Lukaku, Sancho, Grealish: €636 MILLION worth of transfer flops

Carlo Garganese

• 5 Jan 2022 15:41 CST
• 4 min read

Romelu Lukaku returned to Chelsea from Inter for €115m. It was a club record transfer fee for the Blues.

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Jadon Sancho, meanwhile, made his long-awaited switch from Borussia Dortmund to Man Utd for €85m. He was the club’s joint-second highest fee paid ever.

These were the three most expensive transfers of the summer of 2021. In the case of Grealish and Lukaku, they were the sixth and seventh most expensive deals of all time in football.

So far, all three transfers have been a disaster.

Grealish has just three goals and three assists in 21 games in all competitions for Man City. This is a desperately disappointing return given not only the fee that was paid for him but given just how dominant City have been this term.

City are running away with the Premier League and have scored a whopping 77 goals in all competitions. Grealish has only contributed to six of these in terms of a goal or assist, despite starting 18 times for the most devastating team in Europe.

Grealish is struggling to fit into Pep Guardiola’s system and philosophy and he has got into trouble off the pitch too. Reports continue to circulate that he isn’t happy in Manchester or with Pep.

Sancho’s numbers for Man Utd are even worse. Just two goals and zero assists in 22 appearances tells you everything you need to know about the England winger.

The 21-year-old failed to truly win over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and, although he has started three of the four games under Ralf Rangnick, he is faring little better so far.

In his defence, Sancho is at a club that is in complete crisis institutionally but that can be no excuse for performing so dismally at such a cost.

And then we have Lukaku. Big Rom was meant to be the final piece of the jigsaw at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea had won the Champions League without a natural number 9 and Lukaku was signed to take the Blues to Premier League glory.

His numbers of seven goals and zero assists from 19 games – while nowhere near as bad as Grealish and Sancho – are way off what is expected for a €115m outlay.

Lukaku hasn’t quite fit into Chelsea’s style of play, who are well off the pace set by City in the Premier League. He then created chaos last week when he gave an interview declaring his unhappiness, criticising manager Thomas Tuchel and saying he wanted to return to Inter.

Lukaku was dropped, fined and while he has now apologised and is back in the fold, it remains to be seen whether he can repair the damage done and whether he has a long-term future at the club.

Between them, Grealish, Sancho and Lukaku cost €323m.

Lukaku will be paid €100m over the course of his five-year contract in wages. Grealish will be paid €108m over six years. Sancho will earn €105m between the day he arrived and 2026.

That comes to €313m in wages between the three of them.

If we add their total transfer fees and total salaries over their contracts, Grealish, Sancho and Lukaku will cost €636m.

So far, they’ve been a colossal waste of money.