Fairytale or flop? Four Premier League re-signings ranked including Man Utd and Chelsea stars

Jürgen Klinsmann

Starting on a positive note - Jürgen Klinsmann earned the respect of journalists and fans in his first one-year spell with Tottenham Hotspur, but would go on to be even more important in his second. He originally signed as a household name, but not for the best reasons.

When he arrived for the first time in 1994, most English fans’ main memory of him was either his role in West Germany’s semi-final victory to eliminate England from the 1990 World Cup or his alleged dive to get an Argentinian player sent off in the final that his side eventually won.

His pedigree couldn’t be doubted, though, fresh off the back of more brilliant performances in the 1994 World Cup. He was a global star and won fans over with his self-deprecating humour (celebrating his first goal with an ironic diving celebration), not to mention a last-minute winner in an FA Cup quarter-final. He racked up 30 goals across all competitions before departing for Bayern Munich.

Klinsmann had become something of a cult hero, but most thought that was the end of his story in England.

Far from it. After two years with Bayern Munich (during which he collected another Uefa Cup and a Bundesliga title), he was at Italian side Sampdoria when the opportunity for a White Hart Lane return on loan came about. At the time Spurs were in crisis mode, in danger of relegation - but Klinsmann came back with a bang, scoring nine times in the league. Those included an astonishing 4-goal tally - a ‘haul’, as it’s known in the rare cases it occurs - in their penultimate game of the season. It’s no exaggeration to say his goals kept Tottenham in the top flight. It was a fairytale return if ever there was one.

Didier Drogba

Drogba was always a player with a point to prove: he originally joined Chelsea in 2004 for £24m, becoming the club’s record signing, and had a huge brief to fulfil. Though he got off to a rocky start, registering 16 goals in each of his first two seasons in London, he found his shooting boots in 2006/07. Racking up 33 goals in all competitions, he was the Premier League Golden Boot winner - and won them the FA Cup with a winning goal at Wembley.

The rest of his eight-year spell with the Blues remained dogged by various controversies, but nobody could deny his ability to win matches - and indeed, entire competitions. His first stint at the club ended with the Champions League final in 2012, where his 88th-minute equaliser and winning penalty in the eventual; shootout gave the Blues their first European crown.

Drogba followed up his eight years at Chelsea with short periods at Shanghai Shenhua and Galatasaray, but it wasn’t hard for Chelsea to lure him back in 2014. The striker was reportedly distraught at Mourinho’s departure from the Bridge in 2007 so when the manager returned, Drogba admitted: “It was an easy decision. I couldn't turn down the opportunity to work with José Mourinho again.”

He re-signed on a one-year free transfer, took back his number 15 shirt for old time’s sake, and returned to his and Mourinho’s winning ways with a Premier League title and League Cup. Drogba’s time at Chelsea certainly brought controversy, but it came with plenty of trophies and he received a hero’s send-off from his teammates when he finally left in 2015.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Arguably the most famous Premier League player ever, Ronaldo’s time at Manchester United as a youngster from Sporting Lisbon bore a cabinet’s worth of individual and team accolades. He won the FA Cup in his debut season and went on to be part of the famous ‘three-peat’ of Premier League titles and 2008 Champions League victory over Chelsea, as well as two League Cup wins. He eventually departed after six trophy-laden seasons for what was then a world-record fee of £80m, an offer from Real Madrid he could not refuse.

Cut to more than a decade and a spell at Juventus later, and rumours sprang up that a then-36-year-old Ronaldo was in talks with rivals Manchester City. A romantic story quickly emerged of his former boss Sir Alex Ferguson speaking to Ronaldo and the Glazer family to divert the legend to the other side of town. Just like that, United’s most famous player of all time was returning to Old Trafford to play under old teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

It looked like a time of great promise with the club having just finished second in the table, and on Ronaldo’s second debut he bagged a brace in front of a thunderous Old Trafford crowd. But it was a story that quickly turned tragic.

Ronaldo’s return forced Solksjaer to tear up his attacking plans and he found much less success with him in the side. The striker, having reclaimed his iconic number 7 shirt, netted plenty of goals under the Norwegian - but it couldn’t save United from a run of heavy defeats that spelled the end of Solksjaer’s tenure. Under new boss Erik Ten Hag, things turned sour: the Dutchman elected to bench Ronaldo eight times, a phenomenon utterly alien to him and one which led to him famously refusing to come off the bench against Tottenham.

An increasingly ugly situation reached boiling point when Ronaldo (having been named captain in his final appearance for the club) said in an interview with Piers Morgan that he did not have respect for the manager. Unsurprisingly, it was the end of his time with the club - what looked at first like a fairytale homecoming at best became a source of a fair amount of goals and a lot of distraction, and at worst derailed United’s progress.

Romelu Lukaku

There might be a striking parallel between Lukaku and Ronaldo in their decision to give an interview that totally ruined their relationship with their club - the reason Lukaku’s return to Chelsea is more of a ‘flop’ than Ronaldo’s to United is that Ronaldo at least provided some goals in both spells. Lukaku first signed for Chelsea in 2011 but played his debut season largely for the reserves.

Even back in 2012 he didn’t mince his words; he admitted he could take no satisfaction from the club’s Champions League victory and said: "Chelsea really wanted me last summer and paid a lot for me but after a while I thought, are you just throwing money around?"

His prediction that he could end up out on loan proved accurate: spells loaned out to West Brom and Everton followed, where he helped the Toffees record a club record 72 points in 2014. It was a logical step for him to move permanently to Merseyside, rewarded with Everton’s Goal of the Season and Player of the Season awards during his time there.

Lukaku enjoyed the success at Everton that he had struggled to find at Chelsea and eventually moved across the northwest to Manchester United in 2017. Though he eventually fell out of his starting spot, the Belgian did manage impressive feats like ten goals in his first nine appearances for the club and a brace against PSG that helped United reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League in 2018/19.

Success came to him at his next club, Inter Milan, where he secured the Serie A title, a Coppa Italia, and runner-up finishes in both the Champions league and Europa League. Honestly, it’s a wonder he decided to go back to the club where he hadn’t had that success - and as it turned out, he still wouldn’t.

Lukaku re-signed for Chelsea in 2021 for a reported astonishing £97.5m. He managed eight goals in 26 Premier League appearances for the Blues but, a little like Ronaldo, it proved to be an interview blunder that burned his bridges with the club. In conversation with Sky Italia, Lukaku said he was ‘not happy’ with his situation at Chelsea and made it clear that he hoped to return to Inter at some point: “I have always said that I have Inter in my head. I know I will return to Inter, I really hope so. I am in love with Italy.”

Since then the striker, unsurprisingly, has been largely out in the cold. He got his wish in returning to Inter Milan on loan, then ending up on loan at Roma. More than two years on from that interview, Lukaku remains one of the 40 or so players on Chelsea’s books. It’s fair to say Chelsea’s huge investment in his return has not proved wise.