10 PETR CECH (Rennes to Chelsea, £7 million, 2004)Jose Mourinho is convinced that Chelsea would have won the title for a third year in a row if the Czech Republic goalkeeper had not missed three months of last season, and who can argue with the Chelsea manager? If it wasn’t for Gianluigi Buffon, who cost Juventus £32 million, Cech would be the best goalkeeper in the world.
9 DENNIS BERGKAMP (Inter Milan to Arsenal, £7.5 million, 1995)Bruce Rioch is remembered by Arsenal supporters for two things: signing Dennis Bergkamp and being a rubbish manager. Edged out by Thierry Henry as Arsenal’s best ever player, Bergkamp’s defence-splitting passes stunned Highbury regulars. “It's a miracle,” one admirer said. “One moment the pitch is crowded and narrow, then suddenly it is huge and wide.”
8 PAUL MCGRATH (Manchester United to Aston Villa, £400,000, 1989)McGrath liked a drink, Alex Ferguson did not like drinkers. McGrath was shown the door at Old Trafford and went on to prove that he was the best defender of his generation. Admitted in his autobiography that he often played while drunk. Frightening to think how good he would have been without dodgy knees and the refueling problem.
7 JOHN BARNES (Sudbury Court to Watford, set of kit, 1981) Graham Taylor, he did not like managing England but nearly everything he touched at Vicarage Road turned to gold. Barnes was 17 and playing for Sudbury Court when Taylor gave him a chance in the Watford reserve team. Barnes repaid the faith by scoring 92 goals before joining Liverpool for £900,000 in 1986.
6 GARY PALLISTER (Billingham Town to Middlesbrough, set of kit, bag of balls and a goal net, 1984)Daisy, as he was known to his team-mates at Old Trafford, won four Premier League titles and three FA Cups at Manchester United. In 1984, the 19-year-old central defender was playing for Billingham Town when he caught the eye of Middlesbrough scouts and was snapped up in exchange for a set of kit, a bag of balls and a goal net. Was sold for £2.3 million in 1989.
5 IAN WRIGHT (Greenwich Borough to Crystal Palace, set of weights, 1985)Wrighty had resigned himself to a career as a plasterer in 1985 playing part-time for Greenwich Borough when Steve Coppell offered him a trial and, impressed by what he saw, decided to swap the raw striker for a set of weights. Scored 117 goals in 277 appearances before he was sold to Arsenal for £2.5 million in 1991.
4 THIERRY HENRY (Juventus to Arsenal, £10.5 million, 1999)Juventus fans were glad to see the back of the moody French winger who scored only three times in the 1998-99 season but little did they know that they were saying goodbye to one of the best players in the world. Skill, pace and good looks – some guys have all the luck.
3 KENNY DALGLISH (Celtic to Liverpool, £440,000, 1977)Eat your heart out Fernando Torres. Bought by Bob Paisley to replace Kevin Keegan, Dalglish scored 31 times in his first season including the winning goal in the 1978 European Cup final. Came top in a poll of more than 110,000 Liverpool supporters on 100 Players Who Shook The Kop.
2 DIXIE DEAN (Tranmere Rovers to Everton, £3,000, 1925)The forward who became the most prolific goalscorer in English football history cost Everton just £3,000 – or about what Andriy Shevchenko earns in an hour these days. Still the only player to score 60 league goals in a season in England, his record of 383 goals for Everton in 433 appearances astonished even Bill Shankly. “Those of us privileged to see Dean play talk of him the way people talk about Beethoven, Shakespeare or Mozart - he was that good,” the former Liverpool manager said.
1 ERIC CANTONA (Leeds United to Manchester United, £1.2 million, 1992)He came, he turned up his collar, he conquered. Howard Wilkinson rang Alex Ferguson to ask him if Denis Irwin was for sale, Ferguson put in a cheeky bid for the Frenchman and the rest is history.
Eric Cantona, No 1