Every new Premier League season brings with it good and bad transfers, but some deals turn out to have been downright pointless.Â
You look back at them and wonder “why did they ever bother signing that guy?” We’ve picked out five moves that elicited that exact response from football fans this past season.
The most pointless Premier League transfers in 2025/26:Â
Harvey Elliot – Liverpool to Aston Villa (loan)
This is the purest definition of a pointless transfer. But when Harvey Elliot joined Aston Villa on loan from Liverpool on loan with an obligation to buy last summer, it seemed like an ideal move. The attacking midfielder needed minutes, he fits the kind of profile of player that Unai Emery likes, and Liverpool would get a tidy £35m fee at the end of it.
There was just one problem; Emery decided pretty quickly he didn’t see Elliot as part of his long-term plans. With the deal requiring Villa to buy the player once he made a certain number of appearances, and no recall clause included, he spent most of the season on the bench.
The Midlands outfit tried to renegotiate the terms with Liverpool so that Elliot wouldn’t be left in limbo, but no solution was found. It meant he played only nine times and, although he did pick up a UEFA Europa League winner’s medal, a whole season of his career was lost.
It’s a real shame it didn’t work out for the 23-year-old, whose potential is rapidly going to waste. Things might have been very different had he joined RB Leipzig, West Ham or Fulham, all of whom were chasing his signature last year. Maybe Andoni Iraola can resurrect his career.
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Christian Norgaard – Brentford to Arsenal (£10m + £5m in add-ons)
As part of their push to finally win the Premier League, Arsenal went about adding depth to every area of the pitch. The strategy paid off, as the Gunners avoided the kind of injury crisis that derailed their charge last season thanks to a deeper squad.
Christian Norgaard arrived from Brentford as a budget addition to bolster their midfield options, but with Martin Zubimendi also signed as a prospective starter, the Dane ended up way down the pecking order. He made just nine league appearances totalling a little over 100 minutes, with his only start coming on the final day against Crystal Palace. And even then he was subbed off at halftime.
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James Trafford – Burnley to Man City (£31m)
Last summer, James Trafford thought he had made a dream return to Manchester City, the club he first joined as a 12-year-old.
After two years of establishing himself at Burnley, conceding just nine goals in their Championship-winning campaign in 2024/25, City activated their buyback clause following the departure of Ederson.
Trafford was finally going to get the chance to be the first choice goalkeeper at his boyhood team. But after starting in their first few Premier League matches, City signed Gianluigi Donnarumma, a world-class shot stopper who had just won the UEFA Champions League with PSG.
The England international didn’t start another league game until the final day, though he did start every cup match, including finals which they won. In that sense, it wasn’t a completely pointless move for the 23-year-old, though he will be wondering if he would’ve been better off signing for Newcastle United.
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Armando Broja – Chelsea to Burnley (£20m)
Why do Premier League clubs keep signing Armando Broja? Is it because he’s a big, strapping centre forward? Do they get attracted by his physical attributes and think “yes, we can work with that”? Because it can’t be because of his record as a goal scorer.
Burnley are the latest club to think they can get the best out of the Albanian striker, and they are the latest to find out that he simply cannot cut it in the top flight. Broja scored a grand total of one (1) league goal for the Clarets, taking his overall tally to six goals in 100 league appearances over six seasons. And it only cost them £20m as they returned to the second tier.
Chelsea must be working some kind of hypnosis on their rivals to keep convincing them to sign their unwanted leftovers for actual currency.
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Facundo Buonanotte – Brighton to Chelsea (loan)
Speaking of Chelsea, their eagerness to sign players from Brighton has become a meme, but it became truly ridiculous when they signed Facundo Buonanotte on loan last summer. The Argentine attacker wasn’t even a starter with the Seagulls any longer, having spent 2024/25 on loan with Leicester City.
What possible reason could they have for bringing him in? What role does he fill? How does he improve the team? As it turned out, there was no answer to any of those questions; he was left out of their Champions League squad and made just one Premier League appearance before returning to the south coast in January.
Brighton, having equally no need for the 21-year-old, sent him back out on loan to Leeds United, where he made three substitute appearances totally around 40 minutes.
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See Also – Why Xabi Alonso preferred Chelsea to Liverpool
