The Winter/January transfer window will be shutting in few hours. You
can expect a few clubs fanatically trying to squeeze the deal in before
deadline. Over the years, Many of the deals happened during this period
are either panic or reflex buys and clubs
have paid over-inflated fees. But there has been instances of very shrewd piece
business as well, which turned out to be a masterstroke in the long run.
So lets have a look at the 10 best January signings in the recent past of the
Barclays Premier league :
10. Brede Hangeland

Copenhagen to Fulham
Fee Undisclosed
Back in 2007, he was linked with many of the top PL clubs including Liverpool and
Manchester city,
but he decided to stay in Denmark. He was eventually snapped up Roy
Hodgson’s Fulham side. He was a consistent performer at the
London
based club and was a standout in the club’s relegation battle in his
first season. The following season was historic for Fulham as they
finished as the runners up in Europa league. His consistent good
performance has seen him wanted by many of the two clubs across Europe
9. Ashley Young

Watford to Aston Villa
Fee £8 million [excluding add ons]
After
his impressive performance with Watford in the Championship and in the
Premier League, Villa paid a club record fee to get Young’s services. He
instantly repaid the faith by scoring on his debut. He was consistent
throughout the season and made it to the PFA team of the year. His solid
performances
continued in the
subsequent seasons and was named PFA young player of the year in
2008-09. In 09-10 season he played a pivotal role in Villa’s great run
in the League Cup. He assisted as many as 17 goals that season. He kept
his great form going the following season as well scoring 9 times. He
then made a move to
Manchester united in the summer of 2011
8. Daniel Agger
Brondby IF to Liverpool
Fee £6 mill
The
skilled blocker was the most expensive defender to be bought by
Liverpool, when his deal went through. Since then he has established
himself as one of the best central defenders in the Premier league.
However his Liverpool career have been hampered with injuries in regular
intervals but when he is fit, he always gives a solid performance. He
is known for his presence of mind, and dependability.
7. Christopher Samba
Hertha Berlin to Blackburn
Fee £450k
This deal will surely go down in the premier league
history books
as one of the greatest bargains ever. Ever since he made the move to
Blackburn, he been their first choice centre back and played a major
role in Helping the club avoid relegation. He has occasionaly played as a
striker and is major threat in set piece. He has been linked with a
move to Arsenal for quite sometime now
6. Javier Mascherano

West Ham United to Liverpool
Fee £18.6 [Fee + four year player wages]
Liverpool initially signed him loan with a view to make the move permanent later. Everyone at liverpool were impressed by his
great start
at the club. Praises were bestowed on him from all corners. After all
sorts of speculation about his future with the club, Liverpool finally
signed him on a four year deal in february 2008. Mascherano quickly
established himself as one of the best defensive midfielder in the
league. He had three successfull years with
the club before moving to Barcelona for a reported £22 million.
5 Emmanuel Adebayor

AS Monaco to Arsenal
Fee £7 million
He had a great start
to his Arsenal career scoring on his debut. He had a good first outing
but the following season turned out to be his breakaway season. He was
in red hot form scoring 24 goals and also his goal against rivals Spurs
was awarded as the goal of the season. The next season saw him being
linked with various clubs, his form on the
field was nothing spectalur scoring only 10 goals. He later joined Manchester city for a fee around £25 million.
4. Clint Dempsey
New England Revolution to Fulham
Fee £2 million
Dempsey
came into the Premier league bearing the tag of the most expensive
American player ever. Dempsey scored his first goal against Liverpool
which effectively saved Fulham from relegation. The following seasons
saw him net crucial goals which helped the London club avoid the drop.
He played a major role in Fulham reaching the Europa league final in
09-10 season, Scoring a memorable chip against Italian giants Juventus.
The 10-11 season saw him net 13 goals and he has started this season on a
bang. He has been linked with a move to Arsenal, whether the deals goes
through remains to be seen.
3.Kolo toure

ASES Mimosas to Arsenal
Fee £150,000
Signed
by Arsenal after a short trial with the club, Toure had to wait till
August for his debut. It was only in the 03-04 season, he bacame a first
regular. He made a strong centre back pairing with Sol campbell and had
a great season . Arsenal were unb
eaten the whole season. In the
following seasons, Toure established himself as one of the best
defenders in the league. Toure was signed by Manchester city in 2009 for
a whopping £16 million
2. Patrice Evra AS Monaco to Manchester United
Fee £5.5 million
Patrice
Evra was signed by Manchester United to strengthen their defence which
looked lacklustre in the season before- and also to fill the void left
by Gabriel Heinze’s injury. He had a rather unimpressive start to his
United career and it took him 9 months to adapt to the English game.
Once he did, the rest fell in place. He has been included in the PFA
player of the year 3 times, and also been included in the FIFPro World
XI and UEFA team of the year in 2009.
1. Nemanja Vidic Spartak Moscow to Manchester United
Fee £7 million
A
relatively unknown player when he joined United, is now considered as
one of the best defenders in the world. He is one the greatest buys by
Sir Alex Ferguson. Just like Evra, it took some time for Nemanja adapt
to the English game. But once he did, he and Rio Ferdinand made a
formidable a centre back pairing. They back four that he and Rio
marshalled was one of the main reasons for the Red Devil’s Champion’s
League triumph in ’08. Since joining the Reds he has been named twice in
the FIFPro World XI, 4 times in PFA team of the year and Players player
of the year award in 2008-09 campaign.
Notable mentions:
Gary cahill [From Aston Villa to Bolton Wanderers], Luis Suarez [Ajax
to Liverpool], Phil Bardsley [Manchester United to Sunderland], Charles
N’zogbia [Newcastle United to Wigan Athletic, Michael Dawson [Nottingham
forest to Tottenham Hotspur], Martin Skrtel [Zenit St.Petersburg to
Liverpool]