Transfer Window Closing: 10 Unlikely Deals That Might Just Happen

It may not always live up to the hype, but transfer deadline day still has plenty of potential to surprise on occasion.

Witness Andy Carroll's £35m move from Newcastle United to Liverpool, one of the five most expensive transfers in British football history.

This year has already delivered a couple of deals which at first glance appeared absurd, but now look like they might go through.

Who would have guessed as short a time ago as last weekend that Owen Hargreaves would be making the short journey across town to Manchester City, or that Joe Cole would fly out to France to hold talks with Ligue 1 champions Lille? Not many of you is a fair bet. 

In that spirit, here are 10 more deals that are all fanciful to varying degrees, but could be on everyone's lips come September 1.

Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal to Tottenham Hotspur)

Villarreal are a good side. A very useful side, in fact. Barcelona and Real Madrid may be head and shoulders above the rest in La Liga, but the small-town club helped light up the Europa League last season, and both they and neighbours Valencia fully deserve their place in this season's Champions League.

However, the strike which saw the first round of Primera Division fixtures postponed meant the Yellow Submarines' opening domestic match of the season was a trip to the Camp Nou, where they were ripped to shreds in a 5-0 win for the champions. 

That comprehensive defeat must have been hard to take, and may help to convince Rossi that he has gone as far as he can in Spain. The Italy international was heavily linked with a move to Barca in the early part of the summer, but once Pep Guardiola had added Alexis Sanchez to a list of forwards that already boasted Lionel Messi, David Villa and Pedro Rodriguez, it was clear that ship had sailed.

Enter Tottenham. Spurs made a bid for Rossi back in January. True, they made bids for several other strikers in Spain at the same time, but the Jersey boy was one of the higher targets on Harry Redknapp's list.

Many players hold plenty of stock in clubs maintaining their interest in them over a period of time.

Rossi has unfinished business in the Premier League, having failed to impress during spells at Manchester United and Newcastle United as a teenager. If Redknapp or Spurs chairman Daniel Levy can sell the club and the opportunity to him, he may be tempted into making a return to the UK.   

Peter Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur to Sunderland, Stoke City)

The arrival of Emmanuel Adebayor on loan at White Hart Lane spells trouble for England's most prolific striker. Crouch may have been Rafael van der Vaart's assister-in-chief last season, but his own return of four Premier League goals just did not cut the mustard.

Adebayor was only able to join Spurs after they agreed to pay a much higher proportion of the exorbitant wages in his Manchester City contract than they would have liked, so the onus is very much going to be on squeezing as much value out of the Togolese as possible over the year for which they will have him.

Redknapp has admitted it is up to Crouch to decide whether he wants to take up one of the offers on the table for him or stay in North London and spend more time on the bench this season. 

Stoke have been interested in the 30-year-old for several months, but he would be competing for a place in the team with fellow big men Kenwyne Jones and Ricardo Fuller. By contrast, Sunderland are short on experienced strikers, and are still yet to fully cover for the losses of Jones and Darren Bent. 

If the former Liverpool striker believes he still has an international future worth fighting for, then don't be surprised to see him sporting red-and-white stripes somewhere this weekend.

Yossi Benayoun (Chelsea to Arsenal)

It seems that in the wake of the seminal 8-2 drubbing at Manchester United, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has finally relented to pressure to invest some of the deep resources at his disposal in adding players to his squad.

Germany international defender Per Mertesacker, South Korea forward Park Chu-Young and Brazil left-back Andre Santos have all either been signed or they will be by the close of play on August 31.

However, Wenger is yet to recruit a new member of personnel in order to compensate for the crippling double loss of midfield creators Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, who both starred on their respective league debuts for Barcelona and Manchester City.

Borussia Dortmund have confirmed emphatically now what was expected for a long time, that 19-year-old German starlet Mario Goetze is not going anywhere, so Wenger has a task luring a player with the skill necessary to add guile to the heart of his team.

Step forward, Israel international Benayoun, who is surplus to requirements at Chelsea after an injury-ravaged year at Stamford Bridge and has confirmed he is looking elsewhere.

A return to Liverpool is said to be on the cards, but if Wenger wants the experience his young squad so craves, then he could do a lot worse than tempt the former West Ham man into signing for the third London club of his career.

After all, Wenger has Champions League football to offer—something Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish cannot.

Craig Bellamy (Manchester City to Liverpool)

Another former Liverpool player linked with a return to Anfield, Bellamy is firmly an outcast at Manchester City despite performing so well for the club under former manager Mark Hughes.

The Wales international is a combustible character, a trait which lies at the root of his somewhat nomadic career. 

However, in Dalglish, Liverpool now have a manager who commands respect out of fondness from most players, and the veteran Scotsman would know how best to harness Bellamy's considerable talents, even at the age of 32. 

Bellamy showed last season that he is prepared to take a pay cut in order to play for a cause he deems worthy following his season-long loan at Cardiff City, a club he almost helped reach the playoff final of the Championship.

His adaptability would certainly be an asset for Dalglish, and he would be an able deputy for Luis Suarez. Just don't let him loose on the golf course.

Giovani Dos Santos (Tottenham Hotspur to Wigan Athletic, Sevilla or Udinese)

The case of Giovani's time at Tottenham is a curious one. A hat-trick for boyhood club Barcelona persuaded Tottenham to sign him in 2008, clearly under the impression that they had snared the next big thing.

After six league appearances during Juande Ramos' ill-fated reign, however, he was shipped out on loan to Ipswich Town. 

At Portman Road, he was clearly a class apart from most of what else was on offer in the Championship, scoring four goals in eight league appearances. Despite further successful loan spells at Galatasaray and Racing Santander, he still not been given a fair shot at Tottenham.

In the midst of all his club troubles, Giovani has been a star for the Mexican national team, heavily involved in El Tri's two most recent CONCACAF Gold Cup wins and starting every game for the team in last year's World Cup in South Africa.

As such, he is now being courted by an unlikely trio of clubs in England, Spain and Italy. Considering he is clearly surplus to requirements at White Hart Lane, to the point where he has not been given a squad number this season, it would suit both club and player to arrange a move away from North London before the deadline.

Federico Macheda (Manchester United to Sunderland or Newcastle)

When a brash, confident striker who looked 17-going-on-27 scored a sensational winner on his debut against Aston Villa in 2009 that was a landmark moment in Manchester United winning that season's title, it looked like Macheda had the world at his feet. 

Since then, however, things have not panned out as he or Alex Ferguson might have hoped.

It was hoped that a loan spell in his homeland with Sampdoria in January would be the making of him. Instead, he only scored one goal in 14 Serie A appearances, and Samp were relegated after a dramatic slide down the table. Macheda and Massimo Maccarone were clearly no replacements for Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini.

He may only have five league goals to his name in his career, but Macheda has only just turned 20 and possesses a physique and power that suggests he could still make it as a Premier League footballer. 

To that end, Ferguson may well wish to make interest from one of the two North-Eastern clubs chasing him something concrete.

After all, Fergie's former player Steve Bruce did a great job of helping Danny Welbeck come of age at the Stadium of Light last year, and if Alan Pardew can be talked into bringing Gabriel Obertan to St James' Park, then surely anything is possible.

Gary Cahill (Bolton Wanderers to Tottenham Hotspur)

The England defender had been pegged all summer long as the answer to Arsenal's defensive problems. The centre-back has well over 100 Premier League appearances under his belt, has real presence in the air with his 6'2" frame and chips in with the odd goal too. 

The Gunners had seemingly been at the front of the queue for the 25-year-old, but when Arsene Wenger finally got round to making a bid, his £6m offer was not exactly what Bolton were looking for, to put it kindly.

Instead, Wenger turned his attention to Mertesacker, leaving Bolton boss Owen Coyle to finally settle on planning for a campaign with his prize stopper still at his command. 

But North London could still be where Cahill is plying his trade come the end of the week, just a few miles down the road.

Tottenham have Michael Dawson as the main man of their back line, but with William Gallas succumbing to injury too often, Ledley King barely playing for the same reason, Vedran Corluka too immobile to play in the heart of the defence and Sebastien Bassong deemed surplus to requirements, Harry Redknapp may be tempted to put in a late bid. 

Spurs may not be able to offer Cahill Champions League football, but they are certainly prone to paying clubs handsomely for their players and would give the former Aston Villa man a hike in his weekly paycheck. Watch this space. 

Leighton Baines (Everton to Chelsea)

Another player who has been tentatively linked with a move on to bigger and brighter things is sometime England left-back Baines. The most effective player in the Premier League last season, in terms of pure statistics at least, is one of David Moyes' prize assets, and it would take a significant outlay to tempt the Scottish manager into selling. 

A significant outlay is something Chelsea have proven they are willing to make on several occasions already this year. While the prospect of being Ashley Cole's understudy for club as well as country may not be the ideal prospect for Baines, a vastly increased wage and the chance to play in Europe along with a far more talented group of players may be Andre Villas-Boas' key bargaining chip. 

The Chelsea manager has already tried to lure Alvaro Pereira from former club Porto for a big fee, so it is clear he wants top-class cover for every position in his squad. 

With Everton unable to spend any money on improving their own team, if Merseysider Baines' loyalty to the club is not enough to stop his patience at playing for a club constantly treading water from waning, a move to Stamford Bridge would make for a nice alternative. 

Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid to Milan)

There has been constant speculation over the future of 'Lass' ever since he joined Real Madrid from Portsmouth in 2008. That state of affairs is no doubt helped by the France midfielder's wanderlust, with Real being the fifth club he has played for in his seven-year professional career.

A reunion with former Pompey boss Harry Redknapp at Tottenham has often been in the cards, but that move now appears to be a no-goer. For now, at least. 

In the meantime, the 26-year-old can expect to spend more time on the Bernabeu bench this season as Jose Mourinho has once again strengthened his squad.

Step forward, AC Milan. The Serie A champions have just learnt that they will be without midfielder Mathieu Flamini for at least six months after the Frenchman underwent knee surgery. Diarra shares many qualities with his fellow ex-Arsenal player, rugged and disciplined enough to help screen the back four but more than capable of contributing to the attack with the ball at his feet.

With rivals Inter Milan and Juventus both making several significant purchases for the coming season, Rossoneri manager Massimiliano Allegri can ill afford to go more than half a season without sufficient cover for Flamini.

Diarra would fill that role with aplomb, and add another prestigious club to have bulging resume.

Kaka (Real Madrid to Chelsea)

When Real Madrid rocked the transfer market with the £150m splurge that greeted Florentio Perez's return to the club's presidency, few could have predicted that it would have been former World Player of the Year Kaka who would have the toughest time at the Bernabeu.

But the supremely graceful Brazilian has suffered a string of injuries since moving to Spain that have limited him to just 25 league appearances in his first season and 14 last term.

While his return to fitness at the turn of the year saw some of his fabled form return—he scored seven goals in 14 league appearances—the absence of a guaranteed place in the Real team has stopped the former Milan playmaker from playing his way back into his best form.

A regular place at Stamford Bridge—the one earmarked for Luka Modric, in fact—could be just the spot to once more get the best out of 29-year-old. He would undoubtedly be the main creative force in Villas-Boas' new Blues and would thrive on such responsibility.

Chelsea are one of the few clubs able to offer anywhere near Kaka's current wage and help Real recoup a fair chunk of the £49m fee they paid for his services not two years ago.

If the way to Modric's signature truly has been shut off by Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, then Kaka could prove the ace in the hole that Chelsea need to get the best out of Fernando Torres and make this season's fight for the Premier League title a true three-horse race.