Xhaka next? The most stunning transfer coups made by newly-promoted Premier League clubs
Leeds might not be signing ‘the most sought-after player in the world’ in Sean Longstaff but Granit Xhaka would be a remarkable coup if Sunderland land him.
That Xhaka rumour sparked thoughts of the most impressive signings ever made by newly-promoted Premier League clubs. We are not necessarily talking the best signings here, nor the most expensive. Just the biggest.
10) Joao Palhinha (Fulham, 2022)
“While there were other prominent clubs aiming to secure his signature, we’re thrilled that Joao chose to come here,” said Fulham co-owner Tony Khan after signing reported Manchester United target Palhinha.
The midfielder was lured by the banks of the River Thames, the leafy strolls of Bishops Park and the promise of seeing that Michael Jackson statue in storage somewhere.
Palhinha packed among his belongings 14 caps for Portugal and a title winner’s medal from his time at Sporting, who received £20m for their troubles.
9) Esteban Cambiasso (Leicester, 2014)
At one stage, Cambiasso and Lionel Messi were neck and neck. By summer 2014, both had won 20 trophies throughout their club careers, from numerous league titles to Champions League crowns.
They both trailed compatriot Alfredo di Stefano (21), but were level on the podium when it came to the most decorated players in Argentina’s history.
Cambiasso ostensibly sacrificed his chances of adding to that tally when it came to choosing his path after Inter Milan. Four years after playing an integral role in their Treble-winning campaign, his contract with the Nerazzurri had expired at the end of a season in which he played 32 Serie A games as captain.
It is almost unfathomable that a newly-promoted team managed by Nigel Pearson could force their way to the front of the subsequent queue. But the thrill, according to the player himself, was in the chase.
“The first option was Cambiasso, the second option was Cambiasso,” he said. “When I knew this I called my agent and I said, ‘we go there’.”
While he never did add to that personal trophy collection, Cambiasso unknowingly penned the first chapter in a remarkable and silver-laden success story. He was voted Leicester’s Player of the Season after helping inspire them to safety, leaving after a single year to be replaced by N’Golo actual Kante.
8) Jean Michael Seri (Fulham, 2018)
By the end of the chase, Seri could count Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Napoli as potential suitors, with Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona previously linked in the midfielder.
Yet it was Fulham who won out, capitalising on slightly reduced interest after Seri’s slightly more modest 2017/18 for Nice.
Some phenomenal performances in the prior season had put him on those loftier radars but Seri “exploded” at the French club’s directors when he discovered “they didn’t keep their promise” and had instead demanded more money.
Fulham duly obliged a year later and 70 wholly underwhelming appearances later might have wished they hadn’t.
7) Rodrigo (Leeds, 2020)
For almost 20 entire years the final remnant of Leeds having lived the dream was the identity of their record signing. Rio Ferdinand cost them £18m in November 2000 and was sold on relative cheap at under £30m in a massive panic to Manchester United less than two years later.
There he stood until “one of the best coaches in football”, as Rodrigo described Marcelo Bielsa at the time, used his pull to herald the return of Leeds to the big time.
Rodrigo was, ironically enough, only available because of the crippling financial difficulty which had engulfed Valencia, whose failure to qualify for the Champions League ultimately cost them their vice-captain.
Leeds were able to call on an entire 22 caps’ worth of experience from the forward, although some might argue fellow summer 2020 signing Raphinha was slightly better.
6) Joao Moutinho (Wolves, 2018)
Wolves were not cut from the usual promoted club cloth. Promoted at a canter after leading the Championship table since October, the foundations were already in place to make them an established Premier League force.
Their manager was appointed directly from Porto, as quite absurdly was midfielder Ruben Neves for a single season of overpowered second-tier nonsense. The Jorge Mendes connection granted them a squad ready-made for the top flight with a few more transfer window tweaks.
They included the capture of Raul Jimenez on loan from Benfica, the arrival of Sporting and Portugal keeper Rui Patricio and the signing of Diogo Jota from Atletico Madrid.
But the most startling moment was when Moutinho walked through the door having just added to his 113 Portugal caps at the World Cup. It must have been quite the culture shock for poor John Ruddy.
The biggest surprise, of course, was that Moutinho’s introduction to the Premier League was with neither Spurs nor Everton.
5) Nicolas Anelka (Manchester City, 2002)
Ever the shrinking violet, Anelka did not hide the fact that Manchester City was not his first choice of destination in the summer of 2002.
“Why didn’t I stay at Liverpool after having achieved what I wanted to do – to play, score and relaunch my career?” Anelka said. “I cannot answer that. It is better to put the question to Gerard Houllier because I really wanted to stay.”
No-one ever really bothered to – although Anelka later hinted at his suspicions. Liverpool simply opted to sign the much more level-headed El Hadji Diouf instead of making the loan permanent. The striker was therefore left with a dilemma, unwanted by Paris Saint-Germain and with a burgeoning reputation as a nuisance.
Kevin Keegan took the risk. He almost tripled City’s club-record fee just a month after they sauntered to the First Division title, bringing Anelka in for £13m.
The BBC reported at the time that ‘the sales pitch also included a video of last season’s promotion highlights,’ because showing Kevin Horlock scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace is the only way to a man’s heart.
4) Bryan Roy (Nottingham Forest, 1994)
Frank Clark recalls that he was sat in his office at the City Ground, contemplating how to navigate life in the Premier League with a budget the Forest board had just revealed as absolute zero, when he received a call from an agent “asking what I was looking for”.
“I was looking for a left sided attacker and the agent said ‘you mean someone like Bryan Roy’,” Clark went on. “I said ‘don’t take the proverbial, he’s out of our price range’.”
But Foggia’s relegation from Serie A had opened the door and Clark crept through, going as far as to inform Roy’s wife, a budding actress, that Nottingham to London was “40 minutes on a train or 30 minutes by flying” when asked how far they would be from the capital.
It was a curious move on the player’s part. Roy was 24, a UEFA Cup winner with Ajax two years prior, wanted by Parma, Napoli and Inter Milan and playing in his second World Cup with the Netherlands.
But the biggest gamble was on the part of Forest, who found the extra funds to break their transfer record on their only first-team signing that season and secured what remains the highest Premier League placing for a promoted club in their first season.
3) Youri Djorkaeff (Bolton, 2002)
With 12 games left to play of the 2001/02 Premier League season, newly-promoted Bolton were teetering on the edge. They were 17th, three points above Blackburn and keeping their heads above water just long enough to catch their breath.
The manager needed something to push them over the line; not quite a last roll of the Sam Allardyce, but close.
If supporters were buoyed by the January arrival of 1996 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup winner and former Serie A champion Bruno N’Gotty, the best was yet to come.
“He is an outstanding, world-class player and a World Cup winner, and perhaps the biggest signing in the club’s history,” grinned Allardyce the following month, unveiling and unleashing the unwitting Djorkaeff.
The Frenchman had played all but one of Les Bleus’ 13 games en-route to World Cup and European Championship glory mere years earlier, and was snapped up on a free transfer from Kaiserslautern after a high-profile falling-out with Andreas Brehme.
Djorkaeff scored four goals in Bolton’s final dozen matches as they edged to safety; the foundations for an iconic team were in place.
2) Edwin van der Sar (Fulham, 2001)
When Fulham finally reached the promised land of the Premier League in 2001, they were one year ahead of schedule.
Mohamed Al-Fayed had outlined his hopes for the club when he purchased them upon their promotion from Division Three in 1997, including a five-year plan to take them to the top flight. He would finally realise his dream with Jean Tigana’s free-scoring side at the turn of the millennium.
Far from slowing down, Al-Fayed simply used it as an excuse to accelerate his spending. A French revolution saw Steed Malbranque, Sylvain Legwinski and Steve Marlet all arrive and Fulham (£32.3m) be outspent by only Manchester United (£58.6m) that summer.
The marquee signing was Van der Sar, a Champions League winner and Netherlands No. 1, forced out of Juventus by their world-record purchase of Gianluigi Buffon.
One Old Lady’s trash was another handful of European giants’ treasure, as Liverpool and United courted the then-30-year-old. But it was Fulham who shelled out just £7m to upgrade ever so slightly on Maik Taylor.
1) Juninho (Middlesbrough, 1995)
Boro chief executive Keith Lamb was not exaggerating when he said the First Division champions had “beaten all the top Premiership clubs and several big European clubs” to sign Juninho, “the most sought-after player in the world”.
The club’s first season at the Riverside called for a statement addition and provided the stage for thousands to attend the unveiling of the Brazilian Footballer of the Year, who had just represented the Selecao at the Copa America and scored in an Umbro Cup final victory over England that summer.
A post-industrial town in the grim north-east was a quite ludicrous place to find a player billed as the next Pele, particularly when scepticism over supposed foreign mercenaries was rife.
But long before Juninho shed tears at Boro’s relegation two years after he joined, The Little Fella became an adopted Teessider. In his own words, the genius “opened the door” as a Premier League trailblazer.
