There is simply no more exciting day in the football calendar than the transfer deadline day.
Clubs frantically trying to get last minute deals on the line, players desperately driving across the country and sitting outside the training grounds hoping for a move to pass – yes, we’re watching you , Peter Odemwingie – and reporters being packed with rabid fans as night approaches and time is running out.
Of course, some of that fun factor is gone in the wake of the pandemic, but there is still fun to be had. Forcing deals to death is not always a safe option and may not always pay off.
Take your most obnoxiously yellow clothes and practice your best Jim White impression – 90 mins gathered the most expensive signings that have been made in the history of the January transfer window deadline.
Despite pursuing him strongly after a strong performance in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Manchester United came close to losing Spartak Moscow defender Nemanja Vidic to Fiorentina in January 2006.
However, they managed to hijack the deal and complete the transfer. Five Premier League titles and a Champions League win, he did well, didn’t he?
Oumar Niasse followed a £ 13.5million late arrival at Goodison Park from Lokomotiv Moscow with 152 minutes of disappointing football in his debut season.
This did not give him a team number for the next campaign in 2016/17, just months after his arrival.
After signing the Napoli deadline in winter 2017, Manolo Gabbiadini followed up with Southampton and scored five goals in his first three games.
Two of them came to Wembley in the Carabao Cup final which was almost enough to see them overtake Manchester United.
Despite chasing the Russian throughout the transfer window in January 2009 and having him literally sat in a hotel on deadline day, it took Arsenal until the last window hour to close the deal. for Andrey Arshavin with Zenit.
Name something more Arsenal.
Technically, Jonny signed for Wolves in the summer of 2018 after joining Atletico Madrid, but that deal was initially on loan and was not made permanent until the January 2019 deadline. He had never played to a match for Atleti.
Zenit managed to keep Salomon Rondon away from fellow Russian Rubin Kazan when the transfer window died in 2014, but only enjoyed his serve for 18 months before selling him at a loss to West Brom.
Fans were furious when Lazio sanctioned the sale of their star midfielder Hernanes to Inter in 2014, seeing them as direct rivals in the league.
The Brazilian, however, only spent 18 months with the Nerrazzuri before moving to Juventus again.
Just under two years after leaving Swansea for West Ham for a record Irons fee, Andre Ayew returned to South Wales for £ 18million in 2018 but was loaned again in the summer last in Fenerbahce.
Chelsea snatching Olivier Giroud from Arsenal in 2018 on deadline day is arguably one of the most underrated deals of recent times.
Despite being 34, he still seems like a better option than Timo Werner.
Stoke paid a record-breaking fee to bring Giannelli Imbula to club FC Porto to his death in 2016, but he never regained his feet and was caught in a cycle of loans in 2017.
There is slight uncertainty over the actual costs Milan paid for Balotelli in 2013, but they were around £ 19million.
His time at the Rossoneri proved to be his last truly impressive spell at the highest level.
After breaking onto the Premier League scene with Watford, there was a lot of interest in Odion Ighalo in the mid-2010s.
He pushed it all off, however, and traveled to China in 2017 to sign at Changchun Yatai.
Miguel Almiron’s 2019 move to Newcastle from Atlanta United remains the highest amount ever paid for an MLS player to date.
Despite all that money, Steve Bruce will never really know what to do with him.
When David Luiz first joined Chelsea from Benfica in 2011, a certain Nemanja Matic was also included in the deal to take him across the line.
Matic would eventually return and the duo would win a Premier League together.
While the signing of Andy Carroll was the most memorable acquisition for Liverpool in 2011, it was Luis Suarez, arrived from Ajax (for the cheaper fees (!)) Who would achieve greatness.
After five years in the French capital, Lucas Moura traded the winning silverware for fun for a new start in north London in 2018.
His performances led them to a Champions League final in 2019, but it’s also good that it has happened so far.
Officially, Andre Schurrle’s move from Chelsea to Wolfsburg in 2015 ended on February 2, but we’ll let him slide.
Despite being only 30 years old, the German is retired after falling in love with the game.
You would be forgiven for forgetting that Juan Cuadrado signed for Chelsea from Fiorentina in 2015, as he was right out of the door again to the summer window.
Before Willian’s time in the Premier League, his talent at Shakhtar Donetsk had already been spotted by billionaire-backed Anzhi Makhachkala – do you remember that?
Their rise and fall coincided with the Brazilian ship’s jump to Chelsea in 2014.
Jackson Martinez ended a disappointing spell at Atletico Madrid in early February 2016 when he traveled to Guangzhou Evergrande ahead of the deadline, setting a record price for a transfer from an Asian club.
One of the two men tasked with replacing Fernando Torres when he left for Chelsea, Andy Carroll came close to replicating the Spaniard in the hairdressing department.
Nice hair, not such a great career at Liverpool.
Although he set a record with transfer fees and arrived after years of lighting up the Premier League at Liverpool, Fernando Torres’ legacy at Chelsea was that of a flop with big money.
He did, however, score a famous goal in the Champions League semi-finals at Camp Nou and won the trophy in 2012.
Aubama-who, Aubama-what?
Aubama-ouch, it actually cost a lot, didn’t it? Was it worth renewing his contract?
The Gabon international and Arsenal captain joined the Gunners from Borussia Dortmund in 2018.
