The Best & Worst of Transfer Deadline Day - Football News

So deadline day is upon us and quite frankly this transfer window could not come to a close soon enough. To give full backing to the comments from messers Mourinho, Laudrup et al, having the window drag on for the first couple of weeks of a new season is ill advised at best.

Clubs who have done little business throughout the window could well be forced into panic buys, not to mention the issues caused for clubs who end up having to sell their best players at the last second, leaving them with very little chance to replace them. With that in mind, here is a look at our most notable deadline day deals of recent times. For better or worse, these are ten memorable deals that won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

Ashley Cole - Arsenal to Chelsea - 31st August 2006 – The left back may have become one of the least popular players in the country upon completing this move, but there is no doubt that the £5 million deal has worked out rather well for Chelsea and Ashley Cole.

Cole was keen to show Arsenal fans just how many trophies he had won in comparison to the Gunners after suffering seasons of abuse and the picture was telling. Cole left Arsenal just as they were going into decline, and has since won the Champions League, League titles and domestic cups with Chelsea. 



Wayne Rooney - Everton to Manchester United - 31st August 2004 – If the forward had his way at the beginning of the summer, we could well have seen another deadline day deal, yet after pledging his future to United once again, it is fair to say that since his move from Everton, Rooney has been a huge hit for Manchester United.

Providing goals, hunger and passion, Rooney is one of the very best players in the Premier League and yes may have some dips in form, but all in all, what a deal pulled off by Fergie all those summers ago for only £20m.

Jermaine Defoe - Spurs to Portsmouth - 31st January 2008 – One of the best deals Harry Redknapp has done during the transfer window, he brought one of his favourite players to Pompey and saw Defoe resurrect his career at the same time. After falling out of favour at Spurs, the forward was desperate for a move to link back up with Harry and duly got one for around £6 million. Not only did Defoe net a fair few goals, but he also made them a pretty penny when Spurs bought him back for £15.75 million a year later.



Marouane Fellani - Standard Liege to Everton - 31st August 2008 - For £16 million, David Moyes netted Fellani back in 2008 and the midfielder has become one of the biggest players for the Toffees. Having developed a cult fan base not only for his amazing hair, but also for his talents on the field, Moyes has tried without success thus far to take the player to Old Trafford with him. United have seen a couple of bids rejected but will try once again to complete a deal that they hope will be half as good as the one that Everton made in the first place.



Carlos Tevez - Corinthians to West Ham - 31st August 2006 - A whole heap of trouble surrounded this transfer (and also the one of Javier Mascherano, which was less successful) but all in all, the move for Tevez kept West Ham in the top flight of English Football that season.

The striker took to English football like a duck to water, and despite not taking to the weather, never went AWOL until his move to Manchester. His attitude off the field may not be the best, but on it, Tevez is one of the best forwards around, and Hammers fans certainly found that out.



Fernando Torres - Liverpool to Chelsea - 31st January 2011 – Even if there was no text following this heading, each and every reader would know what an utter disaster the £50 million plus move was for both Chelsea and Fernando Torres. The forward has still not found his shooting boots, been called the ‘weakest character I have ever managed’ by Carlo Ancelotti and been mocked by a Paddy Power billboard. Clearly a big money move was not the best idea for Torres, who will be hoping Jose Mourinho can help him rediscover his form.



Andy Carroll - Newcastle to Liverpool - 31st January 2011 – The move that was triggered by the deal for Fernando Torres did not fare much better. For slightly less than they conned out of Chelsea for Torres, although not exactly pocket money at £35 million, Carroll was not as woeful as Torres, but the deal was still a major flop with the forward running into trouble on and off the field, eventually being loaned out and then sold off for less than half of his initial fee. The decision of Liverpool to buy Carroll in response to losing their talisman was about as successful as Germany opting to invade Russia in the middle of winter. And we all know how well that went.



Robinho - Real Madrid to Manchester City - 1st September 2008 - A classic example of a side coming into money and having no clue how to spend it. The £32.5 million spent on the utter flop has to be one of the worst deadline day deals in history and that was clear from the word go.

Given Robinho turned up and announced he was pleased to be signing for ‘Chelsea’ it was obvious the winger only heard the amount on offer per week, not the exact destination, and decided to sign on the dotted line. Luckily for City, they could afford to waste such huge amounts of money on someone who did very little.



Andre Santos - Fenerbahce to Arsenal - 30th August 2011 – Wenger may have taken up until now to feature in the list, but as this summer showed, the Frenchman is a little bit cautious with his dinero, and to feature in a list of deadline day signings, you actually have to make some. Clearly one of the major reasons Wenger has been quiet in the market thus far is because of his recent mishaps.

The £6.2 million capture of Santos has to be one of the worst around, and the left back only managed to make 25 appearances in 18 months, notably swapping shirts with the man who made Ashley Cole look positively adored by the Emirates faithful, Robin Van Persie. Needless to say, Santos was shipped out on loan before making a permanent move to Flamengo.



Chris Samba - Anzhi to Queens Park Rangers - 31st January 2013 - For the grand sum of £12 million, new QPR manager Harry Redknapp made the move for former Blackburn defender Samba in order to bring some much needed quality and experience to his back four. Unfortunately for Harry, somewhere on the way from Blackburn to Russia, Samba forgot how to defend and became simply one of the worst and most expensive signings for the club. Playing just a handful of games before seeing QPR relegated and moving back to Russia as quickly as he could.

So there you have it, the ten deadline day deals that we won’t be forgetting in a hurry – and one thing is for sure, after today, there will be a couple more to add to the list!

What do you think are the best or worst deadline day deals? Let us know your thoughts. Join the conversation online, on Twitter and on Facebook.