Veron, Mutu, Keane and Reyes: The top 10 expensive transfer flops!

Aston Villa beware: splashing the cash doesn't always work. Though we wish Darren Bent all the best whatever he does, mind.

1) Juan Veron: Lazio to Man United/ Man United to Chelsea (£43m combined)
Man United appearances: 78
Goals: 11
Chelsea appearances: 14
Goals: 1
Arrived with a big reputation and at a cost £28m, United fans were entitled to expect great things in 2001. A year later the club managed to persuade Chelsea to part with £15m for his services and despite scoring on his debut against Liverpool, he again fell by the wayside.

2) Owen Hargreaves: Bayern Munich to Man United (£17m)
Appearances: 39
Goals: 2
The midfielder joined Fergie's side in 2007 but since then has made so few appearances as a result of an injury that it's only right he sit so highly on the list. And just when it looked as though he was finally on the mend in November he limped off after five minutes against Wolves – his first appearance in two years.

3) Adrian Mutu: Parma to Chelsea (£15.8m)
Appearances: 38
Goals: 10
He arrived in 2003 as one of the new big-name signings when the club weren't afraid to throw money about but left as a striker without a club in 2004 following his sacking after testing positive for cocaine.

4) Robbie Keane: Tottenham to Liverpool (£20m)
Appearances: 28
Goals: 7
He signed for Rafa Benitez in July 2008 but was back playing football at Tottenham in February 2009, owing to a very unhappy stay on Merseyside. Though his return to Spurs seems like it could be a costly mistake too. Twelve million quid sounds a bit much with his future again uncertain.

5) Alberto Aquilani: Roma to Liverpool (£20m)
Appearances: 28
Goals: 2
A very good candidate for worst signing of the 2009/10 season. Injured for the first four months after signing in the summer of 2009, his performances in a Red shirt when finally fit were not that encouraging and new boss Roy Hodgson loan him out to Juventus and is still there.

6) Andrei Shevchenko: AC Milan to Chelsea (£30m)
Appearances: 77
Goals: 22
He scored on his debut in the 2006 2-1 Community Shield loss to Liverpool and it seemed that one of the world's top strikers would continue his goal scoring exploits. Unfortunately for Blues fans his goals were few and far between and his hellish stay in London was ended in 2009. Now playing for first club Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukraine.

7) Roque Santa Cruz: Blackburn to Man City (£17m)
Appearances: 24
Goals: 4
It should be pointed out that 16 of the striker's appearances have been as a substitute but it's not the Paraguay international's fault entirely. He was a signing of Mark Hughes' in 2009 and following a succession of injuries, any hope of featuring were gone after the arrival of Roberto Mancini's buys, Mario Balotelli and now Edin Dzeko. He's now back at Rovers on loan.

8) Jose Antonio Reyes: Sevilla to Arsenal (£17m)
Appearances: 110
Goals: 23
Initially showed signs of class but the forward was ultimately inconsistent throughout his time in north London after moving from Sevilla in 2004. A year later a Spanish radio prank phone call led to revelations of his desire to play for Real Madrid. In 2006 he was photographed wearing a Real shirt and the following year was sent on loan to the Spanish giants before joined rivals Atletico Madrid.

9) David Bentley: Blackburn to Tottenham (£17m dependent on appearances)
Appearances: 62
Goals: 5
Following his excellent form at Blackburn, big things were expected of the right midfielder when he joined Spurs in 2008. And, despite one of those five goals coming against rivals Arsenal in the 4-4 draw shortly after moving, he wasn't able to force his way into Harry Redknapp's side and joined Birmingham on loan in the January transfer window.

10) Robinho: Real Madrid to Man City (£32m)
Appearances: 53
Goals: 16
Would tell anyone who'd listen how much he hated life in England but at £32m – a British transfer record – he just couldn't cut it in the Premier League and was one of many South Americans unable to handle the pace of the game over here. In the end he was offloaded to AC Milan after a loan spell in Brazil with Santos.

Appearances and goals are for all competitions.