The Most Expensive Bench Players

Alexis Sanchez

He may slowly be managing to creep his way back into Antonio Conte’s plans at Inter Milan, but Alexis Sanchez still makes this list for not being a regular on the team sheet – despite being the clubs highest earlier. The Chilean’s troubles began after his blockbuster transfer to Manchester United in 2018, following four fine seasons at Arsenal.

His contract at United was reported at £390,000 per week, piling the pressure on the former Barcelona star to deliver the goods. Sadly, he massively underwhelmed during his time at Old Trafford and was subsequently loaned out to Inter. Suffice to say, he hasn’t set the world alight in Italy, and probably won’t again at the age of 32.

Mesut Ozil

Of all the players on this list, Mesut Ozil may go down as the biggest waste of talent. While the likes of Gareth Bale and Phillipe Coutinho have enjoyed some successes on the biggest stage in recent years, Ozil hasn’t had any opportunities to showcase his immense skill set of late. Due to his perceived laziness on the pitch, a string of Arsenal managers have simply decided to ostracise him from the first team, leaving the German to watch on from the stands most weeks.

Until very recently, Ozil was collecting his £18.2m yearly salary without having to kick a ball in anger for his London employers. Thankfully for the player and club, he is now set to begin a new chapter at Turkish side Fenerbahçe. Funnily enough, the sports betting market likes to get involved with football transfers, and even if Fenerbahçe was the likely candidate, they had an odds of 9.0 not long ago. The move to Fenerbahçe is not terrible by any means, but it does feel like a career that could have been so much more.

Phillipe Coutinho

The previous two entries have been classic cases of transfers that derailed exciting careers. The same can also be said of our third entry, Brazilian playmaker Phillipe Coutinho. For Liverpool, between the years of 2013 and 2017, the tricky midfielder rose to become one of the most explosive players in world football. His unique skill set, including a rasping long-range shot, regularly had The Kop faithful on their feet.

But a disastrous move to Barcelona in January 2018 – for an eye-watering 145m Euros – quickly stopped the hype train dead in its tracks. Coutinho’s struggles were such that the Spanish club attempted to trade him to PSG as part of a deal to bring Neymar back to Camp Nou. He would eventually depart for Bayern Munich in 2019, helping the German champions to secure the Champions League title last season. He is now back in Catalunya, still unable to hold down a regular starting position.

Gareth Bale

A player who once had the world at his feet has now been reduced to a joke punchline for his apparent love of golf. Gareth Bale is the very definition of an expensive benchwarmer, as he broke the transfer world record when signing for Real Madrid back in 2013. Since then, Bale has gone on to score in two Champions League finals, as well as a Copa Del Rey final. But he will leave behind a confusing legacy in Spain, as the Welshman’s final year at Real largely descended into a farce. 

Seldom part of Zinedine Zidane’s plans, the winger instead took to the golf course, becoming a bit-part player as Real Madrid won La Liga in 2020. Unsurprisingly, he left the club that very summer, returning to Tottenham Hotspur on loan. However, even in North London, he is largely warming thebench, mostly due to injuries. With a reported annual salary of £18.5m during his time at Real Madrid, nobody is more deserving of a place on this list than Bale. 

Luka Jovic

Another player who probably regrets moving to Spain too early is Serbian striker Luka Jovic. Real Madrid signed the powerful forward on the back of one incredible season for German outfit Eintracht Frankfurt, but the £54m deal that brought him to the Bernabeu in 2019 has proven to be an unmitigated disaster (so far). Originally signed to be Karim Benzema’s understudy, Jovic has done little to show the Madrid hierarchy that he is the man to one day succeed the great French forward. 

No goals in four appearances this season saw the Serbian sent out on loan to his former club, Eintracht. Ironically, Jovic immediately scored upon his return to the Bundesliga, netting a late brace in a debut win over Schalke. The 23-year-old has time on his side and is more than capable of rebuilding his reputation back to where it once was.