10 of the Best Transfer Steals in English Football History

The summer transfer window is fast approaching, and with it comes endless speculation about who will end up where—and for how much.

We can expect teams like Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United to spend big in their pursuit of success, but it's not always the big-money buys that bring the best reward.

Equally, some of the most extravagant-looking deals end up proving to be spectacularly good business for the teams concerned.

Here are 10 of the biggest transfer steals we've seen in English football.

Ian Rush (Chester to Liverpool, £300,000)

Liverpool paid Chester City £300,000 for Ian Rush in 1980. It was a record amount for a teenager at the time, but Rush would go on to pay back Liverpool's investment a hundred times over.

In his two spells at the club, the Welshman scored 346 goals and won five league titles.

Stuart Pearce (Wealdstone to Coventry City, £30,000)

Stuart Pearce has come a long way from his non-league days at Wealdstone. Coventry City signed the tenacious fullback for £30,000 in 1983. In just two years, his value had increased tenfold.

Pearce joined Nottingham Forest for £300,000 in 1985, playing under the great Brian Clough and elevating to club captain and full-fledged international with England.

He can now be found in temporary charge of the England team.

Tim Cahill (Millwall to Everton, £1.5 Million)

David Moyes is the master of the canny transfer deal.

In 2004, Everton paid Millwall just £1.5 million for Australian midfielder Tim Cahill. In return they got a player who would storm the Premier League in their colors and play a huge role in making Moyes' team the poster child for overachievement.

Peter Schmeichel (Brondby to Manchester United, £500,000)

Peter Schmeichel joined Manchester United for around £500,000 in 1991 from Danish club Brondby.

The Great Dane would go on to become arguably the greatest goalkeeper in United's history, keeping guard between the posts as Sir Ferguson's team embarked on a dynasty of domestic and, ultimately, European success.

Schmeichel's last game for United came in the 1999 Champions League final, in which they sealed an unprecedented Treble by beating Bayern Munich.

Patrick Vieira (AC Milan to Arsenal, £3.5 Million)

Before Arsene Wenger took over at Arsenal in 1996, he demanded they sign a leggy French midfielder named Patrick Vieira.

Arsenal paid £3.5 million for him, and it would ultimately prove one of the most important transfers in the club's history.

Vieira's dominant presence in Wenger's midfield played a big part in his early successes in north London.

By the time he left for Juventus in 2005, Vieira had proved himself one of the best midfielders in the world.

Kevin Keegan (Scunthorpe to Liverpool, £35,000)

Kevin Keegan won three league titles, an FA Cup and a European Cup with Liverpool in the 1970s, during which time he formed an iconic strike partnership with John Toshack and became a darling of The Kop.

When he left for Hamburg in 1977, Keegan's price had inflated from the £35,000 Liverpool paid Scunthorpe to £500,000, which tells you everything you need to know about the bargain Liverpool got when they bought him.

Ian Wright (Crystal Palace, Free Transfer)

Ian Wright had to wait until he was 22 to get his break in professional football, when Crystal Palace picked him up after a scout watched him impress on non-league duty for Dulwich Hamlet.

Wright quickly proved himself one of the deadliest finishers in English football, helping Palace achieve promotion to the top flight and reach the 1990 FA Cup Final.

By the time he left for Arsenal in 1991, where he would truly earn his legacy, Wright was valued at £2.5 million and an England international.

Alan Shearer (Southampton to Blackburn, £3.3 Million)

Alan Shearer joined Blackburn from Southampton for a British transfer record of £3.3 million in 1992.

The striker proved to be worth every penny, scoring 130 goals for the club and spearheading their run to the Premier League title in 1995.

Shearer left for Newcastle in 1996, by which time his value had risen to £15 million and the England national had become the most expensive player in the world.

Robin Van Persie (Feyenoord to Arsenal, £2.75 Million)

Who'd like to hazard a guess as to what Robin van Persie is worth in the current transfer market?

Whatever number you come up with, you can be sure it's at least 10 times bigger than the £2.75 million Arsenal paid to Feyenoord in 2004.

Van Persie was a largely unproven talent back then. These days, he's one of the best strikers on the planet and would be welcomed with open arms by any club with the money to sign him.

Perhaps those who question Arsene Wenger's acumen in the transfer market should take note.

Eric Cantona (Leeds to Manchester United, £1.2 Million)

It's the transfer that changed everything for Manchester United.

In late 1992, United staff took a call from Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson asking whether or not fullback Denis Irwin might be for sale.

Sir Alex Ferguson was in the room and immediately said no, but he decided on a whim to ask whether Eric Cantona might be for sale.

United got Cantona for £1.2 million, he transformed a squad in contention to a squad of world-beaters and his legend lives on at Old Trafford to this day.

Arguably the best Premier League transfer of all-time.