2006-07 season
Players Bought: Lucas Leiva (£6m), Javier Mascherano (£1.5m), Alvaro Arbeloa (£2.64m), Nabil El Zhar (£200k), Dirk Kuyt (£9m), Jermaine Pennant (£6.7m), Fabio Aurelio (Free), Gabriel Paletta (£2m)
Players Sold: Danny O’Donnell (£100k), Florent Sinama Pongolle (£2.7m), Stephen Warnock (£1.5m), Darren Potter (£250k), Chris Kirkland (£3m), Jan Kromkamp (£1.5m), Neil Mellor (£250k), Djimi Traore (£2m), Antonio Barragan (£680k), Dietmar Hamann (£400k); Released: Salif Diao, Robbie Foy, Ramon Calliste, David Raven
Performance: More great stuff. Lucas and Mascherano were excellent additions, as were Arbeloa and Kuyt. Pennant was a disappointment but even he had his moments. Once again, we also got rid of a lot of the deadwood, including many of the players that were signed at the start of the decade. It was sad to see Hamann go cheaply.
Rating: 8/10
2007-08 season
Players Bought: Javier Mascherano (£17.1m), Martin Skrtel (£6.5m), Danien Plessis (Free), Emiliano Insua (£1.3m), Ryan Babel (£11.5m), Yossi Benayoun (£5m), Sebastian Leto (£1.85m), Fernando Torres (£26.5m), Charles Itandje (Free), Andrei Voronin (Free)
Players Sold: Mohamed Sissoko (£8.2m), Mark Gonzalez (£4.2m), Craig Bellamy (£7.5m), Djibril Cisse (£6m), Luis Garcia (£4m); Released: Lee Peltier, Gabriel Paletta, Robbie Fowler, Jerzy Dudek, Bolo Zenden
Performance: The Mascherano deal was tied up permanently. Added to that was Skrtel, Benayoun and Torres – who all did an excellent job for us. Babel didn’t quite manage to fulfil the potential that was expected of him but still performed well at times. Sissoko was sold for a profit and a lot of the money we spent was made back.
Rating: 9/10
