It’s that time of the year once again, ladies and gentlemen! It is when every Premier League team will get one last chance to bolster their squads with all the planning of a husband buying their wife flowers from the petrol station on Valentine’s Day. That’s right, it’s Deadline Day!

It’s the final day to get deals across the line, but it’s like a game of football. A sheer rush of excitement thanks to your side finally plugging a gap or the gut-wrenching feeling when your favorite player ups and leaves for new pastures – it’s got it all. It’s football’s heritage, as Jose Mourinho would say.

While many teams will prefer to get their business done early to incorporate the new players into the squad, for others, good things come to those who wait. Need any proof? Don’t worry about it; GIVEMESPORT is here to give you a rundown of the 15 best Deadline-day signings in the history of the Premier League.

Ranking factors

When coming up with our list, we ensured we considered many different facets of what constitutes a successful transfer. However, given the nature of the list, some names could be considered controversial. This tip doesn’t scratch the surface of superb deadline-day deals. With the use of statistics and other findings through research, GIVEMESPORT considered the following aspects:

• Fee
• Stats
• Longevity
• Difference they made
• Expectations
• Success – respective of the club and their expectations
• How they are viewed overall by those in the football world

The above criteria were considered with an apparent importance placed on how much a club shelled out. However, their prices were caveated, assuming the market and prices constantly fluctuate. Success, both collectively and on an individual basis that they’ve enjoyed since the move was taken on board, while the impact they made on the team, whether that be trophies or an increase in leadership and togetherness, was also looked at, while longevity and the initial expectations laid before them were considered, too. Have you taken everything (especially the ranking factors) on board? If so, what are you waiting for?

15Rafael van der Vaart – August 2010

Real Madrid to Tottenham Hotspur

The term’ the streets won’t forget’ gets thrown around a lot these days, but forget the Michus, Adel Taarabt, and the Hatem Ben Arfa’s of the world; the streets of north London weren’t ready for Rafael van der Vaart’s arrival at White Hart Lane.

Arriving for around the £8 million mark in August 2010 thanks to the Dutchman’s move to Bayern Munich collapsing the day before, Van der Vaart’s two-year stint at Spurs will go down as one of the most beloved in Tottenham Hotspur history, who returned to Hamburg in 2012 in another Deadline Day move. He may have only played 76 times for the capital club, but he had a certain aura about him – an unforgettable one at that.

14Lucas Moura – January 2018

PSG to Tottenham Hotspur

Mr. ’82 rated Lucas Moura on FIFA himself. When Neymar and Kylian Mbappe joined PSG in the summer of 2017, the writing was on the wall for the Brazilian winger that he might not be getting game time in the French capital.

Tottenham managed to swoop in with a £25 million bid halfway through the 2017/2018 season to help with their pursuit of Champions League football and their first piece of silverware since 2008 – and while he might have left the club with no trophies to his name, if it weren’t for Moura, the north Londoners wouldn’t have made the 2019 Champions League final. He was that important.

13Dele Alli – February 2015

MK Dons to Tottenham Hotspur

It’s a hat-trick for Tottenham! What a performance! Seriously though, the level of outstanding business that Spurs have done on Deadline Day is awe-inspiring, with this deal being forgotten about due to Dele Alli immediately being loaned back to MK Dons upon his signing.

Dele eventually broke through into Tottenham’s first team in the 2015/2016 season and looked unstoppable with Mauricio Pochettino in the dugout, and while his career has suffered a downturn in recent years, getting one of the most exciting young players in England – for around £5 million mark – is always going to be a good piece of business.

12Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – January 2018

Borussia Dortmund to Arsenal

I stayed north of the capital but traveled to the red half of the area for the most expensive deadline-day transfer (at the time of writing). Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was one of the most in-demand strikers during his time at Borussia Dortmund, so when Arsenal forked over £50 million, Premier League defenses watched on in horror.

Doing the number 14 shirt justice during his four years at the Emirates Stadium, Aubameyang may have left Arsenal in a cloud of controversy, but he did leave with an FA Cup, a Community Shield, and a Premier League Golden Boot, having kept up with Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in 2019.

11Robbie Keane – August 2002

Leeds United to Tottenham Hotspur

Hello again, Tottenham; good to see you again! The turn of the millennium was a busy time for Robbie Keane. He broke through at Wolves, got Coventry City to break the record for a British teenager, spent six months at Inter Milan, helped Leeds United get to a Champions League semi-final before joining Spurs for less money than what Leeds paid Inter for him.

Signing on Deadline Day in August 2002, then-manager Glenn Hoddle said Spurs could become Keane’s spiritual home for many years. Judging by the fact that the Irishman played over 300 games and scored 91 goals in his two stints with the club, perhaps Hoddle knew what he was talking about.

10Dimitar Berbatov – September 2008

Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United

Finally, someone is leaving Tottenham rather than joining them. 2008’s summer Deadline Day was eventful: Manchester City got taken over by their current owners and signed Robinho just because they could. Marouane Fellaini’s afro arrived in the Premier League in a move that was very close to getting on this list, and then there’s this.

Dimitar Berbatov was almost sure to go to Manchester United, only for Spurs to accept a bid from Manchester City, only for Berbatov to turn around and say, ‘I don’t want to play for you.’ Classic. Spurs got just over £30 million from the Red Devils for the Bulgarian striker, which they used to fund the signing of Roman Pavlyuchenko, a move that was not even close to getting on this list.

9Mesut Ozil – August 2013

Real Madrid to Arsenal

Arsenal fans had been desperate for a big-name signing for years but were constantly told that the club was still paying off the loan they used to help build the Emirates Stadium. Then, in 2013, the owners found over £40 million down the side of the couch and bought one of the best playmakers in the world: Mesut Ozil.

It was an accurate statement signing that upset Cristiano Ronaldo, who didn’t want Real Madrid to sell the German, and for good reason. Arsenal fans could argue that Ozil never reached the heights he did in Spain, but he was simply unplayable when he was in top form.

8Mikel Arteta – August 2011

Everton to Arsenal

A man who could qualify for this list for two Deadline Day moves as Mikel Arteta’s initial loan move to Everton from Real Sociedad led to the Spaniard joining The Toffees permanently in 2005. However, the signing of current Arsenal manager, Arteta, by the Emirates Stadium-based outfit in 2011 pips that move to the post.

Following Arsenal’s 8-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester United in August 2011, The Gunners brought the Spaniard in for stability in the midfield. His five years at the club led to the Spaniard becoming a huge fan favorite, so much so that when he was announced as the new Arsenal manager in 2019, he was welcomed back with open arms.

7Carlos Tevez & Javier Mascherano – August 2006

Corinthians to West Ham United

Ah yes, when West Ham fans worldwide looked at the news and said, ‘Excuse me?’ Two of the most exciting young players in South America at that time – Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano – made the jump to the Premier League, but not to the typical English heavyweights in Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea, but to the Hammers instead.

Arguably one of the most controversial moves in Premier League history due to the move being illegal, neither man was at Upton Park for long, as Mascherano made the move to Liverpool in January 2007, while Tevez stayed long enough to relegate Sheffield United before moving to Manchester United.

6John Stones – January 2013

Barnsley to Everton

It’s the cheapest move on the list and could increase in the next few years if John Stones remains one of the best defenders in the Premier League. Having already attracted interest from Chelsea and Manchester City, Everton stepped in and took a chance on the Barnsley defender in 2013, and what a gamble it ended up being.

In his three-and-a-half years at Goodison Park, stones eventually became an immovable object in the heart of the Everton defense, leading to Manchester City making Stones the second-most expensive defender of all time in 2016. What a brilliant move for the Toffees.

5Hugo Lloris – August 2012

Lyon to Tottenham Hotspur

One last trip to the white half of north London for the best piece of Deadline Day business they have ever done. Back in 2012, Hugo Lloris had already established himself as the best goalkeeper in France, and with the club bringing in Clint Dempsey on the same day, it seemed like the dawn of a new era at White Hart Lane.

Winning the 2018 World Cup as the captain of France, reaching the 2019 Champions League final as the captain of Spurs, and with nearly 450 appearances at the club, it’s safe to say that getting rid of three goalkeepers in the 2012 summer transfer window was a risk that paid off for Tottenham.

4Ashley Cole – August 2006

Arsenal to Chelsea

There have been sagas, but nothing compares to the ‘Cashley Cole’ saga. It was a situation that lasted for over a year, with the defender wanting to leave Arsenal in 2005. However, it ramped up in the lead-up to the 2006/2007 season.

From ‘trembling with anger’ over being offered £55,000 a week to William Gallas threatening to score own goals if he wasn’t allowed to leave Chelsea, Ashley Cole and Gallas went opposite directions on Deadline Day in 2006. However, given that Cole went on to win many more trophies at Chelsea than Gallas did at Arsenal, ‘Cashley’ makes the list.

3Claude Makelele – August 2003

Real Madrid to Chelsea

You know a signing was successful when the player left your club, and people named an entire position after them. Much like the Ozil above move, Real Madrid fans and players weren’t happy when, during the Galacticos era of the club, a player like Claude Makelele left the club to move to the Premier League.

While some fans might think that the Saudi Pro League is on a spending spree in 2023, Chelsea went on a spending spree before it was cool in 2003. Even though they splashed the cash on future legends like Didier Drogba, Joe Cole, and Petr Cech, the legendary Jose Mourinho Chelsea team of the 2000s wouldn’t have worked as well as it did if it wasn’t for Makelele.

2Luis Suárez – January 2011

Ajax to Liverpool

Easily the most excellent January transfer in Premier League history was overshadowed by Andy Carroll. Luis Suarez broke into the public eye during the 2010 World Cup, terrorizing defenses in the Netherlands since 2007. But because he signed for Liverpool on the same day as the Carroll transfer, he was largely forgotten about.

However, the three-and-a-half years in the Premier League for the Uruguayan talisman was not ignored. It was controversial, but he produced one of the single best seasons in league history and all of that came from a Deadline Day signing in 2011. The Uruguayan was practically unstoppable, especially in that season. Come on, you know which one.

1Wayne Rooney – August 2004

Everton to Manchester United

Ever since Wayne Rooney scored that goal against Arsenal in 2002, Everton fans knew it was only a matter of time before a top team swooped in for the country’s most exciting teenager. Everton did try to keep hold of ‘Wazza,’ but the allure of Manchester United was just too much.

A transfer that only ended up happening on the final day of the 2004 summer transfer window due to Bill Kenwright wanting more money for the teenager, Rooney went on to become Manchester United’s record goalscorer, won every trophy he could win, and was undoubtedly the most excellent Deadline Day transfer in Premier League history.