Five of the best January signings of the Premier League

It’s getting to that time of the year again. No, not Christmas, but the winter window, which for many football fans, is the second best period in the season, after the summer transfer window.

January, however, has never been a convenient time to make signings, with inflated prices and a crammed fixture schedule, though over the years, clubs have plucked some gems in this period. Coral take a look at five of the best winter window signings in the Premier League.

Nemanja Vidic
Arriving to Manchester United in January 2006, for a fee of £7.2m from Spartak Moscow, the Serbian center back hit the ground running. Vidic became arguably the best in his position in the world, and formed one of the most effective partnerships with Rio Ferdinand.

Patrice Evra
Signed around the same time as Vidic, though the Frenchman struggled initially before becoming one of the best Premier League left backs. Costing just £7m from Monaco, Evra completed a back four that included Ferdinand, Vidic and Gary Neville in a team that dominated the latter part of the noughties.

Nemanja Matic
Re-signed by Chelsea last season, the Serbia international anchorman added much needed steel to the Blues. Jose Mourinho’s side lost for the first time this term when he didn’t feature and is clearly a huge asset. With the west London outfit 11/2 to win the Champions League with Coral this season, Matic will be an important component.

Javier Mascherano
Rafa Benitez brought the Argentine to Liverpool in January 2007, though first showed up at his London apartment and used a variety of condiments to illustrate how he envisioned Mascherano forming a partnership with Xabi Alonso. A fee of £18m was enough to secure the signature of a player, who was being kept out of a struggling West Ham United side by Hayden Mullins.

Luis Suarez
No contest. Quite simply the best ever January signing. His goals nearly won the Reds the Premier League title last season, and he more than repaid the fee of £22.5m Liverpool gave Ajax for him in 2011. The Merseyside club probably won’t ever have a more natural finisher than Suarez.