Top transfer deals of all time (part 2)

Gianfranco Zola

Signed in 1996 from Parma to Chelsea, Zola quickly made himself an impact helping Chelsea to get the FA Cup in his first season and was the first ever Chelsea player to receive the FWA (Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year) award. A year later, he scored the winning goal in the Cup Winner’s Cup which made up a total of 80 goals in seven years at the Blues. The attacking midfielder who helped Chelsea start winning some trophies, certainly worth a lot more than the transfee deal of $7.3 million.

Nicolas Anelka

Transferred from Paris Saint-Germain, Anelka’s performances at Arsenal are far more valuable than the transfer cost of $811,400 with 27 goals in three seasons. With his excellent performance, just two years after Anelka’s transfer to the Gunners, Real Madrid purchased the Frenchman for $36.2 million. It was a huge profit that Arsenal made off Anelka in just three seasons although the Frenchman never had the best of relationships with the Arsenal community despite the fact that, Arsene Wenger is superb with French players. 

Javier Hernandez

Manchester United were extremely smart in purchasing Hernandez from Guadalajara before the 2010 World Cup with the cost of up to $16 million. In South Africa, he was Man of The Match, scored a crucial goal against France, and scored a consolation goal against Argentina in the Round of 16.

Many big European clubs admired his performance and fancy of purchasing the Mexican, but Manchester United had already signed him. Hernandez performance in the 2010/2011 season was superb with 20 total goals, making him the first player since Ruud Van Nistlerooy (2001/2002) to score more than 20 goals in his first season at Manchester United. If the Mexican striker can sustain this performance, then he may become the next Cristiano Ronaldo-type deal for Manchester United.