Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham make worst signings but Mikel Arteta dodges one transfer bullet

Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham have been responsible for the three worst transfers in the 21st century, according to research.

As three of the biggest teams in the Premier League, the London trio will naturally be responsible for some of the biggest deals financially. Chelsea have spent more than £1billion in the last two seasons alone since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital came in.

Arsenal and Spurs have also spent big in the last few seasons, with work needed to improve squads on a regular basis. But signings do not always work out how managers and chairmen and women will hope.

That is certainly the case for a number of big-name signings in the Premier League since the turn of the 21st century. And research by OLBG.com says Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs are each responsible for one of the worst transfers since 2000.

With a flop score of 81.9 out of 100 from OLBG ’s transfer analysis model, Mykhailo Mudryk was singled out as the worst signing of the 21st century so far. The Ukrainian made the move to Stamford Bridge in January 2023 for a fee that could rise to £88.5million.

Mudryk had looked set to move to Arsenal until Chelsea came in with an eye-watering bid to sign him from Shakhtar Donetsk instead. And so far it has not paid off.

READ MORE: Nicolas Pepe flop, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel bargain - Edu's 35 signings at Arsenal rated

READ MORE: Chelsea have already completed two transfers to give Noni Madueke and Mykhailo Mudryk a problem

Mikel Arteta may have dodged that transfer bullet, but Arsenal are responsible for the second-worst signing in the 21st century - although it had nothing to do with Arteta.

The Gunners signed Nicolas Pepe in 2019 when Unai Emery was the head coach. Emery, now at Aston Villa, made no secret of his desire to sign Wilfried Zaha, with Arsenal shelling out £72million for Ivorian Pepe instead.

Pepe got a flop score of 80.3 out of 100 on OLBG's rankings to sit just behind Mudryk in the rankings. For Tottenham, their £63million signing of Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon in 2019 came in at number three on the list with a flop score of 75.1. For all his talent, Ndombele failed to tie down a regular place in the Spurs starting XI and had his contract terminated this summer despite having one year left to run.

Manchester United were responsible for the next FOUR players on the list, with Alexis Sanchez, Jadon Sancho, Harry Maguire and Paul Pogba named as the next flop signings. Timo Werner, Robinho and Marc Cucurella make up the top ten.