Gérard Houllier’s 40 Liverpool signings ranked and rated – who’s the worst?

Gregory Vignal // Montpellier // £500,000

Another less-than-perfect deal for a Frenchman, Gregory Vignal played just 20 times for Liverpool. He joined in 2000 but had to wait until the next season before he was handed a chance in the first team, as Vignal was handed a chance at left-back after Jamie Carragher was moved to the right.

But then the defender suffered a fractured foot and was out for the rest of the season, which really wrecked his chance of showing Houllier what he could do.

The next campaign yielded just four games as Vignal was basically sleepwalking through the rest of his Liverpool career. In fact, he was so bad that the Reds let him go for nothing with a year still left on his contract and joined Portsmouth.

Rating: 2/10

Abel Xavier // Everton // £750,000

Nobody crossed the divide from Everton to Liverpool for decades and then Abel Xavier followed Barmby in a short period of time.

However, Xavier failed to impress – despite scoring a goal on his debut. The defender was granted a decent run in the side with Phil Thompson took over from Houllier briefly, and the Portuguese international played 15 games in all competitions.

However, Houllier didn’t fancy the player and he made just six appearances during his second season with Liverpool.

Xavier swiftly moved on to Galatasaray in January and was told not to return to the club. It makes you wonder why he was ever signed in the first place?

Rating: 2/10