Ranking the Best and Worst La Liga Deals from the 2015 January Transfer Window
So the fun and games of the transfer window is over again for another six months.
The half-yearly scramble has thrown up a couple of surprises in La Liga this January as clubs seek to push on from the early part of the season and onwards to glory.
A number of deals have taken place in 2015 so let's take a look at the five worst and five best transfers from the Spanish top flight.
Rankings are based on value for money and importance of the player and what he will bring to his new team.
5. Oriol Riera
1 of 10
Ex-Barcelona B player Oriol Riera has turned into the archetypal journeyman pro.
Most recently of Wigan Athletic, Riera has been loaned to Deportivo La Coruna after failing to impress at the Championship side.
Depor is already the 10th stop of a career that has never really taken off.
4. Helder Costa
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Another player that has signed for Deportivo La Coruna on loan is Helder Costa.
The 21-year-old arrives from parent club Benfica without having played for them at senior level.
The winger has 15 goals from 72 appearances at Benfica B level, but it's doubtful that he can provide the ammunition that Depor need to ensure they avoid the drop this season.
Should he do so, then the loan move could be made permanent in the summer.
3. Edimar
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That Cordoba's Edimar is most well known at this juncture for being the person on the receiving end of a kick and punch from Cristiano Ronaldo tells us much.
Only last June the Brazilian signed a long-term deal with Chievo Verona of Serie A, however after only featuring for nine minutes since, the La Liga side have been a grateful escape for the player.
Another player who is already at the 10th club of his career.
2. Theo Bongonda
4 of 10Theo who?
You would imagine that 19-year-old Theo Bongonda has been signed by Celta Vigo as one for the future.
There's nothing in his career thus far to suggest anything otherwise, and fans of the Galician club hoping for decent reinforcements might have been left a little disappointed.
Bongonda has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract after leaving Belgian side Zulte-Waregem.
Four goals in two years isn't a particularly good return but it was obviously good enough for Celta to invest.
1. Bebe
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Ex-Manchester United player Bebe has wound up on loan at Cordoba after spectacularly failing to impress at Benfica.
Initially loaned to Liga Sagres side Pacos Ferreira, his form there convinced Benfica to grease United's palms to the tune of £2 million.
With two other loan moves failing to work out the player must surely have had high hopes that he had hit the jackpot.
However, just four appearances later, with three of those as sub per Simon Jones of the Daily Mail, Benfica have seen enough.
If he can't resurrect his career in La Liga, it's doubtful the player can justify playing at the top level again.
5. Joel Campbell
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Villarreal have done well to secure the services of Joel Campbell from Arsenal for the remainder of the season.
After signing a new contract with the Gunners, it seemed a matter of time before he broke into the first team, but despite six months of toil, that hasn't happened.
Arsene Wenger noted via David Wright of the Daily Express:
"He will go there because he needed games.
I believe that here, things are a bit obstructed for him, because there are too many players in the same position.
For six months, he worked very hard every day, and didn’t get enough chances to play.
I wanted to give him the chance to continue to get experience at the top level.
"
Used as a makeweight in the deal to take Gabriel Paulista to London, given Wenger's comments you wonder whether Campbell does indeed have a future at Arsenal.
4. Enzo Perez
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Jorge Jesus won't have been happy that Enzo Perez finally decided to move to pastures new given that, via Goal.com, the manager has previously described Perez as "the most difficult member of his squad to replace."
A reported €25 million fee will go some way to soothing the Benfica manager's brow, with Valencia the grateful recipients of the player's services.
Los Che are buying genuine quality and whilst Perez may need to up his goals for tally, his work rate will ensure that the money has been well spent.
An integral part of Benfica's recent success, Peter McVitie of Goal.com noted:
"The Argentine has spent three-and-a-half years at the Portuguese giants, in which time he won the league once along with three other domestic trophies and reached the Europa League final twice.
Perez was also part of the Argentina team which reached the final of the World Cup in Brazil.
"
3. Lucas Silva
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Just 21 years old, Lucas Silva comes to La Liga on the back of a league championship win with Cruzeiro.
Named in the Brazilian league's team of the season, Silva is a tough competitor and a holding midfielder who apparently likes to mode himself on Yaya Toure, per Press Association via Daily Mail.
Signed for €14 million according to Soccer News, Silva will bring some steel to the holding midfield role and whilst his skill set may not be in-keeping with Real's free-flowing style, as Barcelona have found out with Sergio Busquets, the DM role is often the most important despite being the most unheralded.
2. Martin Odegaard
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There aren't too many 16-year-olds that get to sign for one of the world's greatest football teams, and immediately command an £80,000-per-week salary per Ben Snowball of Yahoo/Eurosport.
Martin Odegaard, only a month after turning 16, is that man.
Signed from Norwegian side Stromsgodset, Odegaard has the world at his supremely talented feet, but also the expectations to go with it.
Real Madrid clearly feel they've bought well, and after a half-season of acclimatising to his new surroundings by virtue of a tenure at Los Blancos reserve side Castilla, it's likely that Odegaard will be integrated into the first-team setup from the beginning of next season.
1. Fernando Torres
10 of 10
Who'd have thought it? Fernando Torres looking every inch the player we all knew he was but hadn't seen since his Liverpool days.
Three shots on target, three goals. Not a bad return in your first few games, and against Real Madrid and Barcelona to boot.
Diego Simeone has once again worked wonders, knowing exactly what's required to get Torres ticking again.
The Chelsea experiment was always doomed to failure. Torres was never a Didier Drogba-type striker so trying to have him play as a target man was short-sighted at the very least.
Atletico Madrid have already reaped the rewards of utilising El Nino correctly. Long may it continue.
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