Worst European Team of the Season: Antony and Mudryk struggle again

Tom Weber

Updated: 5 Jun 2024 21:43 BST
6 min read

2023/24 was a spectacular season, but not for everyone.

The bygone campaign had as many highlights as it did lowlights. Man Utd recorded their worst league finish since 1990, Bayern Munich did the unthinkable and went a season without a trophy in Germany and Napoli only finished 10th in Serie A after winning the Scudetto the previous season.

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For this list of the worst players from Europe's top division, we have decided to give those who struggled with injury the benefit of the doubt, hence why high-profile signings who barely played - such as Mason Mount, Romeo Lavia, Lesley Ugochukwu, Renato Sanches and Naby Keita - don't get in.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through our Worst European Team of the Season of 2023/24...

GK: Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)

Starting off with a contentious one, we have decided to make Aaron Ramsdale our goalkeeper. There is no denying that the Gunners number two is still a very good shot-stopper.

However, he gets in here precisely because he has become Arsenal's number two. Despite being one of the best goalkeepers in England in 22/23, Mikel Arteta saw fit to replace the Englishman with David Raya and Ramsdale's confidence was shot as a result. On the rare occasions he did get on the pitch, he looked nervous and uncomfortable and made several mistakes.

Current ETV

Milan Skriniar

D (C)

PSG

Milan Skriniar

D (C)

PSG

ETV Range

€27.8M - €46.3M

RB: Milan Skriniar (PSG)

We have a lot of midfielders in our team, so we kind of had to improvise with the roles in our 4-3-3 a bit. At right-back, we are playing PSG centre-back Milan Skriniar.

The Slovakia international looked to be a shrewd pick-up on a free transfer from Inter, but he ultimately was nothing of the sort. The 29-year-old looked a far cry from the solid player we previously saw in Serie A.

CB: Leonardo Bonucci (Union Berlin/Fenerbahce)

Union Berlin went all out in the transfer market ahead of their first-ever season in the Champions League, but their players, including summer signing Leonardo Bonucci, made sure that their first would also be their last for the foreseeable future.

Despite rolling back the years with a stunning debut performance at the Santiago Bernabeu, Bonucci ultimately looked a complete waste of money from a side not blessed with particular affluence anyway. The 37-year-old left after six months to join Fenerbahce and, after just eight Super Lig outings, retired from football.

Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich)

The Monster was tamed in 2023/24. Kim Min-jae was hailed as the best centre-back in world football after marshalling Napoli's title-winning defence in 22/23, but his Monster nickname was ill-fitting at Bayern Munich.

Signed for €50 million, the South Korean failed to nail down a regular starting spot and when he did play, he was far from the solid presence he was during his Napoli days and before.

Current ETV

Sofyan Amrabat

DM (CRL)

Man Utd

Sofyan Amrabat

DM (CRL)

Man Utd

ETV Range

€9.1M - €15.2M

LB: Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina/Man Utd)

We said we would have to improvise a bit, hence why defensive midfielder Sofyan Amrabat plays for us at left-back, where he started the season for Man Utd.

The Moroccan was chased by the Red Devils all summer in 2023, but he was ultimately pretty underwhelming and his loan from Fiorentina won't be made permanent. Despite a good performance against Man City in the FA Cup final, the midfielder has gone down as a flop.

CM: Donny van de Beek (Man Utd/Eintracht Frankfurt)

After years of struggling with injury, Donny van de Beek was finally fit ahead of the 23/24 season. Despite this, Man Utd had already decided to cut their losses and tried offloading him - unsuccessfully.

Van de Beek spent the first half of the season rotting on the bench or in the stands and the second out on loan at Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt, where he didn't fare much better. Despite the Eagles looking pretty underwhelming, the Dutchman could not stake his claim in the side and basically didn't play at all towards the end of the campaign.

Current ETV

Sandro Tonali

DM (RL), M (C)

Newcastle Utd.

Sandro Tonali

DM (RL), M (C)

Newcastle Utd.

ETV Range

€34.5M - €57.4M

CM: Sandro Tonali (Newcastle)

Sandro Tonali arrived to plenty of fanfare and with a price tag north of €60m at Newcastle, but his season quickly turned into a nightmare. When he played, the Italian was fairly ineffective.

When he didn't play, he was engaging in illicit gambling and was subsequently banned for ten months. Tonali ruined his chances to feature prominently for Newcastle and for Italy at Euro 2024.

STATS

Jesper Lindstrøm

AM (CL), F (R)

Napoli

Jesper Lindstrøm

AM (CL), F (R)

Napoli

29

Games
0

Goals
0

Assists

CAM: Jesper Lindstrom (Napoli)

It is intriguing that many of the players on this list are summer signings and the next one is no different. Danish dynamite Jesper Lindstrom was signed by Napoli for a whopping €30m after being courted by Arsenal and Liverpool, but the ex-Frankfurt man proved a major disappointment.

The 24-year-old played 29 times for Napoli and did not record a single goal contribution for the defending Italian champions as they slumped to a tenth-place finish.

STATS

Antony

AM (R), M (RL)

Man Utd

Antony

AM (R), M (RL)

Man Utd

29

Games
1

Goals
1

Assists

RW: Antony (Man Utd)

€95m. One Premier League goal, one Premier League assist in 23/24. Need we say more?

LW: Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea)

Much like his right-sided Man Utd counterpart, Chelsea's Mykhailo Mudryk has yet to find his feet in English football. Though he was better across 23/24 than in his previous half-season at Stamford Bridge - it would have been difficult to be worse, mind - the Ukrainian is still a flop.

A €70m signing with the deal potentially rising to €100m, Mudryk has seven goals and two assists to show for 41 appearances in 23/24.

Randal Kolo Muani (PSG)

After a breakout 22/23 season at Eintracht Frankfurt, PSG shelled out €95m on Randal Kolo Muani in the summer of 2023. However, the 25-year-old was a shadow of his former self and struggled back in his hometown.

In 40 appearances for the Ligue 1 champions, Kolo Muani netted nine times and notched six assists. The player himself eventually admitted that he was struggling with his massive price tag.