at Aston Villa. His time in the midlands was fortuitous, having scored 49 goals in 101 appearances across all competitions.
Liverpool were still trying to replace the gaping hole that Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez had left in their front line after Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli both had unconvincing stints in the position.
Benteke only played for Liverpool for the 2015/16 Premier League season, making 29 league appearances, scoring 9 goals and recording 3 assists. This on paper isn’t technically a bad debut season, however it was clear that the move hadn’t worked out for both parties, with the player quickly moving to Crystal Palace the following season.
The combination of a hefty £35 million price tag and Benteke’s profile seemingly not suiting manager Brendan Rodgers style of play meant that Liverpool wanted to draw a line under the situation and move on.
4. El Hadji Diouf
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| 48 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 1 |
One of the most controversial signings by Liverpool football club was Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf. Across his career, trouble followed him both on and off the pitch. He was accused of spitting at West Ham United fans in 2002, as well as being accused of spitting at Celtic fans during a UEFA Cup quarter-final. The player was charged with assault for the latter.
Further spitting allegations, as well as many other accusations, followed him throughout his career, however Liverpool decided to sell him to Bolton Wanderers after playing in red for just two seasons. During this time, he made 48 appearances, scoring 3 goals and recording 4 assists.
The most significant Liverpool statistic has to be the number of yellow cards he received in his short time on Merseyside. Diouf received 15 yellow cards, which is an eye-opening stat, particularly for a striker, who are typically required to make fewer tackles. He’ll certainly go down as one of the worst Liverpool signings of all time for different reasons to most.
3. Mario Balotelli
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| 16 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Another Liverpool signing that was surrounded by controversy was Italian hothead Mario Balotelli. Balotelli is no stranger to drama, and is well known amongst Premier League fans after having iconic stints at both Liverpool and Manchester City.
Upon his arrival at Liverpool, joining for a £16 million transfer fee from AC Milan, Balotelli had huge shoes to fill after replacing the departing Luis Suárez. Unfortunately, his time at the club was short-lived, leaving after one season and making just 16 league appearances. In this time he scored a single goal, provided no assists for his teammates and received 5 yellow cards.
In December 2014, he was fined £25,000 and banned for one match after posting a controversial image to social media, which contained antisemitic and racist references. By the end of the 2014/15 Premier League season, Liverpool fans agreed that he was one of the worst signings of the season.
2. Loris Karius
| Appearances | Goals Against | Clean Sheets | CS% | Save % |
| 29 | 26 | 13 | 44.8 | 25.0 |
The first and only goalkeeper in our list of the worst Liverpool signings of all time is Loris Karius. We’re sure the German will need no introduction for most football enthusiasts, having made one of the most embarrassing mistakes ever in a Champions League final against Real Madrid in 2018.
Following that incident, where Liverpool lost the final 3-1, Liverpool fans found it hard to give Karius another chance, and he subsequently only made 29 Premier League appearances for the club over 3 seasons.
He achieved a clean sheet percentage of 44.8, keeping 13 clean sheets and had a save percentage of 25%. For the pure disappointment of that night in Kyiv, Karius unfortunately became one of the worst signings in the club’s history. You can watch his mistake in the video below:
1. Andy Carroll
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| 44 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
After Liverpool broke the British transfer record to sign striker Andy Carroll, there was a lot of expectation on the English player’s shoulders. Signing for a fee of £35 million, he joined them from Newcastle United after scoring 33 goals in 91 appearances. This move received a significant amount of media coverage after it became a British record sum.
Unfortunately, Andy Carroll never proved his worth in relation to his huge transfer fee after scoring just 6 goals in 44 appearances for Liverpool. He recorded 2 assists and received 7 yellow cards in that time, too.
A huge success at Newcastle, the player will most likely look back on his time in the north-west negatively. Because of the expectation brought on by his transfer fee, Andy Carroll will go down as the worst Liverpool signing of all time.
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Header image: Ank kumar, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
