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Deadline day and desperation are two easily relatable things. Deadline day is the bringer of insanity as managers often go crazy on the last day of a transfer window in their quest to sign players to fill up and get quality in their respective squads.
Getting quality for a fair price in the January window is an extremely difficult task as clubs don't want to sell their prized assets during an ongoing season.
While getting value for money is tough, many teams have done some shrewd piece of businesses and have acquired world-class players in the January transfer window but there's no denying that it becomes even more sweeter if the deal just goes through into the dying stages of a transfer window.
Most clubs believe that deadline day business is risky. Yet, there have been some successful mid-season deadline day deals, since the January window's inception in 2003.
With that in mind, here we take a look at 5 of the Premier League's best ever mid-season deadline day signings.
#5 Jermain Defoe - West Ham to Tottenham
Defoe joined The Lilywhites on the deadline day of the mid-season transfer window in 2004 for Bobby Zamora plus a £7 million fee, the striker went on to score 43 league goals in 139 appearances for Spurs, a then mid-table club.
He scored a trademark debut strike in a 4-3 win over Portsmouth and soon became an England regular. In his first season at the London-based club, Defoe went on to win the club's Player of the Year award.
He left Spurs for Portsmouth in January 2008, only to come back a year later for a sum of £15.75 million and added 79 more goals to his club tally over the course of the next 5 seasons.
#4 Wilfried Zaha - Manchester United to Crystal Palace
After initially joining on loan in the summers of 2014, Zaha's move to the Selhurst Park was made permanent on 2 February 2015 for a fee of around £5 million. Capable of playing as a forward or a winger, the Ivory Coast international has been a revelation at Crystal Palace.
A pacy dribbler with an eye for goal, Zaha has turned his fortunes around at Selhurst Park. To the delight of Palace fans, Zaha has won three club's Player of the Year award at Crystal Palace, a feat only achieved before by goalkeeper Julian Speroni.
Over the past few years, Zaha has been one of the very few positives at Selhurst Park and is the sole reason that Crystal Palace are still a Premier League side.
#3 Javier Mascherano - West Ham to Liverpool (initial loan)
Mascherano joined Liverpool on deadline day in what was one of the most complicated deals in the history of transfer deals.
Joining on an initial 18-month loan, the midfielder was worth the hassle. After his arrival, Mascherano quickly established himself as one of Rafael Benitez's favorites. The deep-lying midfielder was an important piece of the puzzle in the Reds team that reached the 2007 Champions League final.
The Reds also came very close to winning the league title in the 2008-09 season. Mascherano made a total of 139 appearances for the club before finally joining Barcelona in 2010.
#2 Mikel Arteta - Real Sociedad to Everton
Identified as a replacement for Real Madrid bound Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen, Arteta was a surprisingly successful acquisition at Goodison Park during David Moyes's tenure.
Arteta initially joined on loan on the deadline day of the January window in 2005. Arteta helped Everton finish 4th in the Premier League that season and signed permanently in July 2005 for a minimal fee of £2 million.
During his time in Merseyside, he was named the clubs Player of the Season twice. His creativity and guile were an integral part of Everton's attack and he went on to register 209 appearances for the Toffees before finally joining Arsenal in 2011.
#1 Luis Suarez - Ajax to Liverpool
Joining Liverpool from Dutch side Ajax on 31 January 2011, Suarez's arrival at Anfield was somewhat overshadowed by the £35 million arrival of Andy Carroll a few hours later. But it was the Uruguayan who came for £22.8 million who went to become one of the Reds' best player of the last decade.
Suarez's time at Merseyside was marred with many controversies but it was his on-field performances that would be fondly remembered by the Anfield faithful.
The Uruguayan scored 17 goals in his first season in Merseyside, but it was in the 2013-14 season where he truly exploded, firing in 31 goals to win the Golden Boot and very nearly firing Liverpool to their first ever Premier League title, before leaving for Barcelona the following summer.
