Throughout the nineties and early noughties the Premiership was overcome with foreigners from all over the planet. The combination of the rich rebranded English Premiership and the introduction of the Bosman transfer ruling enticed hundreds of foreigners to our shores. However this has proved to not always have been a successful ploy for managers, Mr Souness – Ali Dia for example. For every David Ginola there was nine or ten Mateja Kezmans. At Anfield a succession of managers Evans, Houllier, Benitez and Hodgson all fell foul of signing some foreign duds. Some of these players you may not remember and some of them you may wish you never saw, but at the end of the day we have all witnessed a player we thought, “How, just how.”
1. Sean Dundee – signed in 1998 by joint managers Gerard Houllier and Roy Evans for £2million from German side Karlsruher SC. Signed to provide cover for the injured Robbie Fowler, having scored 36 in 85 for his former club in Germany, there were high hopes for the youngster upon his arrival at Anfield. However it was not to be, he tried and failed to force his way into the forward line of Michael Owen and Karl-Heinz Riedle and once Fowler returned Dundee was relegated to fourth choice. In his sole season at the club he played 3 games, coming off the bench on all occasions. At the end of the season Liverpool cut their losses and he returned to Germany with Stuttgart for only £1million, half of what we paid. He later moved on to Austria Vienna and Kickers Offenbach before retiring with South African team AmaZulu, never being profilic with any team after leaving Anfield.
2. Josemi – following a successful season with Malaga in his homeland, Josemi became the first signing for the Spanish Revolution following Rafa for £2million in July 2004. After a decent yet unspectacular start to his Liverpool career Josemi only succeeded in shooting himself in the foot and getting himself sent off in a 4-2 victory against Fulham at Craven Cottage. This sending off led to Steve Finnan re-establishing himself in the Reds side. After playing his part in the victorious Champions League campaign, Josemi struggled to force his way back into the side the following season and by December 2005 he found himself leaving through the exit door and heading back to Spain in a swap deal for Jan Kromkamp. Following successful spells with Villarreal and Mallorca he found himself playing in Greece with Iraklis. Josemi is now currently plying his trade with lowly Spanish team Cartagena.
3. Antonio Nunez – Nunez, another early Benitez signing. You have only go to wonder how poor Benitez thought the Premiership was when he first arrived at Anfield. Arriving as part of the Owen deal Nunez was supposedly held in high regard at the Bernabeu. Injury instantly hampered any hope of settling in quickly in England. Nunez struggled to get any game time towards the end of the season, despite this he scored his only goal in the League Cup final defeat to Chelsea before going on to win a Champions League winners medal due to him being on the bench. However his Anfield days were numbered as it was obvious that he was out his depth at this level. Nunez went on to play for Celta Vigo amassing 96 appearances compared to the 11 in his sole season in the red. He then moved on to Real Murcia but is now hovever playing in Cyprus for Limassol.
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Silly article.
There could be at least 20 players in this article
Obviously there could be a lot more than the 5 highlighted but it was just to show a small segment of the foreign “dross” that we have witnessed over the years.