5 Most Shocking Last-Minute EPL Transfers

The last few days of the transfer window are much akin to the anticipation of Christmas. Ardent football dads set up football-specific nativity scenes, kids scribble their wish lists all over Twitter, and all of a sudden everyone starts praying to the Gods they’ve neglected for the other 364 days of the year.

With a single signing, clubs have the ability to invigorate a fan base and create a winning team.

But like Christmas, not every gift you find waiting for you in the morning is expected. Here are some of the most shocking last-minute EPL transfer in recent memory.

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#5 Robinho to Manchester City

The Abu Dhabi United Group announced their takeover of Manchester City in 2008 with the purchase of Robinho from Real Madrid on the last day of the transfer window. In a deal that shocked the sporting world, Robinho turned down Chelsea in favor of an upstart club that wasn’t even the best team in its own city.

The £32.5 million transfer would mean that Robinho would now be combining with the likes of Martin Petrov and Stephen Ireland instead of Guti and Wesley Sneijder. His debut match would see him score a free kick against Chelsea, the team he snubbed for City.

The game would prove indicative of the team’s form as they played beautiful football yet couldn’t keep themselves from leaking goals. Despite basically signing a new starting XI (Bridge, Bellamy, de Jong, Kompany, Zabaleta.) Manchester City would only amass 50 points, finishing in 10th place.

#4 Fernando Torres to Chelsea

In Torres’ first season with Liverpool, he scored 24 goals in EPL play. During his entire stint with Chelsea, he only managed 20 EPL goals. Yet before the worst 6 seasons of his career would play out, he was being hailed as one of the best January transfers in EPL history. The prolific scorer would leave EPL giants Liverpool for their top-4 rival Chelsea.

Rare is it that in-form strikers are sold to premier league rivals in the January transfer window. After a bit of badgering and a 50 million pound transfer fee to good to pass up, Liverpool sold the best player they had under their employ in years.

With that cash, Liverpool went out and broke their own transfer record by signing Luis Suarez whose £22.8 million fee was then broken three hours later by Andy Carroll’s £35 million arrival.

#3 Julien Faubert to Real Madrid

Real Madrid is renown for breaking transfer records and splurging on already established stars. Which is why the entire world was flummoxed when Madrid made the shock loan move for West Ham’s right-back, Julien Faubert.

The French international was young at the time and full of speed, but the season before his loan move to Madrid he only played eight times for West Ham in a season plagued by injury. Pundits had their critical thinking ability put to the test when they were asked what Los Blancos saw in Faubert.

His time in the Spanish capital would all have been forgotten had he not shown the world how ensconced he’d become with the Real Madrid bench that he fell asleep during a league match.

#4 Mesut Ozil to Arsenal

For years Arsenal’s transfer policy had been placed under scrutiny. The club had been accused of refusing to sign established talent that would provide an immediate boost to their squad.

Wenger and the club’s board released years of pent-up spending when they made the shock bid of £42.5 million for Madrid’s playmaker.

Arsenal’s break with tradition and choice to spend big on a player would have been shocking had it happened during the first few weeks of the transfer window.

The fact that the transfer happened on deadline day made Arsenal fans all the more giddy in anticipation of the season to come.

#5 Carlos Tevez & Javier Mascherano to West Ham

How is it that two of the hottest prospects in the world ended up at a club that hadn’t challenged for England’s league title in decades? Being that the transfer was so murky, we still don’t really have an answer.

EPL clubs aren’t allowed to sign players owned by ‘third parties’, which both players were. It’s widely accepted that some laws were broken that brought the legendary players to east London. West Ham wasn’t exactly in the business of signing foreign starlets.

Sure West Ham used shady practices to quickly dry the ink before top-4 clubs could step in and steal the pair away, but Hammer fans aren’t complaining. Tevez went on to score seven goals in West Ham’s final nine matches including the game-winner against United on the last day of the season that saved the club from relegation.