Too many Chelsea players.

“We should watch him at Stoke City,” critics of Lionel Messi have often said, looking at his success at the Barcelona star. The Argentine did not end up in the field of “potters”, but in PSG performs quite well. He is only missing the victory in the Champions League with the Parisians, and occasionally collects personal trophies. Manchester United or Chelsea are by no means Stoke City, but for many forwards they have become places where they were doomed to fail. Here it is even more probable not in clubs, but in the specifics of the English Premier League, which is not suitable for all strikers, even highly rated ones. With the arrival of Felix at Chelsea and Nunes at Liverpool, one can recall those foreign forwards whose failure in England was the most sensational of all.

Fernando Morientes (Liverpool, 2005-06)

It looked like Liverpool had made a big deal when they bought 28-year-old Morientes in his prime from Real Madrid for £6.3m in January 2005. The three-time Champions League winner showed flashes of talent at Anfield but has clearly out of shape. After scoring just 12 goals in 60 games for the Reds, Morientes returned to Spain after a year and a half, moving to Valencia.

Hernan Crespo (Chelsea, 2003-06)

If you look at the number of goals scored by the Argentine Premier League, you might think that the word “failure” is not very appropriate here. On account of his 20 goals in 49 matches. However, the former Parma, Lazio and Inter goalscorer didn’t look convincing at Stamford Bridge. In his debut season with Claudio Ranieri, he was a rotation player, and in the 2004/05 season he was completely loaned to Milan. After Crespo’s return, he is already struggling to make his way into José Mourinho’s Chelsea squad.

Radamel Falcao (Manchester United 2014-15; Chelsea 2015-16)

The Colombian showed chic at Porto and Atlético, then shone at Monaco, despite a serious injury. Manchester United has seen fit to invest 6 million pounds on Falcao’s annual loan. And few doubted the choice Manchester United. Painfully good and versatile was this scorer. But for van Gaal’s team he only scored four goals in a season. The second entry to England already took place at Chelsea. It was hard to believe that Falcao Premier League so it won’t play. But he played even worse for the Blues, scoring just one goal in all competitions. Now he’s “rolling out” his career and it might even end CSKA.

Andrij Shevchenko (Chelsea, 2006-2009)

Shevchenko was one of the world’s top footballers and goalscorers when he moved to Stamford Bridge for a British record £30.8million in 2006. In the previous season, Shevchenko scored 28 goals for Milan in all competitions. So there were no signs of failure and the closure was not. But the forward had to fit into Jose Mourinho’s scheme with great difficulty. Then there were rumors that it was not the coach who signed him, but the owner of the club, Roman Abramovich. In the 2006/07 season, the striker scored only four goals Premier Leagueand five next season. Then he returned to Milan on loan.

Adrian Mutu (Chelsea, 2003-04)

Chelsea again, Mourinho again. The start of Mutu’s career at Stamford Bridge was promising. Their combination with Damien Duff looked very decent. But gradually the Romanian’s form began to deteriorate, and with the arrival of Jose at the club, the problems worsened. The Portuguese preferred strikers of a different type. However, Mutu brought about his final downfall himself when he was caught using cocaine.

Roberto Soldado (Tottenham, 2013-15)

Spanish forwards often have problems in England. Spurs bought the 28-year-old Soldado for a record £28m. Before joining, he scored 30 goals in 48 games in one season for Valencia. Tottenham Hotspur have acquired a clear goalscorer. And he left two years later for just £7m, having scored just seven goals in 52 games. Soldado was involved in a major wave of resurgence at Tottenham, who were then spending huge money from Gareth Bale and signing seven newcomers.

Diego Forlan (Manchester United, 2002-04)

Despite an unsuccessful entry into Manchester United, Forlan has developed a reputation as a legend. Even at United, where he did very badly, the Uruguayan was remembered for two goals at Anfield. But in just 98 games for the Red Devils, Forlán scored just 17 goals. And his first goal is already in the 34th match in a row.

Alvaro Morata (Chelsea, 2017-19)

Someone will consider it an exaggeration that Morata at Chelsea can be called a failure. But he was expected more from the £60million signing from Real Madrid. As a result, Morata, who has specific properties in the implementation of moments and every two times “gets” into his club, played 46 matches for the Blues in the Premier League, scored 16 goals, and then was sent on loan to Atletico.

Gonzalo Higuain (Chelsea 2019)

Chelsea definitely enters the leaders of this type of assessment. Did it seem like you could “spoil” Higuain? But England did not suit him at all. Although the man scored double-digit goals in La Liga with Real Madrid for five consecutive seasons, then moved to Napoli, where he scored 36 goals in one season, then moved to Juventus, and there too the Argentine has marked by the heart. But at Chelsea, Higuain spent only half of the season, scoring five goals in 14 games and not very impressive. Then he could have ended up at Arsenal, but together he didn’t grow.

Claudio Pizarro (Chelsea, 2007-09)

Chelsea is on the agenda again. The Londoners seemed to be doing great when they signed a striker for free who scored a hundred goals for Bayern and was considered one of the best goalscorers in the Bundesliga. But everything immediately went wrong. He missed a penalty on his FA Super Cup debut against Manchester United before scoring just two goals in 21 appearances for Chelsea.