I know a thing or two about bargaining. Whenever I go to shopping with my mother, I get astounded at how amazingly she debates with the shopkeeper to get him to lower the price – and the best part is that she almost always gets her price.
While I have no doubt that my mother, or any South East Asian mom, would make a great transfer director for top European clubs, there are already some great negotiators in the world of football that manage to pull some of the best bargain deals.
In a market so inflated, this is a quality that most clubs would want to have in their transfer director. Indeed, it is this very quality that brings success to a club. They say a good defence wins you titles and we have some of the greatest defenders being bought for relative peanuts. And here are 5 such cases…
#5 Sami Hyypia - £2.5 million, Liverpool
When Jamie Carragher was asked to name the top 10 defenders in the Premier League era, he named Sami Hyypia as the tenth best defender the league ever had. Such is the adulation that Carragher has for him that he credits the former Finland international for Liverpool’s rise in fortunes in the following years.
“He transformed our defensive record and won 10 trophies,” said the former Liverpool captain. Indeed, Hyypia joined Liverpool in 1999 for a paltry £2.5 million and was instrumental in Liverpool’s Champions League winning campaign in 2005.
The former Leverkusen defender was an astute performer of the art of defending and formed one of the strongest centre-half pairing with Stephane Henchoz first and then with Jamie Carragher. When he departed from Anfield in 2009, Ron Yeats, a former scout of Liverpool, said, "one of the best bits of business we've done over the years… a steal – a bargain."
Given that Hyypia won 10 trophies during his time at Anfield – including the miracle of Istanbul – he can definitely be labelled as a shrewd piece of business for £2.5 million.
#4 Gerard Pique - £5 million, Barcelona
Barcelona fans couldn’t understand why Pep Guardiola was keen to bring him back to the club. After all, his four years at United was far from successful as he couldn’t break into the first team with Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand cementing their indispensable status.
The player himself didn’t believe that he would be back after leaving the club as a youngster, but there he was; on the onset of something that was never seen before.
A year later in 2009, Barcelona won the treble. Six months after that, they became the only club to win 6 trophies in a calendar year – and Gerard Pique was an integral part of that team. It’s been 9 years since the Catalan moved to the Camp Nou for £5 million – and he has won 6 league titles and 3 Champions League in that time.
And he was a key member in all these triumphs. Great bargain, no?
#3 Cesar Azpilicueta - £7 million, Chelsea
Isn’t it a little strange that, despite producing some of the best players in the world, Spanish players don’t really attract the highest prizes? David Silva, one of Manchester City’s greatest ever players, was bought for a puny £25 million. The same could be said Juan Mata to Chelsea and, obviously, Cesar Azpilicueta to the same team.
The Spaniard was bought from Marseille to solve Chelsea’s right-back problems, but he has done far more than just that. Right-back, left-back and now centre-back – this is a guy that is a master of all defending traits at the Stamford Bridge.
His worth as a player is becomes apparent when one sees how all the managers he has played under at Chelsea admired him. He was signed by Roberto di Matteo, then he played under Rafa Benitez. After the Spaniard, Jose Mourinho took over and planted him at left-back. And now under Antonio Conte, he is a right-sided centre-back
He has done well in each of the positions that he has played in and it is sad state that he isn’t a starter for Spain. In his 5 years at Chelsea, he has won the Premier League twice and was voted as Chelsea’s Players’ Player of the Year in 2014.
#2 Raphael Varane - £8.5 million, Real Madrid
He might as well go down as the greatest bargain defender of all time. When Raphael Varane joined Real Madrid, he was only 18 years-old with a lot of potential. Manchester United were heavily linked with him before Zinedine Zidane personally called him and convinced him to join the Bernabeu.
This happened 6 years ago in 2011. The Frenchman, now 24, has forged himself as the starting centre-back at the club after some periods of inconsistency. Nonetheless, he is class act that helped Madrid win the Champions League this season and also played a part in the last two conquests.
After 6 years at the club, he now has two La Ligas and three Champions League titles under his belt – becoming the youngest player ever to be a 3-time Champion League winner – and is likely to add more before his career ends.
Expect Paco Gento’s record to be broken in a few years’ time.
#1 Nemanja Vidic - £7 million, Manchester United
At one point in time, Manchester United had the best defence in England. And why wouldn’t they? After all, they had the then most expensive defender of all time, Rio Ferdinand, in their team. But one centre-back doesn’t make a good defence, does it?
So, the Red Devils signed another – and this one was for a puny £7 million only. When Nemanja Vidic came to the Old Trafford, not many had heard of him, but by the time he left the Theatre of Dreams, he became renowned as one of the best centre-backs the Premier League has ever had.
The Serbian formed a near-unbreakable defensive-pairing with Rio Ferdinand as Manchester United dominated both Europe and England with the two at the base of the system. Vidic’s time at United was a highly successful one as he helped the team win 5 Premier Leagues and a Champions League in his 8 years at the club.
All this for £7 million. Makes you think.
