Bargain Buy Transfers
Football managers across Europe will breathe a sigh of relief when the transfer window closes this Wednesday as they will finally know which players they will be working with at their clubs for this season (until the window reopens in January of course).
With the Premier League receiving billions thanks to the renewed television deal, English clubs have spent over £800m already this summer and look to smash their record spend in the remaining days of the window being open. This window has seen many clubs break their transfer record to bring in new signings, with the stand-out club record signings being Manchester United's capture of French midfielder Paul Pogba from Juventus for a world record £89m, - a sum eye-watering enough without taking into consideration the fact that United sold the player to Juventus in the first place in 2012 - Andre Ayew's move from Swansea City to West Ham United for £20.5m, Leicester City's signing of forward Ahmed Musa for £16.6m and Crystal Palace's signing of Andros Townsend from Newcastle United for £13m.
Apart from Pogba, these haven't been the big moves of the summer, which have included the likes of John Stones moving to Manchester City from Everton for £47.5m which is a record for a British defender, Leroy Sané joining City from Schalke for £37m, Chelsea spending £33.2m on Marseille's Michy Batshuayi and £32m on Leicester's French midfielder N'Golo Kanté, Christian Benteke moving to Crystal Palace from Liverpool for £27.5m, who themselves have spent big this summer on the likes of Georginio Wijnaldum for £25m and Sadio Mané for £34m.
But does having all this money to burn get you the best value? Clubs now know the spending power the English Premier League sides possess, so will know they can ask for a bit more than they would have 2-5 years ago for their star player and in the battle to stay competitive and in the hunt for the big prizes, the clubs will pay the fees to get the players they covet. The days of picking up a great player for a bargain price or on a free transfer seem to be few and far between nowadays, however at Direct Soccer we have selected 11 of the best bargain buys since the Premier League was formed 25 seasons ago to show that if you look hard enough, you can get a world-class player or a player that gives you many great seasons for a relatively small transfer fee.
Eric Cantona - Leeds United to Manchester United, 1992 - £1.2million
Probably the most famous "bargain buy" in English football history. The mercurial Frenchman had helped Yorkshire club Leeds United lift the First Division title, at the expense of their Manchester rivals, in 1991-92, and was looked upon as being the star player for a talented Leeds side. Legend has it that Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson rang Man Utd chairman Martin Edwards enquiring about the availability of full-back Denis Irwin. He was knocked back in his approach before Red Devils manager Alex Ferguson (he was without a knighthood at this stage of his career) handed Edwards a note saying to ask about Cantona. To their surprise Leeds pushed a deal through for the striker for a cool £1.2million. United, who had been without a league title for 26 years, finally lifted England's top prize in 1993 with Cantona being seen as the final piece of the jigsaw. "King Eric" gave United 4 memorable seasons before retiring in 1997 and was seen as the catalyst towards United dominating the rest of the 20th century and many seasons since 2000.
Brian Laudrup - Fiorentina to Rangers, 1994 - £2.3million
Danish wing wizard Laudrup had endured a torrid time in Italy and needed a new challenge. Walter Smith's Rangers were in the middle of a dominating period of Scottish football and with the addition of Laudrup couldn't be touched by their rivals. Laudrup's skills and unselfishness laid goals on a plate for the likes of Ally McCoist while entertaining crowds around the country, despite their allegiances. Ask many Scottish fans of other clubs who their favourite Rangers player would have been, and Laudrup would be the most popular answer.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær - Molde FK to Manchester United, 1996 - £1.5million
United fans would have been forgiven for saying "Ole who?" after the Norwegian striker was a surprise signing by Alex Ferguson in the summer of 1996. Reeling from missing out on Blackburn striker Alan Shearer who joined his boyhood heroes Newcastle United for £15million, United opted for the striker nicknamed the "Baby-faced Assassin" to back up Cantona and Andy Cole. An inspired signing, Solskjær gained a reputation for being a super-sub, scoring many timely goals after coming off of the bench, including the winner in the 1999 European Cup final against Bayern Munich. Solskjær would hit the net 126 times for United to cement his place in the list of the best bargain buys in football.
Patrick Vieira - AC Milan to Arsenal, 1996 - £3.5million
French midfielder Vieira was languishing in the reserves at AC Milan when the Gunners rescued him and he went on to be their midfield talisman until 2005, helping the Gunners lift the league title 3 times and the FA Cup 4 times as well as being captain of the London side after Tony Adams retired in 2002. A cultured passer of the ball, Vieira could also put in a tackle and had many memorable battles with Manchester United's Roy Keane, who labelled Vieira as the hardest player he'd had to compete against. Vieira was also a part of the France side that won the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championships in 2000.
- Brian Laudrup dazzled Scottish defences while at Glasgow Rangers and is rated as Rangers' best foreign player ever.
- Henrik Larsson joined Glasgow Celtic for just £650,000 in 1997 and became one of the best strikers in the world while wearing the Hoops.
Kevin Phillips - Watford to Sunderland, 1997 - £325,000
One of the best value buys of the last 25 years, striker Phillips moved to the north-east from Watford in 1997, 3 years after playing in the non-league, and went on to score 130 goals for the Black Cats. Phillips also represented England 8 times and was seen as one of the most prolific English strikers in the Premier League while in his pomp. In 1999-2000, his first season in the Premier League, Phillips bagged 30 goals in the Premier League which saw him presented with the Golden Boot award for the league's top scorer and also European football's Golden Shoe Award, where he was the last Englishman to win this award.
Henrik Larsson - Feyenoord to Celtic, 1997 - £650,000
Celtic were determined to break Rangers' stranglehold of the Scottish league championship when they signed the Swedish striker in 1997. After a slow start to his Celtic career Larsson scored 18 goals in his first season as the club won the title and prevented Rangers winning a record 10th title in a row. A horrific leg-break in a European game in 1999 looked to have halted his career but he bounced back brilliantly to become the focal point of Martin O'Neill's Celtic side which dominated the 2000-2001 season. Larsson would score 35 league goals, and 53 in total, to lift the European Golden Shoe Award. Larsson ended his Celtic career in 2004 with his place as a Celtic legend cemented to join Barcelona on a free transfer where he would win the league twice and the Champions League in 2006.
Thierry Henry - Juventus to Arsenal, 1999 - £10.5million
Another French international that struggled to fit into the Italian way of playing, striker Thierry Henry joined Arsenal for £10.5million in the summer of 1999 and would go on to become Arsenal's greatest ever striker. Henry's goals and assists helped the Gunners lift the league title in 2002 and 2004, which was the season of the "Invicibles" as well as 3 FA Cups. Henry would captain the Gunners in 2005 until he left to join Barcelona in 2007. If Henry was to be at the peak of his powers in today's market, he would easily transfer for over £80million such was his class and domination of the opposition in and around their box.
Frank Lampard - West Ham United to Chelsea, 2001 - £11million
Lampard left his boyhood side West Ham in the summer of 2001 for rivals Chelsea and quickly became one of their most important players, scoring a number of timely goals as the London side dominated English football in the middle of the first decade in the 21st century. Lampard would go onto become Chelsea's leading scorer of all-time notching 211 goals for the Blues and also be one of the first names on the team sheet for club and country during this decade. A box-to-box midfielder in today's market would go for at least £50million, so Lampard's transfer fee of £11million looks like pennies in comparison.
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After a tough time in Italy, Thierry Henry became one of the best players in the world while at Arsenal and led the Gunners to many titles and cups as well as becoming the club's leading scorer of all-time.[/caption]
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Frank Lampard became Chelsea's all-time leading scorer and proved a bargain buy at just £11million in 2001 from West Ham United.[/caption]
Kevin Davies - Southampton to Bolton Wanderers, 2003 - Free
After a disappointing time with Southampton, Bolton manager Sam Allardyce brought striker Kevin Davies to the Reebok Stadium on a free transfer in the summer of 2003. Davies would become a mainstay in the Bolton side for the next 10 seasons, scoring 85 goals for the side as they battled for Premier League survival (and winning that battle every year apart from the 2011-2012 season when they finally succumbed to relegation) and enjoyed a spell in the UEFA Cup as well. A tough-tackling attacking player, Davies regularly featured amongst the leaders for the most fouls committed but could always be relied on to give 100% for his club and was one of the best value signings of the 21st century. Davies also became England's oldest debutant in 2010 for 60 years when he represented the Three Lions in a European Championship qualifier against Montenegro.
Cristiano Ronaldo - Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United, 2003 - £12.8million
In 2003 Manchester United needed to replace an icon. David Beckham had just moved to Real Madrid for £25million which was the beginning of the break-up of "Fergie's Fledglings". A pre-season game in Lisbon against Sporting soon provided them with the replacement. A young skinny kid from the island of Madeira ripped the United backline apart, tying the likes of Gary Neville and John O'Shea in knots. On the flight home to Manchester, the players badgered Sir Alex Ferguson to sign this 18 year old wonderkid. Fergie duly obliged, forking out almost £13million for a player that one day would be known as CR7. Ronaldo produced a memorable debut against Bolton Wanderers bamboozling the Wanderers defence with an array of tricks and shuffles. He would then form a deadly partnership with Wayne Rooney to guide United to league titles in 2007, 2008, 2009, the FA Cup in 2004 and the Champions League in 2008 before moving to boyhood favourites Real Madrid in 2009 for a then world-record fee of £80million.
Jamie Vardy - Fleetwood Town to Leicester City, 2012 - £1million
Possibly the most talked about "bargain signing" during last season. Vardy moved from non-league Fleetwood Town in 2012 to Championship side Leicester City. It took the striker a few seasons to find his feet playing league football, but when the club were promoted to the Premier League in 2014 he managed 5 goals in his first season of top-flight football. 2015-16 will go down in the history books for being one of the most amazing seasons ever, where Leicester City won the Premier League, and Vardy rose to fame by scoring 24 goals for the Foxes including a record breaking streak of 11 consecutive Premier League games with a goal. Vardy made his debut for England at the end of the 14/15 season and scored his first goal for his country in a friendly against Germany as well as the equaliser for England against Wales at Euro 2016 to cap off a dream season for the former medical splint technician.
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An 18 year old kid called Cristiano Ronaldo tormented defences while playing for Manchester United before maturing into a world-record signing for Real Madrid in 2009.[/caption]
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Jamie Vardy signed for Leicester for just £1million and went on to fire his team to Premier League glory in 2016.[/caption]