Greatest Premier League Winter / January Transfer Signings in EPL

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]