The 9 best bargain signings in Premier League history RANKED: Where does Seamus Coleman feature? | OneFootball

With news that Seamus Coleman is leaving Everton after 17 seasons, we’ve been inspired to take a look at some of the best bargain buys in Premier League history.

Good scouts, good negotiators or just sheer luck – there are many ways to strike gold when it comes to transfers and while the Premier League is the home of the big transfer fees, those able to sniff out a bargain have been rewarded over the years.

Here are nine of the best of them:

9. Sami Hyypia – £2.6m – Willem II to Liverpool

Great value was traditionally found in relatively unglamorous defenders, and one of the best of all of them is Sami Hyypia.

Joining from Dutch side Willem II, Hyypia went on to enjoy a 10-year stay at Liverpool, being at the heart of a defence that won two FA Cups, two League Cups, a UEFA Cup and the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final in Istanbul.

Hyypia made 464 appearances in total for the Anfield side.

8. Robin van Persie – £2.75m – Feyenoord to Arsenal

Van Persie’s controversial move away from Arsenal means he has lost the love of the Emirates crowd, but he is still one of Arsene Wenger’s best-ever signings.

He moved to Arsenal from Feyenoord for a fee of £2.75m and would go on to score 132 goals in 278 games for the Gunners.

Arsenal made a £20million profit on him too, but probably best not to mention that.

7. Michu – £2m – Rayo Vallecano to Swansea City

Shrewd transfer business is not just for the top clubs. Swansea cult hero Michu arrived for just £2million.

Joining from Rayo Vallecano, he scored 22 goals in his debut campaign, including 18 in the Premier League.

He could not match that output in subsequent seasons, but he became the benchmark for a bargain transfer.

6. Patrick Vieira – £3.5m – AC Milan to Arsenal

Milan’s loss was Arsenal’s gain in 1996 when the London club purchased him for just £3.5million.

The Frenchman would go on to become the captain of the Arsenal side that went invincible and he won three Premier League titles with the club.

He is also one of the greatest captains of the Premier League era and Arsenal made a healthy profit when he left to join Juventus for £13.75m in 2005.

5. Philippe Coutinho – £8.5m – Inter Milan to Liverpool

Any investment that sees you earn a 1,618% profit has to go down as an incredible bit of business but Liverpool would have considered Philippe Coutinho a worthy purchase even before they sold him to Barcelona.

He spent five years at Anfield and bridged the gap from the Rodgers era into Klopp and cushioned the loss of Luis Suarez.

4. Joe Hart – £100k – Shrewsbury Town to Manchester City

City spent plenty of cash in the 2000s but one of their best bits of business cost them just £100k.

In 2006, they signed shot-stopper Hart from his hometown club of Shrewsbury Town and he would go on to become one of the best keepers in the league.

The end of his career can sometimes make it easy to forget just how good he was when saving shots was the primary task of a goalkeeper and his performance against Lionel Messi and Barcelona in 2015 had the Argentine branding Hart as a “phenomenon”. High praise.

3. Seamus Coleman – £60k – Sligo Rovers to Everton

In terms of value for money, it is possibly the best of all time.

Seamus Coleman cost Everton just £60k and with him set to retire this summer, he has played over 400 times for the Toffees.

As it stands, Everton have parted with just £138.57 per game played by their captain.

2. Eric Cantona – £1.2m – Leeds United to Manchester United

Many will have this as the best bargain purchase of all time given the impact Cantona had on Manchester United.

United had initially wanted to buy Dion Dublin but his leg break forced them to go elsewhere and a phone call about the ability of Dennis Irwin ended with the arrival of Cantona.

Cantona transformed the club from contenders into winners and more than just his 70 league goals, he installed that United winning mentality.

1. N’Golo Kante – £5.6m – Caen to Leicester City

Leicester needed everything to go right for their 2015-16 Premier League title win, but undoubtedly one of their biggest successes was the purchase of N’Golo Kante.

£5.6m may be a little pricey compared to others on this list, but Kante was one of the central figures in the biggest moment in Leicester’s history.

They made a healthy profit on him too, selling him for £32m to Chelsea.