The Final Countdown

Looking at the ups and downs of transfer deadline day.

The Final Countdown 

The end of a transfer window always brings excitement. Fans are glued to their screens waiting for any snippet of information about potential signings that their clubs might make. Reporters are posted at all the major training grounds waiting to see who shows up in a car with blacked out windows, or whether, as usual, they will have to put up with a series of idiots dancing behind them trying to find a moment of fame, or indeed whether Peter Odenwingie arrives without being invited. Jim White dons his special yellow tie and prepares to break the last minutes deals and break the hearts of fans all across the land. And clubs inexplicably spend hundreds of millions of pounds and make snap decisions when they have had weeks previous to this to get deals tied up. It is glorious every time.

What all clubs and fans are really hoping for is that one player that will make a difference. A player who will become a cult hero and be the bedrock for great improvement. A player who will bring joy and excitement and be talked about with jealousy by the fans of other teams. A player who will provide strength and leadership. Someone who will solve the problems that each team interminably has.

More often than not though, this is not something that actually occurs. In terms of deadline day deals, there are usually more misses than hits.

I still quiver in fear at memories of the summer of 2010 when Roy Hodgson had just taken over at Liverpool, fresh off the back of guiding Fulham to the UEFA Cup Final, and decided that the rejuvenation of a team that had finished second in the league less than 2 seasons previously would begin with the likes of Paul Konchesky, Milan Jovanovic and Christian Poulsen. By the end of January, Hodgson was gone, star striker Fernando Torres had been sold and replaced by Andy Carroll, and it would be another three years before Liverpool were close to competing at the top of the Premier League again. The only real shining light in that period was the acquisition of Anfield hero Luis Suarez.

At the time of Hodgson’s appointment, I was working in Turkey and could only really keep on top of proceedings in snippets due to a lack of reliable internet access. I wasn’t complaining at the time due to an excess of sunshine and nights out but I did find myself sitting down on the first day of the season still trying to work out who our personnel were and what our lineup would be. 

In the summer window, since 2016, an average of £5.6 billion has been spent by Premier League clubs on transfers and that is before you even consider the bumper contracts that players are signed to which guarantee another exorbitant amount in weekly outlay. 

Whilst a lot of moves do come down to careful scouting, thorough preparations and negotiations, and budgeting to ensure that the best deal is got, due to the nature of football, there is always going to be an element of a gamble that the transfer will work out for the best. This seems even more so when a last minute deal is struck.

In this article today, I am going to take a closer look at some of the best and worst summer transfer deadline deals in the history of the Premier League to see what can be determined.

Wayne Rooney - Everton to Manchester United (2004)

By the summer of 2004, Rooney was the talent that everyone wanted. He had announced himself to the world as a 16-year old with a tremendous goal against Arsenal 18 months previously and the hype around him had just increased exponentially ever since. He was coming off a Euros tournament where he had been tremendous for an England side that should have gone further than the quarter finals and probably could have had his choice of where to go. Everton were his boyhood club but United were a juggernaut at the time, still under the stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson, and it would have been madness to turn down the opportunity of a move to Old Trafford.

The move certainly paid off, with Rooney winning virtually everything there is to win at club level, becoming the team’s all-time record goal scorer, scoring one of the greatest Premier League goals ever (an overhead kick against rivals City no less) and winning the PFA Player’s Player of the year among other awards. A bargain at £20 million.

Ashley Cole - Arsenal to Chelsea (2006)

Cole was another player who broke through as a teenager but, unlike Rooney, stayed at his first club for a while to make a name for himself and pick up two Premier League titles along the way, including being part of the Invincibles team.

The player probably didn’t need to make a move, but the lure of taking part in Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea revolution was too great and, after a drawn out saga, the deal went through for just £5 million. Cole wouldn’t regret the move, winning another Premier League crown as well as taking Europe’s top prize, the Champion’s League in 2012.

Mesut Ozil - Real Madrid to Arsenal (2013)

In the days prior to Kevin De Bruyne, the Premier League’s resident assist master was probably Mesut Ozil. When on his game he could be a genius of a player, and was certainly an impressive transfer for the Gunners and a key player during most of his tenure.

He was prone at times to the odd mistake or strange decision but the pros outweighed the cons and he helped the club to three FA Cup victories. Latterly, he fell out of favour, but the impact that he had would still have him ranked highly on our list here.

Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano - Corinthians to West Ham (2006)

On the same deadline day that Chelsea signed Cole, West Ham pulled off one of the most incredible coups in Premier League history. No one could quite believe the news coming through that the Hammers had purchased two of the young superstars of Argentinian football.

Mascherano didn’t end up quite fitting in at Upton Park but went on to be a star at both Liverpool and Barcelona but Tevez stuck around for a little while longer, helping West Ham to avoid relegation before moving on to firstly Manchester United and the Manchester City.

Whilst neither of the two had long spells in London, the scale of the shock that the transfer had happened in the first place means it was still one of the best to have happened.

Cole Palmer - Manchester City to Chelsea (2023)

This one has still to fully play out but Palmer certainly reaped the benefits of this move last year as one of the breakout stars of the Premier League season, eventually earning his place in the England squad for the Euros and scoring his country’s goal in their eventual final defeat to Spain.

He has become Chelsea’s talisman after essentially being handed an ultimatum by Pep Guardiola to bide his time and play for his place or leave. Moving away from City is a brave move by anyone’s standards but it has certainly worked out so far for the youngster and it will be interesting to see what happens next.

These transfers all worked out well for the clubs involved and also helped to forward the careers of the players that moved. However, deadline day deals aren’t always so successful. Let’s take a look at some of the worst.

Antony - Ajax to Manchester United (2022)

The Brazilian winger had been a rising star during new United manager Erik Ten Hag’s tenure at Ajax so it was no real surprise when he followed the Dutchman to Old Trafford in the summer of 2022.

However, the deal hasn’t worked out at all well for either party. Despite showing very occasional flashes of brilliance, Antony has looked incredibly out of his depth at Premier League level and has only scored one goal and made one assist in two seasons. He is now a player that the club seem lumbered with as they will struggle to make any return at all on the £82 million they paid for him.

Radamel Falcao - Monaco to Manchester United (2014)

Falcao was a quality striker and scored goals for big clubs in big competitions. However, when Manchester United paid £6 million to secure him on loan for a season in the summer of 2014, he was coming off the back of a serious knee injury that had meant he missed playing for Colombia in the World Cup.

It was a gamble to take by the Old Trafford club and one that ultimately didn’t pay off with the South American only scoring 4 goals over the course of the season. His loan was not made permanent and he moved on to other things.

Michael Owen - Real Madrid to Newcastle United (2005)

This may seem a bit contentious as Owen scored roughly a goal in every three appearances for Newcastle but by the time he arrived on Tyneside, he was nowhere near the exciting young player that had lit up the Premier League for Liverpool and the World Cup for England in 1998.

The former Ballon D’Or winner arrived for a fee of £16.8 million but fans were already a little sceptical as it had been claimed that he would rather return to Liverpool. His cause was further hampered by an injury in pre-season and then more serious injuries sustained firstly around Christmas time and then again at the World Cup in 2006. Over the four years of his contract, he only played 71 times for the Magpies and relationships with Newcastle supporters have been further tarnished with Owen subsequently disclosing that he had an agreement that Newcastle would sell him back to Liverpool after a year playing for them but his injuries stopped this from happening. Even if true, it’s probably not the best move to say it!

Andre Santos - Fenerbache to Arsenal - 2011

Upon joining the Gunners, Santos was seen as a promising attacking left full-back, having scored 10 goals in 55 appearances for Turkish side Fenerbache. This did not turn out to be the case during his time in North London though with the Brazilian only turning in 23 pretty dismal appearances in 18 months before being moved on. 

The low point of his time was probably trying to swap shirts at halftime with former Arsenal player Robin Van Persie in a game against Manchester United that the Gunners were losing. Unbelievable!

Robinho - Real Madrid to Manchester City (2008)

Another player who had bags of talent, Robinho signed for Manchester City on deadline day on the same day that the Abu Dhabi investment group took over the club. He was seen as a statement signing for around £32.5 million although, prior to this in the summer, he had expressed his desire to join Chelsea. He even stated that he had joined them in his transfer interview!

Despite this, Robinho had a decent first season alongside countryman Elano in the City attack, finishing with 14 goals as the club’s top scorer. However, an investment of that nature is meant to pay off over a long period of time and unfortunately for City, Robinho’s second season did not go well. An injury kept him out for a while and then he fell so far down the pecking order that by January he was gone, back out in loan to previous club Santos. Come summer 2010, Robinho was gone permanently, signing for AC Milan for around £15 million meaning the Brazilian didn’t turn out to be the shrewd investment that many thought he might.

So there we have my rundown of the best and worst summer deadline day deals. If I had included deals that had happened in the winter transfer window there would certainly have been more but perhaps that’s an article for another time.

For the moment, we can only sit back to watch and see how the likes of Andre, Eddie Nketiah, Raheem Sterling and Jason Sancho get on in their new surroundings. See you in 5 months Jim.

If you like my writing here, please also have a look at the articles I have written for the Football4Cast, previewing big games and looking at data every week.

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