da poker： The Premier League has had some stunning players over the years, but some are more important than others.
da bet nacional： They’re not more important because they are better players, but simply because they changed something. They changed how a club was perceived, they changed the way the game is played in this country. In short, some of these players changed the course of history.
That’s a big and bold claim, but these guys are big and bold players.
This is a list of the signings that changed the Premier League. Before these men things were different. And they’re now different because of them.
This isn’t a list, there is no order. It’s just a collection of some of the greatest players this country has seen. So sit back, grab some snacks, and come with us on a journey down memory lane. This, you’ll enjoy!
Claude Makelele
Signing Makelele was a master stroke from Claudio Ranieri. He signed Makelele to work the team’s engine room, which left Zinedine Zidane frustrated that Real Madrid let him go. He remarked ‘why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you’re losing the engine?’
It was Jose Mourinho who really let Makelele kick on, however. His use of the midfielder gave birth to the position still known today as the Makelele role, giving some idea of Makelele’s ability as a holding midfielder and also of the importance of having someone like him in the team in modern football.
Makelele and Mourinho together changed the face of English football, every team had to have a Makelele.
Robin Van Persie
Manchester City’s last-gasp winner over QPR in May 2012 wrested the title away from a Manchester United side who ended their game in Sunderland as Champions. The hurt was all too obvious on the face of Sir Alex Ferguson as the news of City’s winner filtered through and he set about winning the title back next season.
After a stunning season at Arsenal, Van Persie was also a target for City boss Roberto Mancini, but the Italian was left frustrated as Van Persie moved to United instead.
That was to be the signing that won the title back for United as Van Persie had another great season for the Red Devils, scoring a last minute deflected free-kick to beat City at the Etihad and then scoring the volley against Aston Villa that clinched the title in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season.
Sergio Aguero
Announcing himself to the Premier League, Aguero scored two goals and set one up in a 30 minute impact extravaganza against Swansea at the Etihad. Once he took to the pitch you knew he’d be a star for City and so he proved.
That season, 2011/12 City won the league for the first time since 1969 and Aguero scored 23 Premier League goals, but the most crucial was the very last goal of the season to beat QPR 3-2 and ensure the title went to City, not United. I wonder what he’s up to these days….
Eric Cantona
The signing that announced Manchester United as a Premier League powerhouse. Leaving title-winning Leeds, Cantona joined cross-Pennine rivals Manchester United and helped them to the title instead.
With his collar up and his bad-boy persona – think kung fu kicking a spectator – Cantona was the sort of enigmatic genius that makes football worth watching.
Cantona added a glitz and a class to United and scored important and memorable goals along the way. He really was the King.
Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry came to Arsenal as a young player with a big future. Given his frightening pace, he started off as a winger, but as his ability to finish off moves grew, he moved into the centre.
Henry was famed for his speed and movement, but it was his finishing ability that will be most remembered. The familiar sight of Henry opening his body up to curl the ball around the keeper is ingrained into the minds of Arsenal fans and the minds of bossed opposition goalkeepers alike.
He helped Arsenal to an unbeaten season and there’s a statue of him outside the Emirates stadium, erected while he was still an active football player. That says it all, really.
Mesut Ozil
A sign that the Premier League is no longer all about power and pace, stamina and ‘getting stuck in’, Mesut Ozil came with a big price tag and an even bigger reputation.
He’s often criticised for strolling around the pitch, he has the best assists per game ratio in Premier League history.
His influence has ensured that the League has a World Class player, even if people refuse to see him for what he is because he doesn’t sweat enough for their liking. Ozil is part of a new type of player gracing the Premier League, and if Arsenal are to win the title this season, you can bet he’ll play a huge part.
Yohan Cabaye
Another signing that shows the changing face of the Premier League is fact that Crystal Palace have signed Yohan Cabaye. The Frenchman is a classy passer, but also Palace’s record signing.
The Premier League now has a burgeoning middle class who have the money to afford the nice things, luxury players such as Cabaye, but not enough for the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of this world.
Cabaye may not be able to fire Palace up the table in the long term, but so far he’s making an impact, finding himself right at the top of the list for tackles made.
He’s a quality player who’s not afraid to put in the work, so the fact that Palace have been able to get him speaks volumes for the League.
Yaya Toure
As the man who grabbed Manchester City by the scruff of the neck and hauled them kicking and screaming to the Premier League title, Yaya Toure deserves his place on this list.
The Ivorian didn’t feel the warm and fuzzy embrace of the love of Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, and so moved to City to join up with his brother Kolo.
There, he scored City’s goal in an FA Cup semi final against Manchester United, and the goal that won the final against Stoke. He scored vital goals in the title-winning season of 2012 – goals against Newcastle in the penultimate game spring to mind. He scored in the final of the League Cup when City were losing to Sunderland, and he scored vital goals again when City won the title in 2014.
If ever there was a vital player in a squad, it was Toure at City. His importance to the team cannot be overstated, and without him City wouldn’t be the force they now are in England. He truly changed the league
Petr Cech
Initially signed as a backup to Carlo Cudicini, Jose Mourinho quickly discovered just how good Cech was in 2004, and quickly established himself as Chelsea’s Number One.
In a glorious 10-year stay, Cech won everything worth winning in club football, and also some trophies not worth winning, becoming one of the World’s best goalkeepers in the process.
In his last year at Chelsea, Thibaut Courtois took over the mantle as Chelsea’s keeper, but a move to Arsenal could be the glorious end to a stellar career – the Czech Cech might just be the final piece of Arsene Wenger’s puzzle
Rio Ferdinand
Not only was Rio Ferdinand a British record transfer, signing for Manchester United in a £29m deal in 2002 – which is still a huge fee for a young defender, even though the money in football has grown exponentially since then – but he was one of the world’s top defenders for a decade.
Ferdinand formed a formidable partnership with Nemanja Vidic in a Manchester United back four that dominated English football and had great success on a European stage too – winning the Champions League in 2008, but losing in the 2009 and 2011 finals to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona.
Vincent Kompany
Signed by Mark Hughes for a paltry £6m from Hamburg in 2008, Kompany is easily one of the best bargains ever picked up in the Premier League.
For all the huge signings around him at the club, captain Kompany came in at a fraction of the price, but with arguably more impact.
Initially put in the defensive midfield role, Kompany quickly established himself as a centre back and became a leader in the side, taking over the captaincy and lifting the Premier League twice – so far.
His headed winner against Manchester United right at the end of the 2011/12 campaign seemed to effectively win the title for City by taking them above United with only two games to go, but City, being City, made it harder for themselves.
Didier Drogba
One of Chelsea’s greatest ever players and certainly one of the Premier League’s best, too.
He is fourth in the list of Chelsea all-time top scorers, and also scored the last-minute goal that brought the 2012 Champions League final to extra time before coolly slotting home the penalty that won the cup.
More than just a handful up front, Drogba had technique, finishing ability and a penchant for a crashing volley from outside the box.
Cristiano Ronaldo
When he first came to the Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo was a bit of a show pony. He lived to show off his skills and dribbling ability.
But after a few years of spending more time diving to the ground than actually scoring goals or creating chances, he changed his game and became all about the goals.
Ronaldo drove manchester United to winning the League and the Champions League as well as winning the Ballon d’Or as a Manchester United player.
When he left United, he left a gaping hole, but he commanded the world record transfer fee.
Peter Schmeichel
A goalkeeper who was probably worth about 12 points a season alone to Manchester United, but who did more than simply save their bacon from time to time.
He marshalled the back four, he shouted at and hassled his defenders and made them do what he needed them to do – defenders never wanted to make a mistake because they feared the wrath of Schmeichel.
Yet they knew that if they did make one, he’d likely bail them out. In short, he instilled confidence.
Schmeichel wasn’t just a great keeper who won almost everything there was to win, though. He was also a keeper who changed the face of goalkeeping in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Because of men like him and Oliver Kahn, keepers needed to have no fear of the gym. Hulking big goalkeepers who could claim crosses and look huge in the goal became the norm, even if that’s changing now to favour the sweeper-keeper.
Not that his size ever stopped him from getting down low to stop a shot, though.
Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale was very much a wonder kid at Southampton before he was bought by Tottenham Hotspur who fended off competition from numerous Premier League clubs.
Initially, he played as a left back, but moving onto the left wing, Bale grew in stature before scoring a hat trick in the San Siro, even though Spurs couldn’t prevent Inter Milan from beating them 4-3 in the Champions League group stages.
From then on, though, he carried Spurs almost single-handedly before joining Real Madrid for a huge fee which Spurs proceeded to waste on useless players.
Pedro Mendes
Threatened with relegation, Portsmouth appointed Harry Redknapp, who proceeded to bring in seasoned Premier League professionals in a bid to stave off the drop.
But it was Pedro Mendes who really turned on the style to drag Pompey to safety, including a pearler of a strike against Manchester City towards the end of the 2005/06 season.
Pompey stayed up and finished 9th the next season with the side managing to go from strength to strength.
Mendes was an important part of Portsmouth’s transformation under Redknapp from relegation-threatened side to FA Cup winners, but it was Mendes’s contribution that helped them stay in the division in the first place.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy
Manchester United’s top scorer in Europe, Van Nistelrooy also managed to score in 10 consecutive Premier League games. Twice.
He was deadly from inside the box, frequently fooling defenders with his movement, and besting goalkeepers with his finishing ability.
He formed a partnership with Wayne Rooney that terrorised England’s defences and won Manchester United every domestic trophy, including Sir Alex Ferguson’s final FA Cup.
After falling out with Ferguson, Van Nistelrooy was shipped out to Real Madrid, but only after scoring 150 goals in just over 200 games for United.
Xabi Alonso
Liverpool’s Spanish maestro was the heartbeat of the side.
A controversial statement when you remember he played alongside Steven Gerrard at the heart of the Liverpool midfield, but when Gerrard was busy breathlessly dragging his team forward – and he could be a bit of a headless chicken at times – Alonso was there, calmly spreading passes and controlling the game.
His freakishly frequent ability to score from inside his own half aside, Alonso was the master of long passes.
Perhaps his greatest legacy in England, though, is the fact that his position has been infuriatingly named the ‘quarterback role’.
Roy Keane
Signed in 1993, right at the start of Manchester United’s dominance of the Premier League during the 90s, Keane was Manchester United captain from 1997 until he left the club in 2005.
He was the fearless leader and formidable captain that epitomised the fighting spirit of the side and made sure that everyone gave 100% on the pitch.
His passion, work rate and energy made him the heartbeat of the United team which featured more talented, skillful players, but none gave more than he did.
This made him indispensable to a team that won everything, including a treble in 1999, even if he was a nasty piece of work sometimes…..
Edwin Van der Sar
An ultra-tall goalkeeper, Van der Sar was also very good with his feet.
He beat his former coach at Ajax, Louis van Gaal, to Manchester United, but the current United manager would certainly love to have Van der Sar playing now, or at least he would have done before David de Gea signed his new contract.
Van der Sar filled a gap left at United, the one left by Peter Schmeichel. The Dutch keeper made up the last line of the defence including Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra in a team that really should have won more than the one Champions League final it appeared in.
It was a team that allowed Sir Alex Ferguson a golden swansong, even if he retired before the legendary Scotsman did.
Wayne Rooney
Rooney’s signing for United caused a huge stir in the Premier League, and especially incensed Everton fans.
It also showed that it was acceptable to go out and spend heaps of money on young talent in the knowledge that they were going to be top players.
But the bigger picture is that Rooney has won countless trophies (well, eight major trophies, actually) and is now England’s top scorer and catching up with Sir Bobby Charlton as Manchester United’s all-time record scorer.
Whatever you want to say about him, if you go by the records, he’s one of the best that England has ever produced.
Dennis Bergkamp
The non-flying Dutchman was one of the best players ever to grace the Premier League.
He was part of the first wave of players brought in by Arsene Wenger who charmed English football with their beautiful play.
Bergkamp won three league titles and four FA Cups and even helped Arsenal to a Champions League final in 2006, even though he didn’t play.
Bergkamp may be overshadowed at Arsenal by Thierry Henry, but will always be remembered as a great.
Gianfranco Zola
In an era before Roman Abramovich, Gianfranco Zola came to Chelsea and fell in love with the club. And the fans fell in love with him too.
His skill and ability bewitched defenders and brought Chelsea trophies and helped bring them back into the Champions League before being taken over by Russian billions.
Without Zola and friends putting Chelsea on the map, perhaps Abramovich would have taken his money elsewhere.
These days he owns a gelato cafe in South London….
Alan Shearer
How could we not include the Premier League’s all-time top scorer. He isn’t just top scorer, he’s so far out on his own that he may never be caught.
When Newcastle bought Shearer from Blackburn Rovers in 1996, it ripped the heart out of Blackburn as well as their goals, but Newcastle could never hit the heights that Blackburn did for that single season in 1994/95.
Shearer is Newcastle’s top scorer, too, yet he never managed a winners’ medal with his boyhood club.
Paolo Di Canio
A cult hero if ever there was one, West Ham fans will remember Di Canio with fondness, not just because he was a wonderful player, but also because his passion and desire made him the perfect fit for West Ham.
The fans loved him, as did fans of other clubs, though, he was just so entertaining.
Di Canio is one of the few Italian players to have been a big success in the Premier League, even though he wasn’t a success as a manager.
His push on the referee showed his dark side, but then his display of sportsmanship, catching the ball instead of putting it into an empty net with the goalkeeper lying injured on the ground showed his good side. And then there was that goal against Wimbledon.
Di Canio’s passion showed that foreign players could become heroes at an English club – they weren’t all prima donnas who couldn’t handle the weather or the physical game and ‘didn’t like it up them’.
Ashley Cole
Nicknamed ‘Cashley’ for his move to Arsenal, Cole was vilified not just by Arsenal fans for moving to a rival London club, but by football fans in general for his distinct lack of loyalty.
Modern players, however, aren’t always driven by loyalty, but then neither are they always driven by money either. Cole’s later career shows why he did it: trophies.
After his absence, Arsenal didn’t win a trophy for years. At Chelsea, Cole won another Premier League title, four more FA Cups, a League Cup, a Europa League and a Champions League. He has won more FA Cups than anyone else.
Robinho
When the money started to flow into Manchester City in 2008, it came into City right on transfer deadline day.
With no time to waste, City got to work bidding for the world’s best players and finally landed Robinho.
The Brazilian started his City career alongside fellow Brazilians Jo and Elano and started to score goals, including one on his debut against Chelsea.
Although his work rate left a lot to be desired, and his City career floundered and eventually flickered out, Robinho showed City a glimpse of the good life for a while. And boy have they grabbed it since.
Patrick Vieira
Part of the invincibles squad at Arsenal, Vieira is the one player that Arsene Wenger hasn’t been able to replace at Arsenal.
Vieira was a powerful midfielder who fitted in nicely to England’s fast and physical game and became one of the best midfielders in the league, entertaining us with his marauding runs and his battles with Manchester United’s Roy Keane.
When he left, he left a gaping hole in Arsenal’s midfield, and it still hasn’t been filled.
Francis Coquelin provides a defensive solidity to the team, but Vieira also provided an attacking option. Even 10 years on, he’s still sorely missed.
Carlos Tevez
Probably the biggest signing in Manchester City history, bringing Carlos Tevez from cross-town rivals Manchester United not only showed City’s intent to become a truly big club, but it also created the symbol of taking something off United.
Not just one of their best attackers, but also their dominance of Manchester.
In the end, Tevez’s antics on a bench on a Munich touchline dampened his effectiveness for City, Tevez really helped City win the title that season, scoring goals upon his return from spending most of the season in exile in Argentina.
When he moved on, City were a much stronger side than they were when he arrived, and his presence not only showed City were able to compete with the traditionally big clubs, but they had the players to prove it.
Luis Suarez
Forget about the biting and the alleged racism – if you can – and just sit back and watch an astounding player astound the country with his ability.
Suarez had it all, not only did he have skill, pace, finishing ability and vision, he was also a very hard worker.
The fact he was so dangerous worried defenders anyway, but if they had the ball and he was closing them down, they knew he wouldn’t give up.
He brought Liverpool to within a stud’s length of winning the Premier League in 2014 as the grip in Steven Gerrard’s feet gave out, and so did his grip on the Premier League trophy.