Leon Best arrived at Blackburn Rovers in July 2012 with the responsibility of scoring the goals to fire them back to the Premier League following relegation the season prior, but it couldn't have gone much worse for the Irishman.
Best began his career with Southampton in the Premier League and would go on to play for various clubs around the EFL, including QPR, Sheffield Wednesday, Bournemouth, Yeovil Town and Coventry City, before earning a move to Newcastle United in the Championship in January 2010.
As Newcastle earned promotion to the Premier League in the 2009/10 season, Best would go on to play a sporadic role for the Magpies, playing 29 times, scoring a respectable ten goals and grabbing three assists across two seasons in the top flight.
Best's move to Blackburn was disastrous for both parties
Leon Best
Following Blackburn's relegation from the Premier League, they set their sights on an immediate return, signing Best for £3 million from Newcastle with a reported wage of £30,000 per week.
Though within weeks of signing, Best had damaged the cruciate ligaments in his knee, which ruled him out for six months.
With Best injured, Blackburn completed the big-money signing of 22-year-old striker Jordan Rhodes from Huddersfield for £8 million in a club-record deal in a serious statement of intent.
Best appeared just six times all season during his first year with the club, and was even sent off in a 4-0 away defeat to Watford in what was his final game of the campaign as Rovers finished 17th in the Championship.
Leon Best Blackburn Rovers stats, as per Transfermarkt
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Yellow cards
Red cards
The beginning of next season didn't get much better for Best, who, after missing four consecutive matches, decided to publicly criticise Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer via social media for his lack of playing time.
He would again find himself in and out of the squad for the remainder of the 2013/14 campaign, where the season after, he was cut from Blackburn's plans and was sent out on loan to Derby for the first half and then Brighton and Hove Albion for the second half.
Blackburn's Best transfer cost them a fortune
Leon Best
After three years under contract with the Lancashire club, Best's contract was mutually terminated after just 16 total appearances and two goals for the club - a cost of £1.5 million per goal and £187,500 per appearance, without factoring in wages or the termination cost.
An estimation from the Irish Independent reckons that Best cost Blackburn £11 million in transfer fees and wages in total.
Spells with Rotherham United, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic followed in the next few years, with Best struggling for game time at all three before retiring from the game in January 2018.
Injuries and controversies blighted the seven-time-capped Irish international's time with Rovers, who certainly did not get value for money with his signing.
Blackburn have yet to return to the top flight of English football since relegation from the Premier League in 2011/12, and have even had a brief spell in League One during the 2017/18 season.
Such a period in the EFL leads clubs down the path of hits and misses in the transfer window, with the Best saga one that is truly hard to find one worse than.