10 worst Everton signings in Premier League era ranked – Koeman and Moshiri madness; £15m irritant
There has been no shortage of Everton transfer howlers since the Premier League began in 1992, but we’ve attempted to narrow it down to the 10 worst additions in this ranking.
Last month, we took a look at Everton’s top 10 most glorious signings of the Premier League era.
But this time, we’re examining the turkeys that they have brought in – many of those which came during the Farhad Moshiri era from 2016 to 2024, which ultimately contributed to the club being deducted points and almost being relegated from the top flight. But several of the disaster-classes in the market came outside of his ownership, too.
Some of these players can count themselves a little unlucky, but others simply were not even close to being good enough.
The most painful thing of all is that it was incredibly difficult to narrow this list down to just 10 names.
10. Per Kroldrup
Everton spent £5million to sign Per Kroldrup from Udinese in 2005, and he failed to impress under David Moyes.
In fact, Kroldrup suffered an immediate injury, and when he finally made his debut on Boxing Day against Aston Villa, he looked completely below the required standard in a 4-0 defeat.
It was quickly evident that Kroldrup could not cope with the demands of English football, and he was sold back to Italy after making just two appearances for the Toffees.
9. Yannick Bolasie
A wasteful signing financially but a player who was undoubtedly unlucky, Everton spent around £25million to sign Yannick Bolasie from Crystal Palace in the summer of 2016.
One of several players on this list brought in during a frantic summer under Ronald Koeman, Bolasie had established himself as one of the Premier League’s most exciting wingers with Palace.
However, Bolasie suffered a serious ACL injury just months into his debut Everton season. Ultimately, he notched just two goals in 29 Premier League appearances for the club.
Bolasie was loaned out to Aston Villa, Anderlecht, Sporting CP and Middlesbrough before leaving Everton when his contract expired in 2021.
8. Brett Angel
Evertonians who remembers Brett Angell playing for the club generally don’t have great things to say about his performances.
Initially signed on loan from Southend United before a permanent £500,000 move in 1994, the striker’s heavy first touch became a regular source of frustration for the Goodison Park faithful.
Angell scored just one goal in 21 appearances for Everton and was sold to Sunderland for £600,000 in 1995 – so at least Everton did, somehow, make a profit.
Neville Southall later said that “the step up to the Premier League was probably too much for him” and he “had a first touch like a tackle”.
7. Antolin Alcaraz
It may seem harsh to put a free signing on this ranking, but Antolin Alcaraz’s spell at Everton really was that bad.
A calamitous own goal at Southampton and a strikingly poor performance in a 5-2 defeat to Dynamo Kyiv in the Europa League stand out as the bleakest moments.
The Paraguayan international, who joined Everton in 2013, spent two years with Everton but managed just 14 appearances before being released.
6. Alex Nyarko
Everton paid £4.5million to sign Alex Nyarko from Lens in 2000, but the Ghanaian midfielder never found his feet in the Premier League.
The most memorable moment of Nyarko’s career came during a 4-1 defeat against Arsenal, when a supporter ran onto the pitch to swap shirts with the player because his performance was so poor.
Nyarko immediately requested a transfer, saying post-match: “I’m finished with football,” said Nyarko. “This man has done the same thing before.”
“He came and offered me a black T-shirt for my blue one, so I have decided I am quitting football – I can’t live my life like this.”
Nyarko didn’t quit the game, though. He went on to have loan spells with Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain, before actually returning to Everton and playing 11 more times.
He was released after the 2004/05 season because his work permit had expired and could not be renewed.
5. Richard Wright
Everton paid £3.5million to sign Richard Wright from Arsenal in 2005, but his stint at Goodison Park is remembered more for his freak injuries than his performances on the pitch.
The goalkeeper fell out of his loft and injured his shoulder, which kept him out for some time. Then, he suffered another bizzare injury after falling over a ‘keep off the pitch’ sign in a pre-match warm-up and injured his ankle.
Wright did chalk up 107 appearances for Everton between 2002 and 2007, but is regarded as one of the poorer goalkeepers the club have had in the Premier League era.
4. Sandro Ramirez
Another Ronald Koeman howler, Sandro Ramirez was regarded as one of Europe’s most exciting prospects when Everton signed him from Malaga for £5million in 2017. But things couldn’t have gone much worse for him on Merseyside.
Sandro notched just one goal for Everton, playing in the Europa League, and never nailed down a spot in the team.
The Spanish forward made 16 appearances for Everton but put in a string of poor performances. Sandro was loaned to Sevilla after just six months with Everton, and then subsequently joined Real Sociedad and Valladolid on loan in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons respectively.
Everton allowed Sandro to join Huesca for free in 2020 to end his three-year nightmare at the club.
3. Neal Maupay
Neal Maupay and Sandro are close in terms of quality but Maupay goes down as a worse signing for continuing to annoy supporters even after he left the club.
Everton paid £15million to sign Maupay from Brighton in 2022 as they looked to bring in a replacement for Richarlison and cover for the injury-prone Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Maupay had plenty of opportunities in 2022/23 as Calvert-Lewin was sidelined, with the Frenchman making 27 Premier League appearances in his debut campaign at Goodison Park.
However, he scored just one goal, and his lacklustre displays were a constant sense of frustration for supporters.
After just one season with Everton, he was loaned to former club Brentford, before once again going out on loan to Marseille in the following campaign.
Marseille signed Maupay permanently for £5million in the summer of 2025 – but only because they were obligated to per their loan agreement with Everton.
And when Everton were embroiled in another relegation battle in December 2024, Maupay rubbed salt in the wounds of the club and fans – despite still technically being a Toffees player.
“Whenever I’m having a bad day I just check the Everton score and smile,” Maupay posted on X.
2. Jean-Phillipe Gbamin
Jean-Phillipe Gbamin was a highly-rated midfielder when Everton signed him from Mainz for £25million in 2019, and he penned a five-year deal on wages of around £75,000 per week.
Marco Silva brought him in to replace Idrissa Gana Gueye, who’d left for Paris Saint-Germain. Gbamin therefore had big boots to fill – but to say he never did would be a huge understatement.
Gbamin managed to play just one-and-a-half games for Everton before various injuries kept him out for the best part of two seasons.
The Ivorian international was loaned out to CSKA Moscow half way through 2021/22, just three days before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Gbamin then spent the 2022/23 campaign on loan with Turkish side Trabzonspor, before his Everton contract was ultimately terminated a year early.
Gbamin spent four years with Everton on big wages, only to make eight appearances in total for the club, and is another glaring example of the poor recruitment during the Farhad Moshiri era.
1. Davy Klaassen
Davy Klaassen represents the most nonsensical signing on this list. Not just for the fact that he was miles below the required level, but also because of the crazy logic behind signing him in the first place.
Ronald Koeman was the man behind the addition of his fellow Dutchman, and Everton paid a big fee of £24million to sign the attacking midfielder from Ajax in 2017.
The most mind-boggling part is that Everton brought in three players for the No 10 role in that same window – Klaassen, Gylfi Sigurdsson, and Wayne Rooney.
Klaassen was undoubtedly the poorest addition of the trio. In the Netherlands, he was given the Dutchman ‘Kaasstengel’, which translates as ‘cheese straw’, for his ability to be effective in midfield despite his slight build.
But it quickly became apparent that Klaassen was not even close to being strong enough to deal with the physicality of the Premier League. In short, he looked completely out of his depth.
He never once completed a 90 minute game of football for Everton, and failed to score in 16 appearances for the club.
He was sold to Werder Bremen less than a year after joining at a loss of over £10million.
