Gérard Houllier’s 40 Liverpool signings ranked and rated – who’s the worst?
El Hadji Diouf // Lens // £10,000,000
After an impressive World Cup campaign in 2002, El-Hadji Diouf was brought in from Lens for £10 million. Houllier hoped that the transfer of Diouf would push the Reds closer to the elusive Premier League title after finishing second the previous season.
Right away, the forward backed up the hype of his transfer with a brace in his debut against Southampton. Unfortunately, this turned out to be the peak of his Liverpool career as Diouf would go on to score only one more league goal for the rest of his career. His poor play led to regular appearances on the bench and disapproval from the Anfield faithful.
Diouf’s biggest criticism wasn’t his mediocre playing, but rather his mischievous attitude. From stealing Neil Mellor’s penalty to dancing after a cup defeat, the Senegalese had no shortage of controversy.
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But perhaps is most infamous moment would come against Celtic in the UEFA Cup where he spat at an opposing supporter. Even club leaders Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard would go on to state their discontentment with having Diouf as a teammate.
After only two seasons with the Reds, where the forward managed to score a whopping six goals in 80 appearances, Diouf was loaned out and ultimately sold to Bolton Wanderers.
Rating: 0/10. Words by Minh Nguyen.
Carl Medjani // Saint-Étienne // Free
There’s not much to say about Carl Medjani, really. He impressed during the U20 Toulon tournament in France, and spent a season on loan with Lorient after being signed in 2004/2005.
Medjani was let go in 2006 after making no appearances for Liverpool.
Rating: 0/10