5 Most successful Premier League transfer deadline day deals

It’s that time of the year again – Transfer Deadline day. The last day for clubs to make new additions to their teams in the Premier League, be it a striker to score goals up front, or a playmaker to rack up the assists or even a strong leader at the back – it’s the one day in the year that clubs dread and agents dream of. Big money moves are now part and parcel of transfer deadline day with hundreds of millions being spent on transfer fees.Sadly, all this last minute spending doesn’t always guarantee a return. It’s happened innumerable times before – a player joins a new club for a record fee, doesn’t really fit the team’s style of play and is shipped out as soon as possible albeit at a massive loss. Case in point – Radamel Falcao when he signed for Manchester United last transfer deadline day.However, just sometimes, clubs get it right. They manage to strike gold. They manage to acquire a player who provides more than what they were originally looking for. These are a few of those magical last minute buys that managed to become massive success stories at the Premier League clubs they signed for.

#5 Claude Makelele

Makelele revolutionized the role of the holding midfielder under Jose Mourinho

Sure, some players may score hundreds of goals while others may crank out perfectly timed tackles daily, but how many players can boast of having a position named after themselves?

Claude Makelele arrived at Chelsea from Real Madrid in 2003 for £16.8 million. However, it was only when a certain Portuguese manager by the name of Jose Mourinho arrived from Porto the next season that Makelele found his feet. Deployed in a much deeper role right in front of the defence, Makelele thrived at the back and played an integral role in Chelsea’s back-to-back Premier League title winning seasons.

In his role of defensive midfielder, Makelele managed to free up space for Chelsea’s slew of attacking talent consisting of Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Damien Duff and Eidur Gudjohnson to play as freely as possible. What resulted was a team that managed to score 72 goals while conceding a measly 15 – a record that still stands today.

He went on to win 6 trophies in his 5 years at Chelsea, firmly establishing himself as a fan favorite. During his stint at Chelsea he was also nominated into the FifPro Team of the Season of 2005. Such was the impact created by the Frenchman that he redefined the role of a defensive midfielder and the role then became known as “the Makelele role”.

#4 Hugo Lloris

Lloris has become one of the Premier League’s most consistent goalkeepers

Tottenham haven’t been the best beneficiaries of transfer deals in the past few years. A string of unsuccessful buys and subsequent sales may have you think that The Spurs aren’t that good at acquiring players. This isn’t entirely accurate however with Christian Eriksen and Rafael van der Vaart being good exceptions to that rule. However, the best example for a successful piece of business on part of the management at Tottenham would be the purchase of Hugo Lloris from Lyon in 2012 for £8 million.

The French goalkeeper didn’t have the best of starts to his career at White Hart Lane but managed to find his feet soon enough, conceding just 4 goals in 6 games in the gruelling December period of the Premier League that year. He finished his debut season with 9 clean sheets from 25 appearances and was widely reagarded as one of the best new players of the season.

Lloris has since gone on to establish himself as one of the most consistent performers in the Premier League along with ranking as one of the best goalkeepers in England. The Frenchman has developed into a rock at the back of a Spurs line that has had more than it’s fair share of issues in the past, saving his defenders the blushes on many occasions. While Lloris may not have won any trophies yet at Tottenham, he’ll surely be looking to bring silverware to White Hart Lane in his new role as captain in the near future.

#3 Christian Benteke

Benteke went on to become one of the Premier League’s most promising players at Villa

When Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert signed a relatively unknown Belgian striker from a relatively unknown Belgian club for a fee believed to be around £7 million, more than a couple of heads turned. Many lambasted the Villa boss for spending such an exorbitant amount on a player who probably isn’t used to the physicality present in the Premier League.

However, the burly Belgian forward managed to answer his critics on his debut for The Lions when he scored against Swansea. Benteke then began to bully Premier League defenders off the ball for 3 more years while notching up 42 Premier League goals in just 88 appearances. With his stock soaring so quickly, a move to a bigger club was always on the cards and he moved to Liverpool this year albeit for a hefty fee – £32.5 million.

The acquision and subsequent sale of Christian Benteke represents a very astute piece of business by Villa – not only did they manage to get 49 goals in all competitions out of the striker but managed to make a tidy profit as well.

#2 Ashley Cole

Chelsea paid £5 million in addition to selling William Gallas to Arsenal in order to sign Cole

In true transfer deadline day fashion, the deal between Chelsea and Arsenal for the transfer of Ashley Cole was only confirmed an hour and a half after the deadline had passed. When Ashley Cole left Arsenal for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in the summer of 2006, Cole was quite possibly the most hated man in North London. His dubious departure from the Gunners over being infuriated over an “embarrassing” weekly wage offer of £55,000 a week, left many across the world assigning him the nickname of ‘Cashley Cole’.

He had no such hate at the Bridge however, with the left back establishing himself firmly in Mourinho’s first XI from the get go. Cole spent 8 more years with The Blues racking up an impressive 338 appearances in all competitions whilst winning 8 trophies including a Champions League title and Premier League medal. At Chelsea, Cole’s consistency at the back enabled him to establish himself as one of the best, if not the best left back of the of the decade.

#1 Wayne Rooney

Rooney has gone on to firmly establish himself as one of the greats at United

Could there be anyone else? Wayne Mark Rooney signed for Manchester United in 2004 for a then record fee of £25.6 million. The boy from Everton was still just 18 but that wasn’t about to deter Sir Alex Ferguson from splashing the cash on the striker. The move generated a lot of traction in the media with people questioning United’s new acquisition, calling the new buy hugely overpriced. Ferguson himself admitted that "there were plenty of eyebrows raised” when he asked the Manchester United board members to sanction such a big money move for a teenager.

However, Rooney answered his critics in style. A hattrick on his debut against Fenerbahce in the Champions League all but dispelled any doubts regarding his talent. On that night in Manchester, not only did he become the youngest player to ever score a hattrick in the Champions League but managed to become an instant fan favourite.

The rest as they say, is history. 485 appearances and 233 goals later, with 5 Premier League titles and 1 Champions League title under his belt in addition to innumerable other personal accolades, Rooney is nothing less than a legend at Old Trafford.