Five best and worst January transfers, featuring Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal buys

The annual mid-season scramble for players will recommence next week

Liverpool had one of each in Carroll and Suarez (Getty)

With the January transfer window creaking open next week, a number of big-money signings and panic loan deals are expected to be brought in by Premier League sides as they push for the title or a European spot – or try and fight off relegation.

The Independent looks at five of the best and worst January transfers done in the Premier League era.

The Best...

Luis Suarez - Ajax to Liverpool (£22.5m) Jan 31, 2011

The Uruguayan forward is now among the best in the world and he enjoyed a prosperous time at Liverpool. It was the 2013/14 season where he really came to life. Despite missing the first five games through suspension, he managed to lead the goal-scoring charts with 31 goals and also accumulated an incredible 21 assists as his Liverpool side were pipped to the the title by Manchester City. At the end of that season, Suarez moved to Barcelona for close to £70m. The Reds were gifted with stellar performances from the Uruguayan and an astronomical profit.

Patrice Evra - Monaco to Manchester United (£7m) Jan 10, 2006

Despite initially struggling to settle in Manchester, Patrice Evra was a mainstay in the team during his eight-year stint with Manchester United. Evra played an integral part in winning five Premier League titles under Sir Alex Ferguson. He formed part of the defence that built the foundations for United’s Champions League triumph in 2008 and also helped the side reach the final in 2012/13. In 2014, Evra moved to Italian champions Juventus for a fee in the region of £1.5m.

Nemanja Vidic - Spartak Moscow to Manchester United (£9m) Jan 5, 2006

Vidic agreed a deal to move to Old Trafford on Christmas Day 2005 (Getty)

Days before Evra joined, the Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic had put pen to paper to strike a deal with United. Vidic established a formidable partnership at the back with Rio Ferdinand which some argue was the best centre-back pairing of the Premier League and potentially one of the best of all-time. Towards the end of his spell at United it was clear to see that he had somewhat lost a lot of his defensive capabilities and was subsequently let go on a free transfer to Inter.

Daniel Sturridge - Chelsea to Liverpool (£13m) Jan 2, 2013

In a season marred by injury for Sturridge, Chelsea sold him at the midway point for a reported £13m. In the second half of that season, Sturridge bagged ten goals in 14 games and the following season he scored 22. Unfortunately though, Sturridge has had injury problems which have prevented him from getting any real consistency in his play in the last three seasons. Despite this, when he plays, he usually scores.

Sturridge has struggled with injuries during his time at Anfield (Getty)

Gary Cahill - Bolton to Chelsea (£7m) Jan 16, 2012

Since Cahill’s move to Chelsea he has established himself as one of the best centre-backs England have. Cahill played a massive part in the season when Chelsea won the Champions League, where the Blues had their backs against the wall against Bayern Munich for the most part of that final. Seen as a replacement for Chelsea stalwart John Terry, Cahill has developed into a very commanding and talented centre-back in recent years – a solid investment.

... and the Worst

Kostas Mitroglou - Olympiakos to Fulham (£13m) Jan 31, 2014

Fulham paid a club-record fee for the Greek forward but Mitroglou didn’t exactly pay the club back for their faith as they were relegated a few months later. Fulham bought him whilst he was struggling with a knee injury which plagued him throughout his time with Fulham. Having only played three games in the Premier League, it’s no wonder he was never on target for the Cottagers.

Andy Carroll - Newcastle to Liverpool (£35m) Jan 31, 2011

Carroll was a the most expensive British player ever at the time (Getty)

When Fernando Torres left for Chelsea, Liverpool panic-bought Andy Carroll, and spent way too much on him. That was the thought at the time and it turned out to be right. Carroll had 11 league goals before Liverpool signed him and he could only muster another two, both of which came against Manchester City. The next season his return was very poor, scoring just four goals in 35 appearances in the league and he was sold to West Ham the following term.

Christopher Samba - Anzhi Makhachkala to QPR (£13m) Jan 31, 2013

QPR splashed the cash on deadline day to bring in the former Blackburn defender but it didn’t end well. QPR won two games in the second half of the season and were relegated soon after with Samba not chosen in the match day squad for any of the last four games. He was returned to Anzhi the summer after. The only positive note for QPR is that they got back most of the fee they paid for him with Anzhi shelling out £10 million to bring him back to Russia.

Kim Kallstrom - Spartak Moscow to Arsenal (loan) Jan 31, 2014

Despite there not being a high element of risk due to this being a loan deal, it really was a waste of time. Struggling with a back injury, the Swedish central midfielder played a combined total of 138 minutes in an Arsenal shirt. The former Lyon player then returned back to Moscow in the summer.

Kallstrom arrived at Arsenal with an injury and rarely played (Getty)

Diego Forlan - Independiente to Manchester United (£9m) Jan 1, 2002

There was much anticipation amongst Manchester United fans when they signed the Uruguayan striker but he failed to deliver in his first season, not netting a single goal. The following campaign wasn’t much better as he scored just six goals in 25 Premier League games. He will remain in United fans’ hearts though after he bagged a brace against rivals Liverpool. After another disappointing season in front of goal the striker was sold to Villarreal.