Transfer Deadline Day: The 7 Worst EPL Deals

The Premier League transfer deadline has now passed, the window is closed and—barring free transfers and emergency loan deals—each of the twenty managers now knows the full squad they will have to choose from until the winter window opens in January.

A hat-full of signings were hastily agreed upon and completed in the last few hours of the window with Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Stoke City amongst those involved.

Doubtless some of the last transfers of summer will be viewed, in time, as masterstrokes by the men in charge and will be heralded as the players who saved a season; others, however, will not have the impact they were expected to have for their new clubs and will be deemed flops, wastes of money, and other less-savoury names in terrace chants.

Here we take a look at the seven worst deals which went down on transfer deadline day in the English Premier League.

Be sure to leave your own views on who should have been included below.

7. Jermaine Jenas: Tottenham Hotspur to Aston Villa

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish raided Tottenham for two players on deadline day; Alan Hutton and Jermaine Jenas both completed deals to join the Midlands club.

While Hutton's was a permanent deal, Jenas has joined Villa on loan for the season.

Although it is only a short term deal for now, is Jermaine Jenas really the player to bring about a big improvement in the Aston Villa midfield?

Stiliyan Petrov, Fabian Delph and Barry Bannan might not offer a lot of competition so for the player it could be a good move in terms of getting games, but Jenas has only played around half of Spurs' league games over the last two years, mostly as substitute. Does he still have the ability and desire to have an impact at the top level?

His stamina and willingness to get forward were always seen as attributes but he is not a regular goal-getter or creator and needs to forge a good understanding with Petrov if he is to have a real influence at Villa Park.

In my view, from a purely ability-based point of reference, Aston Villa would have been better off retaining Jean Makoun instead of loaning him out to Olympiakos.

6. Owen Hargreaves: Free Transfer to Manchester City

Bit of a gamble from City, and probably from me too, putting this in as one of the worst of the day.

But with Yaya Toure set to play in the African Nations Cup, which will see him gone for most of January, the Citizens were in desperate need of a replacement.

If Hargreaves stays fit and recaptures the form which saw the other Manchester side sign him in the first place, he is a very good holding midfielder and adds yet more depth to a City squad bursting with new midfielders.

The problem is, four brief Premier League outings in the past three seasons indicate that he can't stay fit, and could just end up being another expensive wage-earner on the City bench/reserve team sheet/physio table.

5. Scott Dann: Birmingham City to Blackburn Rovers

This one is not about the teams involved, but the player.

You've got to feel sorry for Scott Dann; all summer long he has been linked with a move to the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

Suddenly the North London clubs battle it out—and fail in the process—for the signing of Gary Cahill instead, while Liverpool sign Sebastian Coates.

Dann, meanwhile, is faced with the choice of stay at Birmingham in the Championship or move to Blackburn Rovers, who are in all honesty likely to be relegated themselves this season after a horrific start to the season.

The centre back has signed for Rovers, which is a great coup for them, but I doubt that Dann alone will be enough to save a club that looks without direction, leadership or ability in front of goal—and for that reason Dann's transfer is one of the worst of the deadline day deals.

4. Aiyegbeni Yakubu: Everton to Blackburn Rovers

Talk about desperate measures.

Lacking in goal scoring talent, Steve Kean, Blackburn Rovers boss, has turned to the, erm, prolific Yakubu from Everton.

Seriously? What were Rovers thinking?

The chunky hit-man has scored a whopping ten Premier League goals in his past THREE seasons combined at the top level and last year was farmed out to Championship side Leicester because Everton, with all their array of riches up front like Jermaine Beckford (who has just been sold to Leicester City himself), didn't need him.

I'll be shocked if Yakubu nets in the double figures this season for Rovers, and this type of signing is why they are one of the favourites to go down.

3. Mikel Arteta: From Everton to Arsenal, Part One

Former Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta speaking on 17th August:

"

...at least we have been able to keep our best players. If we cannot sign new players we must keep the ones we have... it has been the same with myself, with Tim Cahill, Marouane Fellaini and so many other players in previous years... it is important that we stayed, now and for the future.I am happy here, I always have been... I want to aim to win trophies, play in the Champions League and keep doing better and better.

"

Oh, how quickly he changed his mind when Arsenal had a late deadline-day bid rejected for him; the Spaniard told his club he wanted to leave and more or less forced through the estimated £11 million move.

Part one is to do with how this is a bad move from Everton; but do we really need to explain this?

The Toffees didn't sign anybody all summer long and then let go of arguably their most technically gifted player in the last hours before the window shut, leaving themselves no time at all to find or sign a replacement.

Everton's financial predicament means the club are unlikely to even be able to hold onto the money until January and sign a replacement then instead.

2. Mikel Arteta: From Everton to Arsenal, Part Two

Part two of this deal is to do with why this is not such a good deal for Arsenal.

It's not exactly that I don't rate Arteta as a player, but really... is he an adequate replacement for Cesc Fabregas?

Arteta has struggled for form and fitness for the best part of two seasons; Arsene Wenger is going to need him right at the top of his game from the very next fixture, and for as many fixtures as possible after that, if he is to even come close to having the impact that Cesc had for the Gunners.

If he doesn't, then he is not a good replacement, and ergo is not a good buy for Arsenal.

Personally speaking, I just don't see him having such an impact on the London club that he is the difference between them winning and not winning a title.

1. Nicklas Bendtner: Arsenal to Sunderland

When Darren Bent left Sunderland for Aston Villa, manager Steve Bruce did not replace him with another goalscorer and as such the Black Cat's form suffered terribly over the second half of last season.

Bent is a goalscorer.

Bruce has now seemingly replaced him with Nicklas Bendtner. With NICKLAS BENDTNER.

That is all.