Top 5 Eye-Catching Deadline Day Deals

In the history of transfer deadline day there have been several eye-catching signings made by clubs. Whether they are desperate last minute buys or if they are made to make a statement of intent they always make the headlines. I’m sure like me, everyone is glued to their televisions every time deadline day comes around. It’s a day of mayhem in the footballing world as clubs try and get their squads completed for the matches ahead of them. Here are my top 10 eye-catching deadline day transfers:

5. Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United – September 2008)

It was probably the most eventful deadline day of them all in September 2008. After chasing Berbatov throughout the summer of 2008, Manchester United’s close rivals City tried to snatch Berbatov off them on the final day of the 2008 transfer window straight after they had been taken over. However, United got their man for £30.75million, getting one over on their neighbours in the process.

4. Robinho (Real Madrid to Manchester City – September 2008)

After being taken over by rich businessman Sheikh Mansour, Manchester City made a huge statement of intent in 2008 when they purchased Real Madrid superstar Robinho for £32.5million. The club flexed their new found financial muscle to out-bid Chelsea for the forward. After only showing a few glimpses of his talent on the English stage, it turned out to be an unsuccessful transfer and just 18 months later he was loaned back to his old club Santos in January 2010 before signing for AC Milan in the summer of 2010.

3. Andy Carroll (Newcastle United to Liverpool – January 2011)

Another manic deadline day was in January 2011 when Liverpool were desperate to bring in a striker. They ended up splashing out £35million on Andy Carroll after having two previous bids turned down for the forward. On a day they also signed Luis Suarez from Ajax and sold Fernando Torres to Chelsea, it was probably the busiest day in the history of the club. Carroll spent this season on loan at West Ham after an unsuccessful 18 months at Anfield.

2. Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano (Corinthians to West Ham – September 2006)

This was probably the biggest transfer coup ever as West Ham managed to sign Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, who were considered two of the biggest talents of world football at the time. West Ham fans were left stunned at what the club had managed to achieve by signing these two. This deal also was the first to highlight the problems of third-party ownership of players and it nearly cost them their Premier League status at the end of the season but they were given a hefty fine instead. Tevez is currently at Manchester City after a spell with Manchester United and Mascherano is at Barcelona after a spell at Liverpool.

1. Fernando Torres (Liverpool to Chelsea – January 2011)

Chelsea paid £50million for Torres in January 2011 which caused all sorts of drama across the country on this deadline day. The transfer is seen across the footballing world as the biggest flop the transfer window has ever seen as Torres has failed to settle at Stamford Bridge ever since, failing to re-capture the glorious form he showed at Liverpool which saw this British record transfer go through.

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