Raheem Sterling, Federico Chiesa & the top 10 most disappointing Premier League signings of the 2024-25 season - ranked

Ian Maatsen seemed like a significant piece of business for Aston Villa as they saw off competition to sign the attacking full-back from Chelsea, who were happy to cash in on the academy graduate to comply with the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). The Dutchman was fresh off the back of a fine loan at Champions League runners-up Borussia Dortmund and, on the face of it, £37.5 million ($50m) was good business for all involved.

However, the Dutchman was largely unable to have much of an impact, with head coach Unai Emery preferring Frenchman Lucas Digne at left-back for the vast majority of the season. At 23, Maatsen has time on his side, but questions will be raised of that transfer fee if he doesn't kick on soon. There were signs, it should be pointed out, that he is gaining Emery's trust as his minutes picked up in the run-in.

Matthijs de Ligt was supposed to be the elite-level defensive leader required to sort out Manchester United's backline; instead, he has ended up being part of one of the worst Red Devils sides of all time, let alone the Premier League era.

You would be hard pressed to say he has done anything wrong individually - the Dutchman hasn't made an error leading to a goal and has largely demonstrated his acumen at centre-back. However, when you sign a defender with De Ligt's reputation for a fee north of £40m ($53m), you expect a broader return on your investment in terms of an overall improvement.

United have the ninth-worst defensive record in the Premier League having conceded 54 times, and they have been run ragged at the back far too often given the quality they have at their disposal. De Ligt will need to call on his vast experience to step up next season.

Jadon Sancho convinced pretty much everyone that he was officially back courtesy of an often scintillating spell with his former club Borussia Dortmund in the second half of last season while in exile from Manchester United, as he inspired an unlikely run to the Champions League final. Consequently, it was seen as shrewd piece of business when Chelsea took the winger on a shock loan late in the summer, with a £25m ($33m) obligation to buy worked into the deal.

There were early signs of promise as Sancho laid on four goals in three games to begin the 2024-25 campaign, but his form then tailed off and it became increasingly clear why United had been willing to let him go in the first place. It has even been rumoured that the Blues are weighing up paying a £5m get-out clause to send him back to Old Trafford.

He has had his moments, but the 25-year-old will certainly have to show more consistency to be a success in west London if he stays.

It initially seemed as though Emile Smith Rowe would thrive away from Arsenal and that the Gunners would regret their decision to let him go, but his fast start at Fulham has proven to be somewhat misleading. The Cottagers' record signing has found it difficult to make a consistent impact in the weeks and months since his early-season flourishes, and he has lost his starting place as a result. His manager Marco Silva has also suggested he is once again struggling with the physical issues he had during his time in north London.

"He had a very good impact in the first few months, but after the second international break he was down - December was a difficult month for him," Silva said in March. "He needs to find the right consistency in his game to perform at a very good level and this is the main thing for us. I don't doubt his talent and quality, but the Premier League demands so many things from you and you always have to be in very good shape and top level physically. This is something we have been working on with Emile."

Poor old Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Chelsea plucked the midfielder from newly-promoted Leicester City for a cool £30m ($40m) shortly after poaching the Foxes' Championship-winning head coach Enzo Maresca, with the expectation that he would play a significant role in the Italian's tactical system as a shuttling No.8. Perhaps predicably, that has not transpired to be the case, and Dewsbury-Hall could be on the move again in the summer.

The 26-year-old has barely had a look in at Stamford Bridge as he battles key players Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez for a starting place, and there is clearly some element of Maresca not fully trusting a player he leaned on so heavily at the King Power Stadium last season. The step up to the upper-echelons of the Premier League was always going to be a big one, and Dewsbury-Hall hasn't made the grade - though that's through no fault of his own.

Finally free from the shackles of the Arsenal substitutes' bench, many people were expecting to see Eddie Nketiah unleashed in new surroundings at Crystal Palace, but so far his move south of the river hasn't gone to plan. The striker has scored just three timesall season in the Premier League and has struggled to hold down a starting place since late November.

A big reason for Nketiah's predicament is Jean-Philippe Mateta, with the towering Frenchman hitting another rich vein of form up front as the lone striker, giving manager Oliver Glasner absolutely no reason to overlook him. "He's so hard-working," Glasner said of Nketiah in April. "Sometimes I feel a little bit sad for him, personally, when I see all his effort. It looks like, sometimes, things don't go well for him. There will come a day when he gets paid for all his effort." The former Gunner will certainly hope that's the case.

It was considered to be something of a coup when Manchester United landed Joshua Zirkzee for a below-market-value £36.5m ($48m) as they took advantage of a release clause in his Bologna contract. Although he was hardly prolific, the striker had had a strong season in Italy as he played a key role in the Rossoblu reaching the Champions League for the first time in 60 years. However, the Dutchman proved to be the latest dud centre-forward to pull on the famous red shirt, following very closely in Rasmus Hojlund's footsteps.

Although he scored an opening-day winner against Fulham in the Premier League and showed flashes of technical brilliance, the lumbering Zirkzee managed just three league goals before his season was curtailed by an untimely thigh injury, just when his individual performances had been improving. The 23-year-old wasn't helped by Hojlund's own terrible form, as he was expected to shoulder a burden he clearly couldn't manage as he settled into his new surroundings.

This always felt like a transfer that was going to go one of two ways for Liverpool: either Federico Chiesa would become a bargain cult hero who hit the ground running at Anfield, or he would continue to battle injuries and consequently struggle to adapt to English football. Unfortunately for both player and club, the latter has proven to be the reality. The one consolation is that he cost the Reds just £12.5m ($17m), although his £140,000-per-week wages are a burden.

The winger has played just 104 minutes in the Premier League season(466 across all competitions), hindered by both his fitness and head coach Arne Slot's inability to trust the Italian on the occasions that he has been available for selection. What could have been a very shrewd piece of business has ultimately ended up being a waste of time for all involved, and it would be little surprise to see the 27-year-old head for pastures new when the transfer window opens.

It's probably not a surprise that Raheem Sterling's temporary move from Chelsea to Arsenal hasn't been a roaring success - not many loan deals are. But the fact it has gone as badly as it has is certainly something of a shock. The once-prolific Manchester City winger has looked a shadow of his former self in north London, leaving his parent club with a costly problem on their hands when he returns to Stamford Bridge in the summer.

Sterling's time at the Emirates has largely been characterised by aimless dribbles, poor touches and a complete loss of confidence. Despite the Gunners' injury problems in attacking areas, there has been plenty of occasions when Sterling has been left on the bench as an unused substitute, with Arteta saying in February: "We are all behind him, we are the best for him and it's going to be really important and we need his best. And we need the players only with that mindset to be here to impact the team." What the future now holds for the England international is anyone's guess.

Any hope that Joao Felix had finally found a permanent and long-term home at Chelsea was very short-lived after he returned to his former loan club in a shock £46m ($61m) move from Atletico Madrid late in the summer transfer window, as Conor Gallagher headed the other way. Following a mightily underwhelming half-season in which he provided just two goal contributions in the league, he was on his way to AC Milan - where things haven't gone much better during his loan spell.

Felix's signing seemed more opportunistic than logical, and he predictably struggled to find a role in Maresca's system, with Palmer holding down the No.10 position and the head coach preferring out-and-out wingers in the wide areas. Most of the the enigmatic attacker's minutes came in the cup competitions as he once again failed to live up to what may now always remain as significant unfulfilled potential and nothing more.