Why Kostas Mitroglou is not the worst January Transfer in Premier League history

By Stephen Kountourou

It was ten years ago, midway through the 2013/14 season. Greek international striker Kostas Mitroglou had the world at his feet. He was top scorer of the Greek Super League, was helping Olympiakos steer towards another Greek Super League title, had become the first Greek to score a hattrick in the Champions League, had helped Thrylos qualify for the round of 16 & had scored vital goals in the World Cup playoffs to help guide Greece to Brazil 2014. 

Naturally, there were plenty of suitors for the 25-year-old, and as they say, when the Premier League comes calling you cannot say no. So in January 2014 ‘Mitrgoal’, as he was affectionately called by Olympiakos supporters, signed for Fulham for 15 million Euros, a record transfer fee for the West London side. Fast forward to the end of the season. Fulham had been relegated to the Championship after an abysmal campaign and Mitroglou had only made three appearances, scoring no goals in the process. 

In the years since, the fee, the lack of appearances, the lack of goals and Fulham's relegation have caused many to label this as ‘the worst January signing in Premier League history' with 90Min.com and FourFourTwo magazine naming Mitroglou on their lists. 

As is also unfortunate, with players who don't make it in the Premier League, it's very easy for some to dismiss Mitroglou's quality without looking at the player's track record at their previous and future clubs. 

It is indisputable that Mitroglou joining the West Londoners was not a success. But is there more context behind why the move didn't work? 

Why didn't he play?

Just before the end of 2013, Mitroglou sustained a knee injury, ruling him out of playing for Olympiakos between then and the end of January 2014 where Fulham, who were in a relegation battle to remain in the Premier League, swooped to sign the Greek international. The only problem, Mitroglou was still injured. This meant that Fulham fans had to wait much longer than expected for the 25-year-old to make his debut by which point he was no longer match sharp or match fit. (Talk about length of time out) 

Fulham perhaps did not realise that, while they had got themselves an excellent striker on paper, Mitroglou was also inexperienced at playing for a team fighting a relegation battle, having spent the last couple of seasons competing for titles and in Europe for Olympiakos. It was a recipe for disaster from the start. 

What must also be taken into account was the managerial change after Mitroglou arrived. He had initially been bought by René Meulensteen but with the instability of the club, he was sacked in February 2014 and replaced with Felix Magath. The German manager during his time at Fulham became an infamous character, with stories after he left the club including the bizarre suggestion to then Fulham defender, Brede Hangeland, that he rub cheese on a thigh injury.

While he did give Mitroglou his debut he didn't seem to fully trust the striker to start consistently. That on top of the reported fitness problems, with Mitroglou’s persistent knee injury, limited the amount he was able to play. 

Are there January signings that are comparably worse? 

The Short answer is yes. 

From the 2013/14 season until 2022/23, excluding the current 2024 January window, there are ten players who it could be argued had just as bad if not a worse stint at their club than Kostas Mitroglou.

 

So while Mitroglou was a failure in the Premier League, when compared to the players on this list the majority of whom made more appearances than he did for their respective clubs, it can be argued that he was unlucky with his injury problems but also that he was perhaps not given the chance to prove himself when fit. 

Magath’s lack of faith in him when he was fit and available, meant that he and Fulham were denied the opportunity to see what he was capable of. 

Had he been able to play the same minutes as these other players, labelled as January flops, there is every chance that he would have picked up momentum and started scoring, which would have given the West London side the best chance of staying up in the Premier League. 

Also, some of the responsibility should fall on Fulham as a club, for not doing the proper checks to make sure they were signing a fully fit player who could contribute, as questions should be asked as to how he was able to pass his medical if he was still injured. 

This is also why players like Alexis Sanchez leaving Arsenal to join Manchester United in January 2018 was arguably a bigger flop if not the biggest of the last decade. A player rated as one of the best in the league at the time left Arsenal for a traditional rival for a huge fee. 

Yet despite being given plenty of opportunities to play, not to mention his wages being an eye-watering £350,000 a week Sanchez, compared to his time in North London was a calamitous singing for the Red Devils. That could be seen as far more egregious than Mitroglou’s transfer, with other mentions before 2013/14 being Fernando Torres' transfer to Chelsea and Andy Carrol joining Liverpool, as two examples of huge money moves that were objectively failures.

After Fulham

As said before, Mitroglou’s brief time at Fulham damaged the player's reputation. Once one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe, the Greek international had to have a fresh start after failing in the Premier League. 

Fulham, with the players' high wages, were not able to count on him to help them try to fight for promotion back into the top flight. 

Instead, Olympiakos came calling to bring him back to Piraeus on loan, winning another Greek Super League title and scoring the winner against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League group stages. He would go on to win numerous titles with Benfica in Portugal before reaching the Europa League final with French side Marseille. 

Despite his career hitting a downward spiral perhaps earlier than many expected and with the air that he never quite hit the heights of what his potential had promised, Kostas Mitroglou proved that while it did not work out in the Premier League, he was a capable, and at times, brilliant striker who had a very covered career before and after his fated move to West London. 

While perhaps he would even say he wasn't blameless for what happened at Fulham, with context it is harsh to casually label Mitroglou as ‘the worst January signing in Premier League history’, when perhaps he couldn’t/was not given the chance to show Fulham fans his true potential. 

@SteveKountourou

Hellas Football