Top 10 pieces of transfer business

6 John Obi Mikel

Mikel signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2006 from Norwegian side Lyn Oslo, although his arrival came via Old Trafford. Manchester United and Chelsea both battled for Mikel's signature with United winning, and paying £4 million. However during the following weeks, Mikel disappeared, claimed he had been pressured into the deal, and agreed to play for Chelsea. Outraged United complained to FIFA but Chelsea chose to settle the matter themselves, paying Lyn Oslo £4m and United £12m. Aggrieved, Manchester United accepted the offer and made £8m on a player who never even kicked a ball for them.

5 Jermain Defoe

Having signed for Tottenham in 2004, Jermain Defoe had a mixed time at Spurs. Despite making an immediate impact he soon became increasingly frustrated finding his chances few and far between. To his relief, Harry Redknapp brought him to Fratton Park last January for £9 million. What a difference a year makes. This Christmas, Redknapp, who succeeded Juande Ramos at Tottenham, then bought Defoe again, bringing him back to Tottenham for almost £16m. Portsmouth had a quality player for a year who scored 14 goals and they made £7m selling him back to the club they bought him from in the first place. Portsmouth 1 – Tottenham 0.

4 Lassana Diarra

It took Lassana Diarra a few years to find his feet in the English top flight, but when he did he was formidable. Having failed to break into the team at Chelsea, he moved to Arsenal where he again failed to make an impact on the first team. Then Harry Redknapp, the Godfather of wheeler-dealing, took an interest in the Frenchman. Redknapp signed him for Portsmouth for an undisclosed fee - believed to be around £5 million – where he was formidable. Portsmouth won the FA Cup, Real Madrid liked the look of him, and he was sold to the Spanish giants for almost £19m on the 1 January 2009.

3 Marc Overmars

Arsene Wenger signed the Dutchman from Ajax for £5.5 million in 1997. During his three year spell with the Gunners he scored 25 goals in 100 games and also scored in the 1998 FA Cup final and was an integral part of Arsenal's double-winning side. In the summer of 2000 he was sold to Barcelona for a colossal £25 million – a record for a Dutch footballer – and to make it even sweeter, he failed to make the same impact at the Nou Camp as he had done in North London.

2 Dimitar Berbatov

Dimitar Berbatov cost Tottenham £11 million in the summer of 2006 from Bayern Leverkusen. He scored bundles of goals for Spurs and helped them win their first silverware in years when they beat Chelsea in the Carling Cup final last season. Then in a bizarre move Spurs decided to sell all their strikers and got £30.75m from Manchester United for Berbatov. Despite flashes of brilliance the Bulgarian is yet to show his Spurs form at Old Trafford.

1 Nicolas Anelka

Nicolas Anelka cost Arsene Wenger a pitiful £500,000 when he signed him from Paris St-Germain in 1997. The young Frenchman took the Premier League by storm, with his terrifying pace and clinical finishing. Having won the double with Arsenal, relations between striker and manager soured and Wenger cashed in on Anelka selling him to Real Madrid for a whopping £23 million.