7 – Konstantinos Mitroglou
Fulham were desperately battling relegation and in January 2014 they agreed a £12m fee with Olympiakos for the Greek striker. He may have been the record fee holder but he appeared only three times due to a variety of injury, fitness and form issues.
In August he returned to Olympiakos on loan and was promptly back to scoring in the Champions League, with a winner against Atletico Madrid no less. Fulham spent £12m on Mitroglou but were still relegated in 2014.
6 – Victor Anichebe
Victor Anichebe spent 12 seasons as a Premier League striker with Everton, West Brom and Sunderland. Between 2005 and 2017 the Nigerian scored 27 times in 197 appearances, which means he scored roughly once every seven or eight games. In 12 years.
The longevity is to be admired, for Anichebe became the great survivor. Somehow remaining a Premier League striker despite all his shortcomings, he made Bambi on ice look graceful.
5. Afonso Alves
Afonso Alves has become the warning from history, the irrefutable proof that you can not trust any football that happens in Holland. Middlesbrough smashed their transfer record by spending £12.5m on the Brazilian.
And though his goal return was not necessarily that bad, at 10 goals in 42 games, he has become a figure of fun in the intervening years and a symbol of that Boro side which got relegated in 2009.
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