5 most bizarre January loan signings in Premier League history

#4 David Pizarro (Manchester City)

David Pizarro during his short spell at Manchester City

Despite being a reliable midfielder since the turn of the century, few had heard of David Pizarro outside of Italy. As a result, plenty of eyebrows were raised when the Chilean was brought in by Manchester City in the January window of 2012. It was Pizarro's first excursion outside his homeland and Italy, as he reunited with his former boss Roberto Mancini at the Etihad Stadium.

Pizarro himself claimed that there were two key reasons for him joining Manchester City. Firstly, his relationship with Roberto Mancini from their time together at Inter Milan and secondly, his fallout with Luis Enrique at AS Roma.

"I had no intention of leaving AS Roma even in January, but I had a bad relationship with Luis Enrique and then when Mancini called I accepted. It was all very sudden," he told Sky Sports in an interview.

The Chilean midfielder was brought in to add steel to a midfield already consisting of the likes of Yaya Toure, Nigel de Jong, Gareth Barry, and David Silva. As expected, the Chile international did not get to play much for the Citizens and was only used five times in total in the league. Sadly for him, he even missed out on a Premier League medal due to a shortage of appearances.

Pizarro's short stint at the Etihad Stadium remains dubious to this day, with several football fans still oblivious to the fact that he had been a part of a historic title-winning squad.