Top Ten: Loan signings in EPL history

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Some arrive anonymous, while others arrive as household names. Whatever the case there’s a certain charm on seeing a loan player succeed at your club. Loan deals have in the past been common place for smaller clubs, although of late bigger clubs have taken to trying the players before buying. If the player flops, you’re not left with a multi-million pound donkey.

With this list, Sport.co.uk have undertaken the unenviable task of sifting through the failures and found the cream of the crop when it comes to loan deals in the English Premier League.


1. Christophe Dugarry

Back in 2002 newly-promoted Birmingham endured a torrid start to their Premier League campaign. The squad, ravaged by injuries, didn’t appear to have the quality to deal with the Premier League. With relegation looming something had to be done. No one could have predicted their savior would come in the form of French World Cup Winner, Christophe Dugarry. Signed in the 2003 January transfer window, his impact was immediate. The former Barcelona striker scored five goals in his first five starts and was pivotal in helping Birmingham end their inaugural Premier League season in a respectable 13th place.


2. Andres D’Alessandro

Once tipped to be the next Maradona, D’Alessandro never really lived up to the hype surrounding him. However during his loan spell at Portsmouth he showed just why he was being touted as Argentina’s next big thing. Mesmerizing skills combined with fantastic vision, this playmaker wowed the Fratton Park faithful. With his fine performances he helped secure Portsmouth Premier League status. To this day he has struggled to replicate the fantastic form he found at Portsmouth, and now plies his trade in Brazil for Internacional.

3. Mikael Arteta

Working with a miniscule transfer budget, David Moyes has unearthed some real gems for Everton over the years. However none have been as important to the club as Spanish midfielder Arteta. Signed on loan from Real Sociedad, it didn’t take the player long to establish himself as a fan favorite. Skillful and versatile, he helped the blues achieve UEFA Champions League qualification. Moyes made the deal permanent and Arteta ended a successful first season winning both Everton Player of the Season title as well as the Players' Player of the Season accolade.

4. Mauro Zárate
When Birmingham signed this little known Argentinean from Qatari side Al-Sadd, little was expected of him. After two goals against Manchester City and a fantastic equalizing free-kick against Everton, he was soon being touted by manager Alex McLeish as the clubs savior. Just as Tevez had helped rescue West Ham from the drop, Zarate would save Birmingham. It didn’t quite work out that way, and Birmingham were relegated. Zarate’s performances however did enough to catch the attention of a number of big clubs, and he eventually moved to Lazio for a reported €20m, with a €60m buy-out clause.


5. Javier Mascherano

FIFA's rules state a player cannot play for more than two clubs between 1 July and 30 June the following year but Javier Mascherano had already played for both Corinthians and West Ham. Despite a complicated and drawn out affair, Mascherano was eventually allowed to sign on loan for Liverpool. A fantastic defensive midfielder, he received much praise during his loan spell and soon established himself in the team’s starting line-up. He impressed enough to command a transfer fee reported to be in the region of 18.6m.


6. Júrgen Klinsmann

Originally arriving in England amidst a flurry of negative press coverage back in 1994, Klinsmann soon won over the press with his near-legendary celebration, the Klinsmann dive. It was his passion and determination that won over the Tottenham fans though, not to mention his ability to score goals. He left Spurs to play for Bayern Munich and eventually Sampdoria, but returned to Tottenham on loan in 1997. This was no mere nostalgia trip either, as the German maestro proved he was still a lethal finisher, netting 9 goals in 15 games, rescuing the club from relegation.

7. Henrik Larsson

There aren’t many players who would turn down the opportunity to stay at Manchester Utd, but that’s exactly what this lethal Swede did. The former Celtic goal machine joined Utd on a short-term loan from Helsingborg, coinciding with the Swedish football leagues off-season. Despite being in the twilight of his career and making relatively few appearances for the red devils, he impressed Alex Ferguson enough to suggest an extension of the loan deal. He was even granted a special dispensation by the Premier League to receive a League winners medal, despite not playing the required quota of 10 league games.

8. Ivan Campo

If you’re looking to endear yourself to a new set of fans, little will work as well as a 40-yard wonder goal. This is exactly what Campo did on his debut against Tottenham. Signed on a one-year loan in August 2002, the Spaniard is fully deserving of the praise and adulation he receives from Bolton fans. Moving from Real Madrid to Bolton would dishearten a lesser man, but Campo gave his all in every game, grafting away as if his life depended on it, securing his place as a Bolton cult hero to this day.


9. Robbie Keane

Moving from Coventry City to Inter Milan would be a dream move for any player, but for this Irish pocket-rocket the dream soon soured. Costing the Italian club £13 million, Keane soon found himself warming the bench after the manager who signed him, Marcello Lippi, was replaced by Marco Tardelli. It wasn’t long before he secured a loan deal at Leeds Utd. He soon showed his quality, scoring 9 goals in 14 starts and impressing fellow Irish man and then Leeds manager, David O’Leary to shell out £7m to make the move permanent.

10. Júlio Baptista

Originally a transfer target for Arsenal, Baptista signed for Real Madrid from Sevilla in 2005 for a reported fee of £13.8m. After a disappointing first season for the Spanish giants, the Gunners took the Brazilian on loan. Whilst the Beast didn’t set the Premier League alight, his performances in the League Cup were far more convincing. He ensured his place in Arsenal fans hearts after scoring four goals against Liverpool in the Quarter finals of the Cup competition. Wenger decided against making the move permanent. When we consider the flimsiness of today’s Arsenal team, maybe the professor should have kept him around.

Some dodgy names on that list. Some of these players went on to be duds.

Sport uk

Diabhal Beag

D'Alessandro did not of relevance at Pompey IIRC

GavRedKing

If we are taking players on how they done during there loan spells alone and not what did previous or after then the list is pretty good, hard to pick holes in it ( off the top my head )

And, D’Alessandro FTW :pac:

Xavi6

No William Prunier?

:pac:

Kingp35

Lamine Sakho, genius

Bubs101

D'allesandro was amazing at Pompey. Gave them flair they never had before. Jamie O'hara deserves a spot on that list for his performances this year with pompey and Joe Hart should be topping the list for his insanely great form for Brum

Quazzie

Why is Mascherano on it but not Tevez or am I missing something?

event

Quazzie wrote: »

Why is Mascherano on it but not Tevez or am I missing something?

well i think they are classing it that tevez and mascherano signed for west ham, then liverpool signed mascherano on loan from them

so tevez wasnt on loan to west ham, he had signed for them

grames_bond

event wrote: »

so tevez wasnt on loan to west ham, he had signed for them

but he WAS on loan with utd! or am i missing something

event

grames_bond wrote: »

but he WAS on loan with utd! or am i missing something

never even thought of that, sorry

yeah i suppose so, but i dont know if anyone knows the ful story of what happened there.

The Volt

Kevin Campbell pretty much saved our asses back in 99 when he baggeg 9 goals in 11 games, where's he!

PHB

Tevez was on loan at both United and West Ham.
That said, it was a weird thing which doesnt really count. Dont know why you'd include Mascherano though.

Dancor

grames_bond wrote: »

but he WAS on loan with utd! or am i missing something

2 year loan deal AFAIK

jimmyendless

The Beast didn't want to stay. If I remember correctly he didn't like the weather.

Dancor

jimmyendless wrote: »

The Beast didn't want to stay. If I remember correctly he didn't like the weather.

And he was ****e. He should have gone to Arsenal sooner. IIRC they were after him but he went to Real, but I remember at the time he wanted to stay in Spain for citensenship.

~Rebel~

Baptista was a bit of a flop at Arsenal though...would have thought Anelka's move to Liverpool would make the list ahead of him...

threebeards

Xavi6 wrote: »

No William Prunier?

:pac:

QFT!! Legend

jimmyendless

Zaki had a crazy start to his loan spell at Wigan.

HalloweenJack

Zarate and Arteta were both class.

Musampa's first spell at Man City was a great success.

Manuel Fernandes showed some of his brilliance at Everton.

Zaki's start at Wigan was astounding.

Mido did something similar with Spurs.

I can't really think of anyone else.

Xavi6

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Musampa's first spell at Man City was a great success.

Bit of an exaggeration.

Personally I hated him and thought he was shite.

The Volt

Arteta was genius by Moyes but Campbell still remains close to my heart. Kept us up with some crucial goals between 1999 and 2002, such a short spell you might think, but this was when Everton were at thier lowest ebb and could easily of gone down - that late revival at the end of the 1998-99 campaign will always stick with me (6-0 v West Ham, 3-1 at Newcastle, etc etc)

I doubt we would be anywhere near the Premier League today if hadn't of been for Campbell's goals.

Kent Brockman

Kevin Campbell joined Everton on loan from Trabzonspor in March 1999 and proved to be an instant and massive success by scoring nine goals in eight starts, and almost single handedly save the team from relegation that season.

Didnt read your post Voltwad

Kirnsy

Dancor wrote: »

And he was ****e. He should have gone to Arsenal sooner. IIRC they were after him but he went to Real, but I remember at the time he wanted to stay in Spain for citensenship.

Baptista was a real piece of lazy journalism to be fair. This coming from an arsenal fan....he was no good at the club and other than his (admittadly very impressive) game v Liverpool, he didn't contribute in any other way. Anelka at liverpool / and Hart at Brum would be way above him IMO

Xavi6

Anelka at Pool was average. He scored a goal every 5 games which is hardly setting the world alight.

Yes they should have signed him permanently purely for his talent a loan but the spell itself was quite ordinary.

Eire-Dearg

Xavi6 wrote: »

Yes they should have signed him permanently purely for his talent a loan but the spell itself was quite ordinary.

Intended?

Xavi6

Eire-Dearg wrote: »

Intended?

At 7am on a Saturday? Not a chance!

A Dub in Glasgo

Voltwad wrote: »

Arteta was genius by Moyes

Actually Alec McLeish should be credited with 'finding' Arteta

Spud83

Evans to Sunderland. Played a big part in their promotion push and a big part in keeping them up in his second loan spell the next season.

Kirnsy

alanmurphy83 wrote: »

Evans to Sunderland. Played a big part in their promotion push and a big part in keeping them up in his second loan spell the next season.

good call. then they ended up with anton ferdinand....