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    7 Most DISASTROUS Career Moves of All Time
    World Cup 2026

    7 Most DISASTROUS Career Moves of All Time



    In light of Jordan Henderson leaving Liverpool to join Al-Ettifaq, torching his own reputation and being dropped from England’s Euro 2024 squad in the process, HITC Sevens takes a look at a number of transfers which ruined footballer’s careers.

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    View 24 Comments

    24 Comments

    1. @chrisguardiano6143 on

      As an American, a career move considered to be disastrous in the eyes of many MLS fans has to be German legend Lothar Matthaus's move to the NY/NJ Metrostars (known today as New York Red Bulls) in 2000. The American soccer media were hyping his signing as the biggest in league history at the time & were expecting him to have the same impact on MLS that Pele had on the NASL even though Matthaus was near the end of his career. However Matthaus only played in 16 games for the Metrostars scoring no goals & was known for vacationing in St. Tropez when he was supposed to be rehabbing his back. After the MLS season ended, he retired having made zero impact on the Metrostars. Another move considered to be disastrous when it comes to MLS is Freddie Ljungberg joining the Seattle Sounders in 2009 where he was given a designated player contract (meaning he would be paid more than the average player according to league rules) even though he had spent the majority of the 2 years after he left Arsenal injured. Ljungerg's time in Seattle was not good as he only scored two goals & spent most of the time injured. As a Sounders supporter, he is considered to be one of the worst signings we have ever had & this is the same club that revived the careers of Dijmi Traore, Obafemi Martins, Kasey Keller & Clint Dempsey.

    5. @andrews5069 on

      Back in Neil Franklin's day footballers were owned by the clubs like slaves. The maximum weekly wage was £10 (skilled tradesman wages) while the footballer's value was worth a lot lot more (a bid of £30,000 was rejected for him). No wonder that players would move to other countries to get money. They even immigrated to USA/Australia to get NORMAL jobs that were paying more.

    7. @gabrielsa9751 on

      Top 7 ridiculously good squads who disappointed everybody
      I think of that 2007-9 Valencia with Juan Mata, David Silva, David Villa, Jordi Alba, albioĺ, Joaquin, morientes, etc, coached by Unai Emery
      Who finished 10th and 6th in La Liga, only getting a Copa del Rey to show for it
      Or that 2000-2 Brescia who with Baggio, Pirlo, Luca Toni, Pep Guardiola, and many others finished 8th and 13th in Serie A

    10. @gabrielsa9751 on

      For me
      Alex de Souza to Parma should be on the list
      He was destined to be a World Cup champion and among the world's best but ended up forgotten

    12. @andrasszabo1570 on

      I think Sebastian Deisler to Bayern München was a major omission from this list. He not only should've been included, but possibly even on the podium.
      He was the most talented German midfielder of the 2000s, becoming international at just 20. They even called him the future of German football and led Hertha to their first trophy since the 1930s.
      But even before he even arrived to FC Holywood, he received major criticism for how he left Berlin. At Bayern he got injured frequently, he lost his confidence completely, suffered from burn-out and depression and retired at age only 27.
      Comparing his career before and after his transfer, it's hard to see how it could've went worse for him…

    17. @osiris7800 on

      It's not really surprising that a footballer would be stupid enough to use LGBT rights in Saudi Arabia as an excuse for taking the money.

    21. @beato6991 on

      As a Portimonense fan I cannot begin to tell you how much I love Nakajima, my dog's name is literally Shoya, but although his move to Qatar was pretty sad from a footballing perspective, he still played with a lot of love for the game and always had a smile when he played for both Portimonense and Al Duhail. The real transfer that was dreadful for him was his later move to Porto, since not only did he not actually know any Portuguese, never having been a problem at Portimonense due to its relations with the Japanese market and a few half japanese half brazilian staff players who helped with translation, he started playing under Sergio Conceição, who altough a good manager he is not the manager you want a happy player playing under, after that Nakajima had a lof transfers and you could see his heart was not in the sport as it used to when he was loaned for half a season back to Portimonense. Sério Conceição has a special place in hell for ruining his career he was insanely professional and gifted and Al Duhail was not where he lost that for sure

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