Although the European football leagues had yet to enter the season finale, it seems as if the curtain is slowly coming down on a year that, whatever happens to the end, will be marked by the crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The season may be coming to an end in some way, but a line can already be drawn when it comes to transfers that did not live up to expectations or were completely disappointing.
PEP'S ERROR AND ITALIAN CHILDREN'S DISEASES
Kyle Walker, in the right-back position, participated in all of Manchester City's successes under the command of Pep Guardiola, but it was never a secret that the manager of the "Citizens" likes technically superior players in outside positions.
That's why he brought Joao Cancelo from Juventus this summer, it turns out he made a mistake in his assessment. The Portuguese did not live up to expectations, so Walker only strengthened his position in the starting 11. City paid Cancela 30 million this summer, and in the same operation, they sent Danilo to Juve.
And Moise Ken in Juventus had no space to show himself among the giants in attack. However, it seems that competition is not so much a problem, but indiscipline. The young striker strengthened Everton, it was believed and went to the middle where he can show his potential, but he disappeared in his first season outside the Apennines.
His goalscoring performance in 20 games is - zero, and he was paid almost 30 million euros. If anyone can put Ken back on the right track, it's Carlo Ancelotti, who took over the "caramels" at the end of 2019 instead of Marco Silva.
POKETIN'S CHOICE DOESN'T SUIT MOURINHO
Tottenham's record transfer turned into a desperate buy.
Tangi Ndombele, a €60m signing from Lyon, struggled in north London from the start and when Mauricio Pochettino succeeded Jose Mourinho it got worse for the Frenchman.
"To be honest - he doesn't bring us anything on the pitch," Mourinho once said.
AZAR'S DREAM TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE
For years, Eden Hazard talked about wanting to join Real Madrid. He fulfilled his dream last summer, but the Belgian will remember his first season in Madrid as one of the weakest in his career.
Injuries threw him out of rhythm, Zinedine Zidane counted on him in only 13 games, but the club still trusts him.
He seems like a bad buy for Real at the moment (€100m), but the diminutive forward's class has never been in doubt... Maybe it's the 2020/21 season. just his.
THE BIG SCENE "SWALLOWED" DE LIHT AND PEPE?
Months ago, there was a debate in Italian football broadcasts about whether Mathais de Licht was in a hurry to leave Dutch soil and arrive in the most defensively demanding league in Europe.
The fact is that De Licht did not manage in Juventus, he only somewhat improved his impression in 2020, but the first months were difficult, marked by mishaps, hidden penalties, own goals...
That's why Merih Demiral took his place in the team for a while, before he suffered a serious knee injury.
If Giorgio Chiellini had been healthy, De Licht would probably have waited much longer for a real chance in Turin, and next season the club expects more from the guy who was paid 85 million to Ajax this summer.
The summer of 2019 will also be remembered for the fact that half of the Old Continent was chasing the guy from Lille - Nikola Pepe. He was eventually bought by Arsenal, but there are many who claim that the Ivorian striker chose a club that could not offer him much at the time.
Pepe was paid 80 million euros to the "mastiffs", but he only showed at times that he could be a decision maker...
KICKS OF THE YEAR: LUKA JOVIĆ
The Madrid stage is something special in the world of football, Luka Jović is one of those who found that out the hard way.
After scoring 36 goals last season at Eintracht, the youngster born in Bijeljina had many offers on the table. He chose to be a part-time player at Real Madrid, although he probably did not imagine that he would be so much in the shadow of Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior, Rodrigo...
He played 17 games for the "royal club", he was the scorer only once. So the problems he had with the Serbian authorities in March at the height of the pandemic are remembered much more since he did not respect the self-isolation measures upon his arrival from Madrid to Belgrade.
Real paid the Germans 60 million for him, he would be happy if he could sell him in the summer for half of that money...
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