Coral’s Transfer Deadline Day XI

Sadio Mané – Left Wing

Liverpool purchased Mané from Southampton last season with a £37.08m transfer fee. Before that, the Saints had paid a £20.7m transfer fee to Red Bull Salzburg in 2014. However, neither of these were on deadline day.

Mané’s close-to-wire swap came with a fee of just £3.6m when Salzburg snapped him up on the 31^st of August, 2012 from FC Metz. Since then, the left winger’s market value has gone up and up, and it’s no surprise when he continues to play the way he does.

Even when missing part of the season due to injury, Mané still won Liverpool Player of the Season for 16/17. And that is exactly why we want him on our perfect line-up.

Mesut Özil – Attacking Midfielder

Özil joined Arsenal on a 5-year deal after spending several years at Real Madrid. His deadline day transfer to the Gunners in September 2013 cost £42.4m and smashed the club’s record by a massive £27.4m.

However, like Arsène Wenger, not every Arsenal fan is convinced of his worth. But, when Özil is on form, he is a sensational midfielder.

There have been rumours that Özil wants to leave Arsenal. If true, he’s more than welcome to join our fantasy squad.

Gareth Bale – Right Wing

Gareth Bale’s transfer was only one day before the summer window closed in 2013. This was another last-minute deal that came with a huge price tag.

Real Madrid’s purchase of Bale from Tottenham came with a whopping £90.9m transfer fee. At the time, this broke the world record, which has since been beaten by Pogba and Neymar.

Bale may be one of the world’s most expensive footballers but we’d stump up the cash for this attacker to join our team.

Joe Hart – Goalkeeper

Goalkeepers don’t always get the credit they deserve, but their success can make or break a team.

Man City have often loaned out Jo Hart. When he first joined the club, he was back-and-forth between teams before settling at City for six straight years from 2010 onwards. He was then transferred from The Sky Blues in a deadline day deal with Torino on the 31^st of August, 2016. Currently, Hart will be at West Ham until the end of May next year.

Hart’s market value may have fallen in recent years but as England’s first-choice goalkeeper, he still has the skills to save our side.

Dele Alli – Attacking Midfield

Alli was signed by Tottenham on the 2^nd of February, 2015 for £4.5m, before being transferred back to his original team MK Dons on loan the very next day.

Despite this unusual start, Alli has been a key part of Spurs’s line-up since joining full-time after the end of his four-month loan.

The midfielder was relatively unknown when he was signed by Tottenham, but he was a wise purchase. We’re sure a transfer to our eleven would be just as smart.

Danny Rose – Left-back

Rose has had a bumpy start to this season after a controversial interview. This fuelled rumours of a transfer, with Chelsea reportedly wanting to snap up Rose. 

The left-back has been with Spurs since 2007 when he moved up from the Leeds United U18 squad. However, despite this, he has been repeatedly loaned to other clubs – a notable move being his deadline day transfer to Sunderland in 2012.

Since the end of that loan, Rose has remained with The Lilywhites. He may be out on injury but if he was looking to move again (temporarily or permanently), he’d be a great addition to our last-minute wonders.

David Luiz – Centre-back

Luiz became Chelsea’s comeback kid after the defender was bought back from Paris Saint-Germain two years after his original transfer.

Luiz was purchased by Chelsea from Benfica in 2011 for £22.5m before leaving for Paris Saint-Germaine for a fee of £44.5m in July 2014. Just two years later and, on the summer transfer window deadline day, Chelsea were pining for their centre-back so bought Luiz to the tune of £31.5m.

If we could get Luiz on our line-up, we’d be sure to never let him go.

Branislav Ivanović – Centre-back

Back in the 2008 winter transfer window, Chelsea paid £10.8m to get their hands on Ivanović from Loko Moscow. After almost a decade with The Pensioners, Ivanović moved on to FC Zenit Saint Petersburg at the close of the 2016/2017 January window. His transfer fee? There wasn’t one.

When Ivanovic left Stamford Bridge, he was the Blues’ second-longest serving player after John Terry. Despite being 33, there are still hopes that Ivanovic will continue to play for Zenit for years to come after signing a two-and-a-half-year deal.

The defensive centre-back is always welcome to join our fictional formation.

Mathieu Debuchy – Right-back

In a deadline day deal that never was, Debuchy’s last-minute signing from Arsenal to Man United in the winter of 2016 was halted by Arsène Wenger.

However, Debuchy still left the Emirates behind on the 1^st of February, 2016 when Bordeaux took out a loan on the right-back for five months. Debuchy’s market value has fallen gradually over the last couple of years but he’s remained a strong part of the Gunners team since his return.

There are rumours that Olympic Marseille may sign Debuchy before this summer’s transfer windows closes. However, as long as Wenger doesn’t block our own offer, we’ll take on Debuchy to complete our dream team.

That’s it for our fantasy XI, but who would feature on your own line-up? Let us know in the comments section.