Top 10 foreign imports in Premier League history

Diego Costa. Mario Balotelli. Eliaquim Mangala. Alexis Sanchez. And now, Angel Di Maria. The Premier League is on a spending spree like never before, with United even eclipsing the big two of Spanish football in terms of transfer outlay this season. And, at the helm of all the arrivals have been celebrated and much-hyped foreign superstars, players who’ve been signed to give their club that smattering of quality they lacked, that X-Factor.No other league has come close to EPL if one takes the sheer number of overseas superstars into account. Managers and fans have found them to be cheaper and better alternatives to the homegrown players many a time. And, this is not without reason.Ever since its inception 22 years ago, 14 of the 22 Player of the Season winners have been foreigners. While some of them faded away after that one incredible year and some others moved on to bigger and better things, some players carved a niche for themselves and etched their names into the history books, with stellar performances, week after week, year after year.Here, we look at the very, very best among those superstars. The very best foreign imports to have plied their trade in the Old Blighty. Feel free to add your own lists in the comments section.NOTE: Players from UK haven’t been included, and the opinion here is the author’s own.Honourable mentions – Jay Jay Okocha, Patrick Vieira, David Ginola, Paolo Di Canio, Sami Hyypia, Claude Makelele.

#10 Robin van Persie

Constantly compared to another great Dutch forward, Marco Van Basten, Robin van Persie joined Arsenal from Feyenoord in 2004. Competing for a place in the team alongside Jose Antonio Reyes, the left winger from Rotterdam soon became a striker, the target man of Wenger’s team. Gifted with an eye for the spectacular (Casillas would agree), van Persie soon became one of the most feared strikers in the continent, but success eluded him time and time again, until he put his foot down and completed a hugely controversial move to Manchester United in 2012.

Scoring 96 goals in 194 appearances for the Gunners and 38 in 60 games so far for the Red Devils, he finally won the English Premier League in his first season with United, memorably scoring an inch perfect volley that ensured the title in Sir Alex’s swansong season. Endowed with a left foot that is second only to that of Lionel Messi, Van Persie has been a stone in the neck for opposition teams, whether it has been for Arsenal or United.

After the disappointment of last season, RVP will be looking to fire on all cylinders this season, now that he’s re-united with national team coach Louis Van Gaal. The Flying Dutchman will definitely look to fly out of the blocks and take United back to where they want to be.

#9 Petr Cech

Fewest appearances required to reach 100 clean sheets. Check. Most number of clean sheets in the history of his team. Check. First goalie to go a 1000 minutes without conceding in the Premier League. Check. The greatest goalkeeper to still be a part of the Premier league. Petr Cech.

Winner of the Golden Glove Award in the 2004-05 and 2009-10 seasons, Petr Cech has broken a host of goalkeeping record for the Blues. Starting out as understudy to Carlo Cudicini, he soon made the place between the sticks his own, with some commanding performances. In fact, he conceded just 15 goals in the 2004-05 season, setting yet another record.

But what is more telling than all the records he has amassed is the way he got back up from that one big fall at the Madjeski Stadium in 2006. Knocked unconscious by a serious knee to the head, Cech returned to top-flight football in 3 months, showing his tenacity and inner strength. He didn’t merely return. He returned better than ever before, becoming the most reliable keeper on the planet, along with Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon. His time finally seems to be up though, with the long-awaited arrival of the prodigious Thibaut Courtouis.

#8 Nemanja Vidic

Manchester United’s defensive troubles seem to be far from over with the club still reeling from the departure of three of its four defensive stalwarts. The Blacketts, Smallings and Shaws indeed have large shoes to fill to reach anywhere near the standard their predecessors maintained. And, if I may say so, the most vital cog of that defensive machine was the captain, Nemanja Vidic.

A member of the “Famous Four” Serbian National team defence that leaked just a solitary goal during the 2006 World Cup Qualifying campaign, Nemanja Vidic signed for United in January 2006 for just £7 million. Five Premier League titles, a Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, three League Cup titles and a host of individual honours including Premier League Player of the Year (twice) followed in a glittering career in which he ensured he’d enter Manchester United history books with some immense displays at the back.

Rock solid and with an astute footballing brain, Vidic bailed United out of many a precarious situation with fellow partner-in crime, Rio Ferdinand. The only blot in an otherwise stellar career was his final season with United.

#7 Gianfranco Zola

“Gianfranco tries everything because he is a wizard and wizards must try”, enthused Claudio Ranieri, the then Chelsea coach after Zola had scored a brilliant back heel golazo against Norwich in 2002. It wasn’t the first time and certainly not the last, that the diminutive Italian had been praised so high. Among a plethora of memorable goals was the one he scored against United in 1997 after which Sir Alex remarked, “he’s a clever little so and so”.

Voted Chelsea’s greatest ever player in 2003, Zola was the symbol of the Pre-Abrahamovich Chelsea. He wasn’t just a symbol. He was the heart, soul and driving force of the Blues, scoring magical goals against the likes of Liverpool and Wimbledon. In November 2004, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire in a special ceremony in Rome.

Also, Chelsea have not allotted anyone his No 25 jersey in his honour. A true Azurri. By nation, and by club.

#6 Didier Drogba

Considered to be the greatest African footballer of all-time by many, Tebily Didier Yves Drogba was a true-blue striker in every sense of the word. Combining brute strength with pin-point finishing, Drogba was the face of the new Chelsea- a Chelsea that went on to establish themselves as regular winners in English football in the 2000s.

Joining from Marseille in 2004-05 for a then club-record £24 million, Drogba won the Premier League in his very first season. He went on to win it the next year too. But, heartbreak was in store as he was sent off in the Champions League final against United at Moscow, with his team losing the resulting penalty shoot-outs.

Things came a full circle for Drogba though as four years later, he scored the winning goal as Chelsea beat Bayern at their home to clinch their first ever European Cup. Redemption was his and many hailed him the greatest ever Blue of all time.

After a stint in China and Turkey, he is back for a second inning with Chelsea, replacing the man who was meant to replace him.

#5 Luis Suarez

It was the winter transfer deadline day in the 2010-11 season. Liverpool had just lost their talisman, Fernando Torres to Chelsea for a record £50 million. In came Andy Carroll (Oh my) and the striker who had lit up the Eredivisie with some fine performances, Luis Suarez.

Over the next couple of seasons, Suarez proved he could do everything Torres did and much, much more (Chiellini knows). He had The Kop raving about his talent, work ethic and goals week in, week out. One of the best No 9s in the game today, his performances against Spurs, Norwich and Cardiff last season will never be forgotten by the Anfield faithful.

Nor will they forget the tears he shed at the end of the now infamous Crystal Palace match. A fighter above anything else, it is sad that his goals are overshadowed by his misdemeanours. The world is waiting to see him fire alongside Messi and Neymar at Camp Nou now.

#4 Eric Cantona

If you have to be voted the greatest player in the history of your team above the likes of Dennis Law, George Best, Bryan Robson and Ryan Giggs, you must’ve had an absolutely phenomenal career. And Eric Cantona’s United career was nothing but that.

Bought for a paltry £1.2m (the price of 10 Shane Longs) in 1992, “King Eric” led the revival of the United team along with the Class of ’92. Winning the title in his very first season, he became the 1st player to win back-to-back Premier League titles with two different clubs.

In a chequered career where his Joey Barton-ish behaviour was as renowned as his Zidane-esque ability, Cantona won four Premier League titles in five seasons, also becoming the captain at United. And every time I speak of him, I can’t but help think of that famous celebration against Sunderland.

#3 Dennis Bergkamp

"When I played in Holland, I always tried to lob the goalkeeper. People used to say, ‘Oh, you’re always only trying to make a nice goal’. But I said, ‘Listen, if the goalie is a little bit off his line, how much space do you have on his left or right? It’s not a lot. And how much space do you have above him? There is more. It’s a question of mathematics.”

This was Dennis Bergkamp in a nutshell. “The Professor”, as he was lovingly called by Arsenal fans was more than just a footballer. He was a conductor, an orchestrator, the go-to man of a footballing juggernaut that went an entire season unbeaten. Lovely feints, inch-perfect passes, slaloming runs (or strolls?), cheeky lobs, audacious back heels and some wonderful, sublime goals made him a firm fan favorite ever since Bruce Rioch signed him in 1995.

A fulcrum of Wenger’s Arsenal team for nearly a decade, Dennis Bergkamp and his Cruyff-like, continental style of football will always be held in the highest esteem by the fans of English football. I don’t think we’ll ever see another of his likes again in this day and age of fast, physical football.

#2 Cristiano Ronaldo

What is there to say about this man that hasn’t been said? The best footballer to grace the planet according to many, Cristiano Ronaldo’s rise to stardom and beyond, began with Sir Alex bringing him to Old Trafford in the summer of 2003. The faith Sir Alex had in the teenager was evident with Ronaldo being given the hallowed No.7 jersey, worn previously by the likes of Best, Cantona and Beckham. His faith was repaid and how.

Ronaldo’s transformation from the step-over hungry, rabona crazy kid to a genuine, genuine superstar in the space of a few years has been astonishing. Ever since scoring 20 goals in the 06-07 season, his career has been on a meteoric rise that has seen him scale the very top of footballing peaks with a certain Lionel Messi. The unbelievable free-kicks against Blackburn and Porto, the dazzling solo run against Arsenal and a tremendously fruitful partnership with Wayne Rooney saw the Iberian win 3 domestic titles and the Champions League before he left Manchester for the Los Blancos for a world record fee.

The void he’s left in the Red Devils can be seen from the No.7 jersey we talked about earlier. It was then worn by an ageing Michael Owen and an alarmingly one-dimensional Antonio Valencia. The club is yet to find a successor to Ronaldo and the inventiveness that he brought with him (Di Maria maybe?). United’s loss has been Madrid’s gain.

#1 Thierry Henry

The famous knee-slide in front of the Spurs fans (now immortalised by the statue outside the Emirates), the hat-trick against Liverpool when the chips were down, the spectacular volley that caught compatriot Fabian Barthez in no-man’s-land, the final tribute he paid to Highbury - Thierry Henry’s Arsenal career must’ve had more highlight reel moments than most good players have in a lifetime. Combined.

He was that good, and more. Re-uniting with his former manager, Arsene Wenger, Henry’s arrival at North London from The Old Lady of Turin, sparked the dominance of the Gunners, that would end up with them making history. Replacing Nicolas Anelka, the pacey winger was transformed into the perfect centre forward by Wenger.

Pace, strength, dribbling, awareness, movement, aerial ability, dead ball mastery, composure, a blistering right foot, a deadly left foot – Henry had it all. He scored a scarcely believable 174 goals for Arsenal in a seven year span which saw him win countless individual accolades, and a host of winner’s medals, something which the current Arsenal crop find rather hard to come by.

He is also the only player in English football history to have been in the team of the season for more than 4 times in a row. He was in it for an astonishing six times on the trot. Simply put, the best foreigner to play in the Premier League.