Most people enjoy the thrill of sports betting, particularly at the weekend when they’ll find some great Premier League odds and football odds ahead of Saturday and Sunday’s matches.
Football betting more generally covers a wide array of markets, and it’s a fair bet that some of the Premier League’s most overrated players below have caused more than their fair share of headaches.
Alexis Sanchez
Perhaps a slightly unfair addition to this list given his excellence at Arsenal where his prowess in front of goal earned him a big-money move to Manchester United. Was it even the same Alexis Sanchez that turned out for the Red Devils or was it an imposter?!
The huge fanfare that greeted his signing for the Old Trafford outfit quickly backfired. Much was expected of the best-paid player at the club but he never recaptured his form from his time in north London. It wasn’t just that goals were lacking, there were literally no discernible qualities that the Chilean brought to the party in Manchester.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Coincidentally, Henrikh Mkhitaryan suffered from much the same problem in reverse. Though he wasn’t at quite the same level at Man United as Sanchez was at Arsenal, before the former’s switch to the north Londoners (which took Sanchez up north), nor was he the worst player at the club.
In a case of history repeating, as soon as the Armenian pulled on the Arsenal shirt, it’s as if all of his talent evaporated. Frankly, he was terrible for the most part and will most likely be remembered for not travelling to the 2019 Europa League final against Chelsea in Azerbaijan.
Arjen Robben
The ultimate one-trick pony. The Dutchman had his supporters but if you stopped him from going inside, Robben had nothing else of note in his locker. Was lauded for his dribbling skills and he did have the ability to go past his man given space, however, seven goals in 2004/05 was his second best season in goal scoring terms which tells its own story.
A sub in his last appearance for Chelsea, the 2007 FA Cup final, he was subbed himself in extra-time, bringing the curtain down on a foray in west London which had the odd highlight at best.
Paul Pogba
Can be world class on his day, but far too lackadaisical to ever be considered a Manchester United great. The Red Devils have only ever seen the form that Pogba displays for France sporadically. For someone that supposedly oozes ability, he isn’t really a team player or one that you would want in the trenches with you when the going gets tough.
Dani
Termed the most beautiful player in the world when he signed for Harry Redknapp’s West Ham in 1996, a goal against Tottenham spoke of someone that was going to be a real hit in east London.
After less than 10 loan appearances with the Upton Park outfit, he was bombed out of the club after missing training and being pictured by the tabloid newspapers enjoying himself in a London nightclub.
Harry Maguire
Has been stealing a living at Manchester United and clearly isn’t worth anywhere close to the £80m that the Red Devils paid Leicester City for his services. Reasonably efficient aerially, that’s about the only positive thing to say about his game. He is far too slow as a modern-day centre-back and once he’s been turned, it’s game over as far as United are concerned.
Being handed the captaincy of the club was a grave error because Maguire quite clearly doesn’t lead by example. Marginally better during his time at Hull City and Leicester doesn’t say much.
Adama Traore
Just like Robben at Chelsea, Adama Traore has only one thing in his armour that he’s good at, and in his case it’s running directly at defenders, at pace, which will always scare the living daylights out of them.
Rarely, if ever, has there been an end product, and that’s been the case throughout his entire career. It’s the precise reason why Barcelona got rid of him, and also why he didn’t settle at Aston Villa or Middlesbrough. With a goals to games ratio of roughly one in 10, one wonders what Wolverhampton Wanderers see in him.
Christian Benteke
Given his powerful frame and his size, Christian Benteke should be a much better target man than he’s turned out to be. Currently plying his trade at Crystal Palace, he was never the right fit for Liverpool who had paid Aston Villa a whopping £32.5m for his services. At the time, he was their second-highest transfer fee ever.
The odd spectacular goal and a brief run of form at the start of his Villa career aside, the Belgian has flattered to deceive for the most part. A total of 19 goals in all competitions in the last four years tells you everything about how poor a striker he is.
Winston Bogarde
In his four-year spell at Chelsea, Bogarde only played on 11 occasions. Nothing to do with lack of fitness or injury, he just wasn’t selected. It was clear that the west Londoners didn’t rate him as they tried to offload him on multiple occasions, as well as demoting him to the reserves in order to force him out.
Nothing worked, and after failing to find another club, Bogarde took retirement, famously noting to the press at the time “I may be one of the worst buys in the history of the Premiership, but I don’t care.”
Savio Nsereko
Who?
Savio arrived at West Ham in 2009 as their record signing for a fee in the region of £9m. Taking over the No.10 shirt from the outgoing Craig Bellamy, much was expected of a player signed from Brescia. A four-minute sub appearance on debut saw him booed off the pitch, which turned out to be a prescient warning.
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