Premier League Most Disappointing Signing of the Season: Alexander Isak, Yoane Wissa and GOAL's top 20 for 2025-26 - ranked

Our list begins with a player who actually made two disappointing transfers in the space of a single season. Facundo Buonanotte performed decently for a struggling Leicester City last term, and so it made sense for newly-promoted Leeds United to try and take the Argentine on loan from Brighton in August. However, just as the deal to take Buonanotte to Elland Road was about to be finalised, Chelsea swooped in and tempted the playmaker to join them on loan instead.

Doubts were immediately raised regarding Buonanotte's suitability for a club of Chelsea's stature and how he fit into a squad that was already packed with attacking midfielders and wingers, and so they were borne out. The 21-year-old was substituted at half-time on his Blues debut and he did not make another league appearance for Chelsea before Leeds offered Buonanotte a route out of west London by taking him on loan for the second half of the season in January.

However, things have gone little better for the loanee in West Yorkshire. Buonanotte has made just two substitute appearances in the Premier League for Daniel Farke's side, the last of which came on January 31, and he has failed to make the bench more often than not since his arrival.

Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) meant that money was tight at Aston Villa over the summer, with the majority of their first-team signings either loanees or free transfers. They did, however, fork out an initial £26 million on Nice forward Evann Guessand, who had returned 21 combined goals and assists in Ligue 1 during the previous campaign.

It did not prove to be money well spent, however. Guessand managed 13 Premier League appearances in which he failed to either score or assist before he was shipped off on loan to Crystal Palace in January. It's thus difficult to see the 24-year-old having much of a future at Villa Park despite him having four years remaining on his contract.

It will become clear through these rankings that Liverpool's £450m summer spending spree has not gone to plan, but of the big-money flops to have graced Anfield this term, it's hard not to feel a little sorry for Jeremie Frimpong. The Netherlands international has spent four separate stints on the sidelines while dealing with injuries, meaning he has been unable to pick up any momentum since arriving on Merseyside.

However, there are still some concerns over the player who many expected to be a ready-made replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold. Even when Frimpong has been fit, Arne Slot has turned to the likes of Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones to fill in at right-back, with the ex-Bayer Leverkusen man seemingly more suited to a role on the right side of the Reds' attack. If that is where his future lies, then he will need to improve considerably to fill Mohamed Salah's boots going forward.

For much of the summer, it seemed that Xavi Simons was Chelsea-bound, with numerous reports suggesting that the Blues were very keen to bring in the Dutch playmaker from RB Leipzig. However, as the window headed into its final weeks and Chelsea chased other targets, Tottenham swooped in to finally land an attacking midfielder after missing out on Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze.

But despite the odd flash of brilliance, Simons has failed to fire during his first season in the Premier League. He scored just two goals and provided a mere five assists before suffering a season-ending ACL injury in April. Those glimpses of quality suggest that Simons could yet come good in north London, but he will need them to avoid relegation without him before any thought can be given to his future and how he fits into Roberto De Zerbi's plans.

The most expensive of Man City's summer signings, Tijjani Reijnders looked to the manor born on his Premier League debut as he put Wolves to the sword with a goal and an assist during an all-action display at Molineux. However, that was as good as it got for the former AC Milan midfielder during his first season of English football.

Reijnders has gradually fallen down the pecking order as the campaign has worn on, to the point that he has made just five league appearances since the start of February. His attacking returns of five goals and two assists pale in comparison to what he managed during his final year in Serie A, and he will have to show plenty of improvements under Enzo Maresca if he is to make a success of his City career.

A prolific striker in Ligue 1 over the past four seasons, Forest beat off competition from other Premier League clubs to land Arnaud Kalimuendo's signature last summer. He soon, however, became an afterthought among the City Ground faithful.

Kalimuendo did not start a single league game during the first half of the season, totalling 88 minutes of action across nine substitute appearances, and was subsequently sent on loan to Eintracht Frankfurt in January. The hope at Forest will be that the Bundesliga outfit take up the option to make his move permanent in the coming weeks.

Brennan Johnson ended last season having written himself into the Tottenham history books after scoring their winning goal in the Europa League final, thus delivering the club their first continental trophy for 41 years. But with Ange Postecoglou gone and Thomas Frank in charge, the Wales international soon fell out of favour in north London and thus needed a fresh start in January.

Crystal Palace moved quickly to secure Johnson's signature right at the beginning of the window, but the deal has not paid dividends as yet. In 18 Premier League appearances for the Eagles, Johnson is yet to find the net and has provided just one solitary assist. Oliver Glasner's replacement, then, faces a challenge to help Johnson rediscover his confidence after a season to forget.

Newcastle looked to have pulled off one of the summer's smartest signings when they settled on signing Bayern Munich target Nick Woltemade to replace Alexander Isak, and the ex-Stuttgart man made a flying start to life on Tyneside, scoring four goals in his first five Premier League appearances.

However, the defining moment of Woltemade's debut season undoubtedly arrived in December, when he inadvertently headed into his own net to hand Sunderland victory in the Wear-Tyne derby. He did bounce back with a double against Chelsea the following week, only to then endure a 17-match goal drought in the Premier League before netting against West Ham in May.

Perhaps even more worrying for Woltemade's hopes of resurrecting his Newcastle career is that the man signed to replace Isak up front has instead spent much of the second half of the season operating from midfield, with Eddie Howe unconvinced of the Germany international's ability to lead the line.

Dan Ndoye made a dream start to life at Nottingham Forest after arriving from Bologna, as the Switzerland winger netted on his debut against Brentford before providing an assist against Crystal Palace the following week. However, they remain the only attacking returns of his Premier League campaign to date as Ndoye became a victim of the chaos that has engulfed the City Ground at times this season.

The 25-year-old has not started a league game since December 6, with the bulk of his appearances coming in the Europa League as Forest reached the semi-finals. With Vitor Pereira's squad likely needing to be cut down with no European football to deal with next season, Ndoye feels a prime candidate to be let go after one forgettable campaign.

James Trafford seemed bound for Newcastle before Manchester City activated the buy-back clause in his Burnley contract to bring the goalkeeper back to the Etihad Stadium, and it initially seemed like a dream move for the academy product. With Ederson on his way out, the path was clear for Trafford to establish himself as City's No.1 and perhaps prove himself as an alternative to Jordan Pickford for England.

However, after a disastrous home debut against Tottenham, Trafford found himself shunted down the pecking order by the arrival of Gianluigi Donnarumma, and he has not made a Premier League appearance since August. Becoming Pep Guardiola's 'cup goalkeeper' has allowed Trafford to play an important role in winning two trophies, but he will surely be on his way out of City again this summer so as to finally earn regular, top-flight minutes.

Though Andy Robertson still had a year to run on his contract, Liverpool were keen to upgrade at left-back ahead of the Scot's likely departure and thus brought in Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth. The Anfield faithful have not been impressed, however, with Kerkez facing a fight to win over his doubters going forward.

The writing was on the wall when the Hungary international was run ragged by former team-mate Antoine Semenyo on the opening night of the season, and opposition managers regularly targeted Kerkez as a weak link in the Reds' backline. He did show some improvements as the season wore on, but Kerkez has a long way to go if he is to ever match Robertson's contribution to the Liverpool cause.

Despite Bayern Munich and Manchester City seemingly being at the front of the queue to sign Florian Wirtz at the beginning of last summer, Liverpool managed to sneak in ahead of them and secure the Bayer Leverkusen superstar's signing in what was a then-club-record deal. Wirtz was thus expected to take the Premier League by storm, but it's been a slow burn thus far - and that might be being too kind.

Wirtz did not muster his first assist in the English top-flight until the start of December, with his first goal eventually following a few weeks later. The Germany playmaker struggled to deal with the physicality of the Premier League while Arne Slot failed to build a functioning team around one of Europe's leading attacking midfielders. As such, Wirtz's return of five goals and four assists with one game left to play is miles off what many expected out of him in 2025-26.

Despite Southampton flirting with breaking the record for the least number of points in a Premier League season during the 2024-25 campaign, teenager winger Tyler Dibling earned plenty of plaudits for his fearless attitude and moments of quality in the final third. As such, a queue of clubs formed to prise him away from St. Mary's, with Everton eventually winning the race as David Moyes aimed to revitalise his attack.

Things haven't gone to plan for Dibling, though. He has started just four Premier League matches since arriving on Merseyside, and has just a solitary substitute appearance, that came in second-half stoppage time against Burnley, to show for his efforts since the start of February. The potential return of Jack Grealish on another loan deal from Manchester City doesn't bode well for Dibling's future prospects, either.

The curse of the Chelsea No.9 shirt shows no sign of abating after Liam Delap became the latest big-name forward to don the jersey and seemingly lose all their goal-scoring prowess. The Blues beat off stiff competition to sign the Ipswich Town forward early last summer, but he has managed just one Premier League goal in 27 appearances as he struggled to adapt to life at one of Europe's biggest clubs.

Delap was admittedly hampered by a hamstring injury he suffered in August that kept him out of action for two months, meaning he missed a crucial opportunity to build chemistry with his new team-mates. However, a lack of discipline and some awful misses have come to characterise his first year in west London.

Alejandro Garnacho began the season in the Manchester United 'bomb squad' after falling out with manager Ruben Amorim in the aftermath of the 2025 Europa League final, but Chelsea were still willing to pay £40m for a winger who had shown himself to be a difference-maker since emerging from the academy ranks at Old Trafford.

The change of scenery has done little to get Garnacho going, however. His only Premier League goal for the Blues came all the way back in October, while he has provided only four assists in the top-flight, with most of his best performances in a Chelsea shirt coming in cup matches. His attitude and work-rate have also been questioned by a fanbase that has grown increasingly frustrated with the Argentina international's lack of productivity.

Anthony Elanga was undoubtedly one of the stars of Nottingham Forest's season in 2024-25 as the electric winger proved to be a nightmare for defenders while Nuno Espirito Santo's side chased European qualification. Newcastle were thus keen to add that kind of dynamism to Howe's squad, but Elanga's form has fallen off a cliff since he arrived on Tyneside for big money.

A player who contributed 31 combined Premier League goals and assists during his two seasons at the City Ground has failed to find the net at all in the league for Magpies, while registering just the one assist, which came all the way back in November. Despite his price tag, Elanga has started less than half of Newcastle's league games, so poor have his performances been.

This was meant to be the season in which Harvey Elliott finally showed Premier League fans what he was capable of on a weekly basis. Having been named Player of the Tournament as England won the Under-21 Euros, Elliott was keen to find regular minutes following a frustrating campaign spent mostly on the bench at Liverpool, and a loan move to Aston Villa seemed the ideal fit.

Unai Emery, however, felt differently, and soon decided that he did not want to pay the £35m that Villa were obligated to spend on Elliott if he played 10 league matches for them, meaning he soon became a forgotten man at Villa Park. Elliott made just four appearances in the Premier League, and has only been named to the matchday squad on five occasions since the start of October.

FIFA rules, meanwhile, kept the midfielder from joining another European club in January, meaning he has mostly been left to rot following a move that Emery described as being "embarrassing" for everyone involved.

Having spent time in the Man City academy before emerging into the spotlight at Borussia Dortmund, Jamie Gittens was once dubbed 'the new Jadon Sancho' given their almost identical career paths. And though the pair took diverging routes before eventually joining Chelsea, it seems that Gittens, like Sancho, is going to struggle to translate the displays he produced in the Bundesliga to the Premier League.

There was always a risk that Gittens would get lost in the shuffle given the amount of wingers Chelsea have on their books, but for him to make just five Premier League starts before his campaign was ended prematurely by a hamstring injury in January was still massively disappointing. The 21-year-old has work to do to save his career at Stamford Bridge as Xabi Alonso prepares to step into the dugout.

Newcastle's dreadful summer transfer window has undoubtedly been a major factor in their disappointing campaign, with last season's fifth-placed team set for a mid-table finish this time around. Undoubtedly the most underwhelming of their new arrivals has been Yoane Wissa, who has looked a shadow of the player who netted 19 times for Brentford in 2024-25.

Wissa went on strike during pre-season in a bid to force through his move to Tyneside, but he then arrived at St. James' Park while nursing a knee injury that would ultimately delay his debut until December. His first Premier League goal for the Magpies followed later that month, but he has failed to hit the net since while looking totally off the pace. Wissa subsequently hasn't started a league game since February 7, and could well be on his way out once he has represented DR Congo at the World Cup.

No British club has ever paid as much to sign a player as Liverpool did to bring in Alexander Isak. A saga that ran all the way through until transfer deadline day, the Reds eventually prised Isak away from Newcastle following a summer in which the Sweden international went on strike and refused to train with the Magpies. Unfortunately for Liverpool, Isak's lack of match sharpness showed almost instantly.

The centre-forward has been a little unlucky with injuries during his debut season at Anfield, most notably when he suffered a broken fibula while scoring against Tottenham in December, but there is still no excusing his return of three Premier League goals in 14 appearances. The 26-year-old has routinely found himself on the fringes of the action when he has been available for Arne Slot, with the Reds' formation totally ill-suited to Isak's strengths.

If things don't turn around quickly next season, he will be at real risk of going down as one of the biggest transfer flops of all-time.