Although Michael Owen's 16.5 million move to Newcastle dominated the headlines, Tottenham Hotspur were the most active club as the English Premier League transfer deadline closed.
Spurs added England midfielder Jermaine Jenas (7m from Newcastle), Korean left-back Lee Young-pyo (2m from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven) and Polish striker Grzegorz Rasiak
(2.25m from Derby County). They recouped some money when they sold Swedish defender Erik Edman to French outfit Rennes for 2m.
Spurs will be quite satisfied in securing Jenas for that price, considering Newcastle had said only weeks earlier they would not take anything less than 20m. The need for cash was made apparent with the arrival of Owen, as well as the return of Noberto Solano from Aston Villa for about 1.5m.
West Brom were also burning the midnight oil, securing the signature of Luton defender Curtis Davies only minutes before the deadline. The Hawthorns have paid 3m for Davies, a hefty price for a player who has only played a handful of Championship games.
Everton, too, have been bold enough to take a risk, splashing out 2m for Andy van der Meyde. The Dutch defender made his name at Ajax but struggled with injury when he moved to Inter Milan.
Portsmouth have gone shopping at fashionable Barcelona, only to buy a rather cheap midfield accessory - France's Under-19 star Frank Songo'o.
Falling into the slightly desperate category is Wigan's 3m purchase of Leicester's David Connolly. Wigan boss Paul Jewell had been chasing Dean Ashton at Norwich, West Brom's Robbie Earnshaw and even Bradford's Dean Windass. When all those bids came to nothing, he swooped for Connolly, the striker who has scored 31 goals in 102 appearances for West Ham and Leicester combined.
There has been some big activity on the loan market, most notably Blackburn's move for Arsenal's David Bentley. Blackburn boss Mark Hughes is confident he can turn Bentley from a rough diamond into the jewel of his midfield.
Portsmouth have captured Liverpool's Senegal midfielder Salif Diao for the season.
A World Cup star in 2002, Diao has slipped in and out of Anfield barely making a peep.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
