On transfer deadline day, we look back at the greatest last-gasp summer signings in Premier League history…
Carlos Tevez & Javier Mascherano – Corinthians to West Ham (2006)
Ok, these were two transfers – but you can’t mention one without mentioning the other. Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano shock double move to West Ham from Brazilian club Corinthians was the beginning of perhaps the strangest transfer saga in Premier League history.
It later transpired that two offshore companies owned the ‘economic rights’ to the Argentine duo. As such, their arrival broke Premier League rules and West Ham were fined a record £5.5m after pleading guilty.
Mascherano left for Liverpool in January after making only five Premier League appearances; Tevez stayed for the rest of the season and scored seven goals, including a final-day winner against Manchester United (who he would subsequently join) which kept West Ham up and controversially relegated Sheffield United.
Rafael van der Vaart – Real Madrid to Spurs (2010)
Highly sought after for his attacking exploits at Hamburg, Rafael van der Vaart underwhelmed at Real Madrid – and after two years at the Bernabeu, the silky Dutchman was on the move again, this time to Tottenham, two hours before the transfer window slammed shut.
And this time, he made a major impact, winning the October 2010 Premier League Player of the Month award and averaging just shy of a goal every other game during his debut campaign in the English top flight.
A joy to watch in full flow, Van der Vaart’s time with Harry Redknapp’s Spurs was relatively short – he returned to Hamburg two years to the day from arriving in North London – but amply entertaining.
Cristiano Ronaldo – Juventus to Man United (2021)
Undoubtedly one of the greatest-ever Premier League players, Cristiano Ronaldo made an incredible return to Manchester United – remarkably, after local rivals Manchester City had pulled out of a deal.
Back at Old Trafford 13 years after leaving for Real Madrid, Ronaldo’s homecoming reportedly broke records for shirt sales as the multiple Ballon d’Or-winning superstar took back the No7 jersey he’d worn during his stunning first spell with the club.
At 36, he was never going to be the same Ronaldo who had burst onto the scene as a teenager, but he still racked up 18 goals in his first season back – and one more the next campaign before an acrimonious second departure amid a high-profile falling-out with head coach Erik ten Hag.
Mesut Ozil – Real Madrid to Arsenal (2013)
Among the most technically gifted attacking midfielders of the 2010s, Mesut Ozil became the most expensive German player of all time when he swapped Real Madrid for Arsenal – and he was worth every penny the Gunners spent to bring him to the Emirates Stadium.
A three-time FA Cup winner with Arsenal – all under Arsene Wenger – Ozil, who also won the 2014 World Cup while a Gunner, enjoyed his best Premier League season in 2015/16, providing a division-high 19 assists – one short of Thierry Henry’s record at the time – and being named his club’s Player of the Season.
Ozil left for Fenerbahce in a free transfer in January 2021 having firmly left his mark on the Premier League, where he set up 54 goals in all and scored 33 goals himself.
Cole Palmer – Man City to Chelsea (2023)
With his playing time limited at Man City, where he came through the academy despite growing up a Man United fan, Cole Palmer moved to Chelsea for what quickly came to look like a bargain reported fee of £40m.
The England international soon proved he was far more than just a masterful creator, amassing 22 Premier League goals in his debut season with the Blues to finish second behind Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot standings and scoop a host of individual accolade, including PFA Young Player of the Year.
He added 25 more Premier League goals to his tally across the next two campaigns and also has 20 assists in the competition for the Blues.
Ashley Cole – Arsenal to Chelsea (2006)
Fined £100,000 earlier in the summer for a tapping-up meeting while still an Arsenal player, Ashley Cole eventually completed one of the more controversial transfers of the Premier League era when he signed for Chelsea, just when it looked like the Gunners would hold off their London rivals.
One of the finest left-backs of his generation, Cole was a steal at £5m and he played an integral part in Chelsea’s success in the following years, helping the Blues to an FA Cup and EFL Cup double in his first season, three further FA Cups, the 2009/10 Premier League title and the club’s first Champions League crown in 2011/12.
The 107-cap England star left Stamford Bridge as a free agent in 2014 having made 338 appearances for Chelsea – 110 more than he made for boyhood club Arsenal.
Claude Makelele – Real Madrid to Chelsea (2003)
The man who redefined what it meant to be a defensive midfielder, Claude Makelele anchored Chelsea’s glorious early years under Jose Mourinho, introducing a whole new audience to the ‘Makelele role’ as he starred in the Blues’ back-to-back Premier League triumphs of 2004/05 and 2005/06.
Chelsea’s 2006 Players’ Player of the Year, the 71-cap France international read the game like few, if any, players ever have in the Premier League, making an invaluable contribution as Mourinho’s Blues conceded just 15 goals en route to the club’s maiden Premier League title – a record that still stands.
And yet somehow – maybe in part because he went about his job with minimal fuss across 144 Premier League appearances – he still didn’t get the full credit he deserved. Truly one of the greats.
Wayne Rooney – Everton to Man United (2004)
Another of the best ever to do it in the Premier League and one of the finest English players ever to grace the pitch, Wayne Rooney made the biggest move of his career on deadline day 22 years ago, becoming the most expensive teenager of all time when he left boyhood club Everton for Man United.
Evidently a prodigious talent from the moment he scored that goal for Everton against Arsenal at the age of 16, there was no doubt Rooney would go on to do great things indeed for United – and hitting a Champions League hat-trick on his debut against Fenerbahce was as auspicious a sign as there could be of what was to come.
Across his 13 seasons at Old Trafford, Rooney won every major honour – including five Premier League titles – made the PFA Team of the Year three times and banged in 253 goals in all competitions to become the club’s all-time leading scorer, returning to Everton in 2017 a United legend.
