We look at the five greatest Premier League moves in the January transfer window...
5 - Virgil Van Dijk (Southampton to Liverpool)
Liverpool were at the forefront of our pre-season Premier League tips, backed to challenge once more for the title, backed in every competition going, and so much of their rise in recent times has been down to the arrival of the towering Dutchman.
Add in his immense quality, an elite compendium of attributes that would have many include him in an all-time Premier League XI, and a strong argument could be made that Van Dijk deserves to be higher on this list.
Yet a couple of points count against him, if we’re focusing on mid-season transfers made in semi-haste but benefited from at leisure.
This was a summer deal that bled into January making the timing of it a technicality. Furthermore, there is his substantial cost to consider.
He may have been worth every penny but £75m was still a world record fee for a defender at the time.
4 - Seamus Coleman (Sligo to Everton)
Coleman didn’t cost £75m. He didn’t even cost £75,000.
Acting on a tip-off from a former team-mate, and hearing rumours that other clubs were circling, Everton’s David Moyes wasted no time in January 2009 by bringing over the right-back from Ireland, and all for a measly sixty grand.
Over 400 appearances later, with Coleman a constant fixture down Toffees right and his committed displays making him beloved by the Gwladys Street faithful, it can reasonably be viewed as the Premier League bargain buy of the 21st century.
3 - Gary Cahill (Bolton to Chelsea)
Cahill’s surprise switch to Stamford Bridge at the start of 2012 fits every criteria for a perfect January swoop.
It was a move accompanied by a few raised eyebrows, the centre-back being part of a Bolton collective spiralling towards relegation.
Moreover, it was a move born out of necessity, with the Blues struggling with injuries at the back and hopelessly incapable of keeping a clean sheet under Andre Villas-Boas. The football odds on Chelsea even finishing in the top six were distant on his arrival.
And at just £7m, Cahill ultimately can be considered an absolute steal, the defender growing in stature and becoming a legend in West London.
Across the next decade, he was a crucial component in title-winning sides, selected for the PFA Team of the Year on three occasions.
2 - Luis Suarez (Ajax to Liverpool)
January 31st, 2011, has to go down as the craziest transfer deadline day of them all, with Liverpool right at the heart of the madness.
First Fernando Torres left for Chelsea, a move that still shocked even if it had been bubbling away for a month or two. In return for losing their totemic striker, the Reds banked a record sum of £50m.
Not that the money had time to accrue interest, with Luis Suarez swiftly arriving for £23m. The Uruguayan came with a lot of baggage but his explosive talent was undeniable. Not content with that, Liverpool then splashed a club record £35m on Newcastle’s Andy Carroll.
If one of these signings proved to be a dud, the other soared, scoring goals at a rate of knots and terrorising top-flight defences into the bargain. He was a human sparkplug that almost propelled Liverpool to a title.
That Torres toiled in the capital made that crazy day all the sweeter in hindsight for those of a red persuasion.
1 - Nemanja Vidic (Spartak Moscow to Manchester United)
The fourth defender on our list and undoubtedly the best of them, Vidic had long interested United and with a work permit issue finally resolved a summer swoop in 2006 was planned.
That was until Fiorentina put a spanner in the works, having a chunky bid accepted by Spartak. With the player’s head turned it seemed that the tough-as-teak centre-back’s destiny lay in Serie A.
Relief must be still felt at Old Trafford today that a decision was made to bring forward their plans, securing the formidable Serb for £7m on December 25th 2005. That at least was when the paperwork was finalised.
And what a Christmas gift Vidic proved to be, forging an iconic partnership at the back with Rio Ferdinand and leading the Reds to an abundance of silverware.
In his eight years in Manchester, the scary stopper won five league titles, the Champions League twice.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
