Best signings in English Premier League history
2 min read
Sky Sports has taken advantage of the Boxing Day to do an interesting exercise in choosing the best singing in the history of the English Premier League, whose format began back in 1992. There are many interesting choices, which makes this debate all the more fun.
In a Christmas special on the Transfer Show program, the television network presented its selection of the 20 best signings in the history of the competition, based on how profitable the transfer was in sporting terms.
In that sense, the one chosen in the number 1 position has been Cristiano Ronaldo, whose signing for Manchester United in 2003 from Sporting Clube de Lisbon was a very good move but one that became great thanks to the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson and the mentality of the Portuguese himself. It’s worth reminding that the Red Devils paid 15 million euros for the then young and slim winger who, although he was very skillful, fast and very difficult to stop, had to learn a few things to be a true superstar.
Things like correctly deciding when to dribble and when to pass or identifying points of improvement to develop his scoring side were issues that were influenced and managed by Sir Alex and that made Cristiano Ronaldo the world star he is today.
In second place on the list was Thierry Henry for his signing from Juventus to Arsenal FC in 1999. The Frenchman emerged as a very promising figure at AS Monaco, which earned him a role in the French national team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and later to sign for Juventus. Henry failed to establish himself in Italy, mostly because he was playing as a wingback, away from the rival box where Henry proved to be more dangerous.
His compatriot and former manager Arsene Wenger would come to his rescue and took him to London in exchange for some 13.5 million euros. His beginnings in England were not the best, but he quickly reversed the situation to become a legend of Arsenal FC and English football.
Eric Cantona from Leeds United to Manchester United, Frank Lampard from West Ham United to Chelsea FC and Roy Keane from Nottingham Forest FC to Manchester United round out the top 5 on the list.
