Premier League Transfers: Mikel Arteta and the Best Deadline Day Deals

In a frantic final day of the transfer window, Premier League clubs took their summer spending to £485m, business analysts Deloitte said.

This amount represents a 33% rise on the same period in 2010, equating to an increase of £120 million.

Deadline day buys may not always be the best researched transfer moves—however, sometimes the players acquired have an immensely positive impact on the club during the season.

Here's a look at the 10 best deadline day deals that happened and why they are the best.  

Peter Crouch

Destination: Stoke City

Offer Type: Transfer

Fee: £12 million

Contract Length: 4 years

Reason: Peter Crouch's signature is a major coup for Stoke City manager Tony Pulis. Crouch will suit Stoke City's style of play and is the perfect accompaniment for Rory Delap's long throw-ins.

Stoke City are short on strikers, so this signing, in addition to that of Cameron Jerome, is a great move for the club. There was a need for Stoke City to increase its squad due to the Europa League and they've had a masterstroke summer transfer window. 

Craig Bellamy

Destination: Liverpool

Offer Type: Transfer

Fee: Undisclosed

Contract Length: Undisclosed

Reason: Craig Bellamy was a strange acquisition. However, he is a match-winner. It is not exactly clear where he fits into the grand scheme of things at Liverpool, but most fans of the club will be happy to have him back.

There's too much of a love-in in the Liverpool set-up right now, for my liking. Bellamy, though, will give Liverpool a much needed chip on their shoulder which is essential for winning titles.

Raul Meireles

Destination: Chelsea

Offer Type: Transfer

Fee: £12 million

Contract Length: 4 years

Reason: I'm pretty sure that the signing of Raul Meireles was a very deliberate move by Andre Villas Boas to wrestle whatever control of the Chelsea dressing room that remained beyond his reach.

Signing a Portuguese player, being Portuguese himself, will only strengthen Andre Villas Boas' hand at Chelsea as Meireles would be another player that is on Villas Boas' "side". 

It doesn't hurt either that Meireles will now drastically improve Chelsea's options in midfield.

Per Mertesacker

Destination: Arsenal

Offer Type: Transfer

Fee: £8 million 

Contract Length: Undisclosed

Reason: One of the biggest problems the Arsenal team had to contend with over the past few years is that their defenders were never really defenders who liked to defend. 

Their defenders were never destructive and full-blooded, rather the requirement was that they had "touch", "finesse" and played the tip-tap football. 

Mertesacker on the other hand has a bit of streak about him. Furthermore, the picture says it all: he's a winner. And with almost 80 caps for Germany, he's got that all important trait: experience.

Just £8 million?

Royston Drenthe

Destination: Everton

Offer Type: Loan 

Fee: N/A

Contract Length: One year

Reason: With Leighton Baines as Everton's statutory left-back, it figures that Royston Drenthe will likely play as a left winger. It is also possible that he is Everton manager David Moyes' choice to replace Steven Pienaar.

A talented Real Madrid player come down from the clouds to the alleyways of Merseyside says it all. 

Scott Parker

Destination: Tottenham Hotspurs

Offer Type: Transfer

Fee: £5 million

Contract Length: Undisclosed 

Reason: The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year last season, Scott Parker's pedigree is beyond doubt.

Parker's practicality will, in all likelihood, complement Luka Modric's vision and such a partnership could help kickstart Spurs season. 

Wilson Palacios

Destination: Stoke City

Offer Type: Transfer

Fee: £6 million

Contract Length: 4 years

Reason: How Stoke City manager Tony Pulis acquired the midfield pile-driver that is Wilson Palacios for only £6 million, I'll never know.

Stoke are aiming to establish themselves as a bona fide Premier League side and with this signing they are on the right track. Playing in Euope will require a bigger squad, but that would be moot if the squad isn't good. And this squad is getting pretty good.

The signings of Jonathan Woodgate and Matthew Upson show that Stoke City mean business. And when you sign a Champions League worthy player like Palacios, business must be looking really good.

Denis Stracqualursi

Destination: Everton

Offer Type: Loan

Fee: N/A

Contract Length: One year

Reason:  Nothing really is known about this Argentine striker, but if we go by his goal rate he'll be a good replacement for the largely ineffective Jermaine Beckford.

Stracqualursi, nicknamed El Traca (the firecracker), was the top scorer in Argentina last season notching 22 goals in 35 games.

With Everton in desperate need of goals and a good start to the season, Stracqualursi may well be the answer.

Scott Dann

Destination: Blackburn Rovers  

Offer Type: Transfer

Fee: Undisclosed

Contract Length: 4 years

Reason: English defenders come at a premium these days, however an English defender with a couple of years worth of  Premier League experience is priceless.

Along with Christopher Samba, who was frequently linked with a move away from Ewood Park, Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean will have a solid back-line at his beck and call.

Shaun Wright Phillips

Destination: Queens Park Rangers

Offer Type: Transfer

Fee: Undisclosed

Contract Length: 3 years

Reason: QPR will find Premier League football difficult—I've no doubt about it. However, having an England international like Shaun Wright-Phillips will bring diversity and width to this newly promoted side.

QPR will have to learn the hard way about staying up in the Premier League, and in Wright-Phillips the QPR players will have an able tutor.