Five Bundesliga players who flopped in Premier League

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Sancho
Sancho in action for Manchester United

The biggest recent footballer bought from the German Bundesliga league to underperform in the Premier League is Jadon Sancho.

Since joining the club for £73 million in the summer, the winger has only scored three goals and made three assists in the league.

Sancho’s poor form has sparked comments from the likes of Paul Ince, and England manager Gareth Southgate left him out of his last team.

But the ex-Borussia Dortmund star isn’t the only one who has failed to adjust to life in the Premier League after exiting the Bundesliga.

Futballnews examines five players who fell short of their potential in England.

Timo Werner

The Chelsea attacker won the Champions League in his debut season at the club, but even the most ardent Blues supporters would acknowledge he has not lived up to his billing.

Werner netted 95 goals for RB Leipzig in 169 appearances, including 28 in his final season with the Bundesliga club.

The German was sought for by Liverpool before signing for Chelsea for £53 million, but he has only registered 19 goals in 81 outings for Thomas Tuchel’s side this season, with only one Premier League goal.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Mkhitaryan, another Dortmund to Manchester United transfer, arrived with high hopes, having previously been linked with Liverpool.

In a United shirt, he struggled to perform, scoring only five goals, one of which was his iconic scorpion strike.

Having signed a four-year deal, Mkhitaryan fell out of favor with Jose Mourinho and only stayed 18 months at Old Trafford before being superseded by Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez in January 2018.

When scoring nine goals in 29 games for Arsenal, he joined Roma in 2019 after his contract with the club was amicably ended.

Shinji Kagawa

Kagawa, like Sancho and Mkhitaryan, arrived at Old Trafford from Dortmund, but he had an edge in that he was purchased by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Kagawa went into decline under David Moyes despite winning the Premier League in his debut season and became the first Asian player to hit a hat-trick in the Premier League.

In 2013-14, he recorded just 14 league starts before returning to Dortmund for £6.5 million the following summer, after struggling to adapt to United’s system due to the addition of Juan Mata.

Sebastien Haller

When Haller joined from Eintracht Frankfurt for £40 million, he set a new record for West Ham.

Haller was sold at a huge loss to Ajax for £20 million after only 18 months and 14 goals.

He has now positioned himself as a great hit in the Netherlands, scoring 46 goals in 59 appearances for Erik ten Hag and ranking second in the Champions League this season.

Andre Schurrle

In the summer of 2013, the German became Jose Mourinho’s first signing in his second term at Chelsea.

The £18 million attacker failed to live up to the highs he achieved in the Bundesliga when he scored 15 league goals in 2010-11 for Mainz.

He barely spent 18 months at Stamford Bridge, netting 14 goals in 65 matches, but Chelsea managed to make a profit after selling him to Wolfsburg for £22 million.

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