10 Amazing Deadline Day Premier League Signings

Since it was made compulsory almost a decade ago, the two annual transfer deadlines have become red-letter days for everyone involved in the game.

Agents are busy hawking their clients all over the globe, players try all kinds of tactics in order to engineer lucrative moves, clubs make snap decisions on players they hope will bolster their squads for the coming months and fans are transfixed as they scour the Internet and gossip columns for any hint that their team is going to lure a star at the last minute.

The vast majority of deals may be cut-price or loan moves as clubs just want to get bodies in or out of their locker rooms, but every now and then a truly eye-catching transfer is pushed through as the clock ticks down and the fax machine gets its twice-yearly workout.

Here, in reverse chronological order, is a list of 10 of the most remarkable deadline-day deals to have taken place in the Premier League. 

Fernando Torres (Liverpool to Chelsea, £50m) January 31, 2011

It is fair to say that things were not going well for Torres in January.

The striker had earned a World Cup medal the previous summer, but he did not get on the score sheet in any of Spain's seven matches in South Africa, and he picked up an injury after appearing in the final as a substitute.

Although he still managed nine goals in 23 league appearances for Liverpool upon his return to maintain his highly impressive Premier League strike rate, his apparent lack of form and fitness came to personify Roy Hodgson's ill-fated tenure at Anfield.

So when Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich swooped to make a British record £50-million bid for the former Atletico Madrid man, Liverpool bit their hands off.

Chelsea also brought in Benfica defender David Luiz for a fee north of £20 million, but it was Torres who inevitably grabbed the headlines.

Torres's first game for his new club came six days later against (wouldn't you know it?) Liverpool.

Having scored both goals in a 2-0 win over the Blues just a couple of months beforehand, the stage was set for the 27-year-old to immediately show his former employers what a mistake they had made in letting him go.

Sadly for him, that's not how it worked out. Liverpool won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, and Torres would only score one goal in a Chelsea shirt before the end of the season, a strike against West Ham, thanks in no small part to a puddle in the penalty area of a rain-soaked Stamford Bridge.

While Torres has looked sharper and more confident this term, after having a full preseason with the west Londoners, that sole strike remains the only tangible return on Abramovich's record investment. 

Andy Carroll (Newcastle United to Liverpool, £35m) January 31,2011

Liverpool were so eager to offload the misfiring Torres because they wanted to fund a squad rebuild under new manager Kenny Dalglish, who had been installed to clean up the mess left by Hodgson in the dugout and Bill Hicks and George Gillett in the boardroom. 

Earlier in the same day, they finally completed the long-mooted signing of Luis Suarez.

But it was still something of a surprise when they spent a full 70 percent of the Torres fee on a 22-year-old striker with just 33 Premier League appearances under his belt.

Carroll had taken his scoring form from Newcastle's single season in the Championship up with the club back into the top flight, netting 11 goals in 19 games in the first half of the season.

However, his copybook had plenty of blots on it already for one so young, both in terms of injury and off-field hi-jinks and skirmishes.

Still, Dalglish was willing to take a chance on the six-foot-three centre-forward, and the Gateshead-born forward was whisked off to Merseyside despite actually being injured at the time.

Carroll did not make his debut for another five weeks, and it took six appearances for him to open his account for his new club, scoring a brace in Liverpool's 3-0 win over Manchester City.

Rafael Van Der Vaart (Real Madrid to Tottenham Hotspur, £8m) August 31, 2010

With the raft of stellar signings that came with Florentino Perez's second stint as president of Real Madrid, it seemed inevitable that there would be as many players leaving the Bernabeu as entering.

But it was still a major surprise when Spurs landed a player who had appeared in the World Cup final less than two months before for just £8 million.

Van der Vaart was an instant hit at Spurs, scoring in each of his first six appearances at White Hart Lane. 

The Dutchman revelled in his role at the top of the midfield, scoring crucial goals in wins over the likes of Arsenal and Inter Milan.

In total, Van der Vaart scored 16 goals in all competitions as Spurs reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and set up another nine in the Premier League.

While the 28-year-old's constant struggles with nagging injuries—which rarely see him play a full 90 minutes—may account somewhat for his knockdown price, there is no denying he has become a key component of the Spurs team.

A bona fide deadline-day success story. 

Niko Kranjcar (Portsmouth to Tottenham Hotspur, £3.5m) August 31, 2009

Perhaps the least heralded of the signing in this list, Kranjcar's arrival at Spurs was nonetheless a telling one.

When Harry Redknapp raided his former club to bring in the Croatian midfielder for such a startlingly low price, it was a clearly shrewd manoeuvre.

Kranjcar could clearly have had a more auspicious start to his Tottenham career.

His first game after completing his move to London was for Croatia, who suffered a 5-1 mauling at the hands of England.

Then came a 3-1 home defeat to Manchester United on his Tottenham debut, and that was swiftly followed with a 3-0 battering at Chelsea. 

Soon enough, though, he found his feet, scoring goals against Bolton and Wigan (the latter a record-equalling 9-1 victory) before his two goals in a 3-0 win over Manchester City in December were the final nail in the coffin for then-City boss Mark Hughes.

That win also saw Spurs steal a march on City, their main rivals in the race for the final Champions League spot.

Kranjcar may not be a regular in the first team, but he continues to show his quality.

Last season he scored back-to-back winners against Bolton and Sunderland as well as netting four times for his country.

With Luka Modric's potential move to Chelsea, at least Harry Redknapp can be confident that another Croat can ably deputise if he cannot pull off another bit of deadline-day magic this summer.  

Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St. Petersburg to Arsenal, £15m) January 31, 2009

After winning the UEFA Cup with Zenit and helping Russia to the semifinals of Euro 2008, having eliminated England in qualifying, Arshavin established a reputation as one of the hottest properties in European football.

The diminutive playmaker seemed to employ a whole squad of agents to work on securing him a move to Barcelona, Real Madrid, Milan, Juventus or any other major club that was interested.

But it was Arsenal who maintained their interest long enough and, as all the other avenues began to close themselves off, London became the only destination for him.

On a January deadline day disrupted by heavy snow across the UK, Arshavin chartered in his own flight to get to London Colney in time to seal his move.

He took little time in endearing himself to the Arsenal faithful, his pace and skill winning him many fans in England, and his bizarre Q&A sessions on his website and array of facial expressions made him an instant cult figure.

If there were any doubters left as to his star quality, then surely his scoring of four goals in a 4-4 draw at Liverpool won them over.

Since then, however, he has struggled to match those early highs.

Despite chiming in with his fair share of goals and assists, the nature of his inconsistent performances has tried the patience of a significant contingent of the Arsenal supporters.

Still, scoring the winning goal in the Champions League last 16 first leg has certainly bought him some time, and in a summer that has seen Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri leave town, the Russian's presence will be as important as ever.   

Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United, £30.75m) September 1,

A skillful, inventive Tottenham player from Eastern Europe whom the Londoners are struggling to hold on to amid a huge bid from one of the Premier League's top clubs.

Sound familiar?

Spurs fans must have a certain feeling of deja vu regarding Chelsea's interest in Modric, because it draws many parallels with Manchester United's pursuit of Berbatov back in 2008.

That summer saw United's interest staunchly rejected by Spurs, who had seen a return of 46 goals in two seasons for their £10.9-million investment.

However, Berbatov made it clear he wanted to leave, no more so than when he came off the bench at Middlesbrough on the opening day of the season and shuffled around the Riverside Stadium in the manner of a disinterested child being dragged around the supermarket.

Spurs even made noises about reporting United for what they perceived to be an illegal approach for the Bulgarian striker, but a deadline-day bid of £30.75 million eventually convinced them to let him go.

That figure was a British transfer record for all of a couple of hours before...

Robinho (Real Madrid to Manchester City, £32.5m) September 1, 2008

As far as statement signings go, this must is be the one by which all others are measured.

While Berbatov was putting the finishing touches on his move to Old Trafford, a far bigger deal was being thrashed out on the other side of Manchester.

The Abu Dhabi United Group, the company controlling the business interests of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nayhan, was putting the finishing touches on its takeover of Manchester City, just a year after the club had been bought by Thai despot Thaksin Shinawatra.

Once ADUG were handed the keys to Eastlands, they acted with impressive speed to secure their first of so many marquee signings, Robinho.

The Brazilian forward was out of favour at Real Madrid, despite being one of the most naturally talented players of his generation.

He had made it well-known he wanted out of the Bernabeu, and a move to Chelsea had been on the cards for much of the summer.

But in swooped City to complete a £32.5-million deal that blew Chelsea out of the water.

Reports that the player himself thought he was on his way to Manchester United have never been fully substantiated, but what is known is that the new British record signing was jogging around the Eastlands pitch as the clock ticked down to midnight as he completed his medical.

His City career got off to an explosive start, his debut goal against Chelsea the first of 12 in sky blue before the turn of the year, including a hat trick in a 3-0 win over Stoke.

But the mercurial attacker's motivation was continually brought into question, as he rarely replicated his home form on the road, and several stories emerged about how much he disliked living in the northwest of England.

By the time his second season began, he looked wholly jaded with life in the Premier League, and he spent the second half of the campaign on loan back at former club Santos.

The following summer, City cut their losses and sold Robinho to Milan, where he scored 14 Serie A goals as the Rossoneri won the title last season.

Carlos Tevez & Javier Mascherano (Corinthians to West Ham) August 31, 2006

If Robinho joining Man City was the biggest deadline-day statement signing, then the double arrival of Tevez and Mascherano must be the most baffling.

Two Argentina internationals, who both made several appearances during the World Cup just two months previously, were presented to the media at Upton Park sat either side a very bemused manager Alan Pardew, who struggled to pretend he had known anything about the deal.   

The main intrigue surrounding the deal was based around the question of just who owned these players.

For many fans in England, it was an introduction into the world of part- and third-party ownership, which is so commonplace in Spain, Italy and South America.

The duo played for the Hammers, but were owned by Media Sports Investments, who were evidently keen to put the pair in the shop window and earn more lucrative moves.

Despite the hype and fanfare surrounding them, neither player was able to adapt quickly to their new surroundings as West Ham became sucked into a relegation battle.

Then, as suddenly as he arrived, Tevez sparked to life, finally scoring his first goal in March and going on to hit seven in his last 10 games. His goal at Old Trafford on the final day of the season sealed a famous win for the Hammers that saved them from the drop.

Sheffield United, who were relegated instead, questioned the validity of Tevez's registration at Upton Park and sued the Hammers, eventually claiming around £30 million in compensation.

But by the time that bitter legal wrangle had been settled, Tevez was off to United and Mascherano had left for Liverpool.

Ashley Cole (Arsenal to Chelsea, £5m Plus William Gallas) August 31, 2006

Cole gained little sympathy from Arsenal fans when he made his cross-London move to Chelsea.

The England left-back wrote in his autobiography how he almost crashed his car when his agent called to say the Gunners were not giving him the £60,000-a-week wage he wanted, and would only stretch to £55,000.  He was unsurprisingly pilloried for it.

Cole had been spotted with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich in a restaurant a year before, so it was no surprise when the move to Stamford Bridge began gathering pace. 

Arsenal may have lost a world-class full-back, but the blow was significantly softened by William Gallas coming to the Gunners as part of the deal.

Were it not for Abramovich's obsession with signing Cole and Gallas' clear desire to leave Chelsea, then Arsenal would surely not have done so well out of the deal.

Still, Cole has gone from strength to strength in west London, winning his second Premier League title in 2009 and also reaching his second Champions League.

Gallas, meanwhile, was let go at the end of the 2009-10 season because of his age, and Tottenham swooped to snap him up.

Given the current state of the Gunners' defence, how they could do with a player like Gallas now, let alone Cole.

Wayne Rooney (Everton to Manchester United, £20m) August 31, 2004

Unquestionably the most exciting English player of his generation, it was clear Rooney was destined for great things from the moment he came off the bench to score a stunning winner against Arsenal as a 16-year-old. 

Rooney was fast-tracked into the England team, and after he scored four goals at the 2004 European Championships, an all-out bidding war ensued.

Manchester United were always the front-runners to sign him.

Despite a cheeky £15-million bid from Newcastle United, Rooney was always going to end up at Old Trafford.

An injury sustained in England's quarterfinal defeat to Portugal meant he did not make his United debut until the end of September, but it was worth the wait—Rooney scored a sensational hat trick in a 6-2 win over Fenerbahce in the Champions League.

A severe loss of form as a tabloid scandal engulfed him saw him lose a lot of fans, and he threatened to leave the club last year before eventually signing a huge new contract worth more than £200,000 a week.

However, he has fully rediscovered his scoring touch, and his contract wrangle has been all but forgotten. 

There is barely any need to recap what a success Rooney has been since moving to Manchester, but the fact that one of his three goals in the 8-2 destruction of Arsenal on Sunday was his 150th for United in just seven years at the club shows just how that £20-million outlay has been paid back several times over already.

To make matters worse for United's Premier League rivals, Rooney does not even turn 26 until October, meaning his peak years should still be ahead of him.