Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle are just three of the clubs still scrambling to complete their business in the final week of the January transfer window.
The winter market has always been a time of extreme panic buying by elite Premier League clubs as they seek to correct a failing season.
Chelsea spent a then-record amount to sign Fernando Torres from Liverpool
And sometimes that can mean teams waste a lot of time, effort and, worst of all, money.
Here, talkSPORT.com takes a look at some of the worst offenders…
Fernando Torres
We haven’t seen the murderous Spaniard who terrorized Liverpool defenders after his £50million move to Stamford Bridge in January 2011.
He scored just 20 goals in 110 league games for Chelsea and who can forget that horrific open goal miss against Manchester United in the first year of his spell.
Torres would eventually win the FA Cup, Champions League and Europa League with the Blues, but he remained a shadow of his former self.
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Torres missed an open goal against Man United
Andy Carroll
The Newcastle striker ended up at Anfield after Liverpool scrambled to find a late replacement for Torres on a busy deadline day in 2011.
The Reds spent £35m of the £50m Chelsea had just given them to make Carroll the most expensive British footballer in history.
He scored just 11 goals in 58 games in all competitions before leaving for West Ham.
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Liverpool scored a double whammy for Carroll and Luis Suarez on deadline day
Konstantinos Mitroglou
The Greece international was brought to England for £12m in January 2014 as Fulham unsuccessfully fought relegation from the Premier League.
To say that its impact is negligible is an exaggeration; he only managed one start and two substitute appearances for the West Londoners.
Mitroglou then returned to Olympiakos on a season-long loan for the 2014/15 campaign to let Fulham fight for the Championship without him.
Konstantinos Mitroglou went from Fulham’s record signing to one of their biggest flops
Chris Samba
Samba’s record £12.5million transfer to QPR in January 2013 was a declaration of intent by Harry Redknapp and owner Tony Fernandes.
The centre-back has been released from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala in hopes of turning the tide during the club’s disastrous start to the season.
Yet Samba couldn’t keep QPR in the Premier League, his most memorable moment being his row with the fans after a disastrous performance against Fulham before returning to his former club in the summer.
Samba was definitely not the answer for QPR in their bid to avoid relegation
Ravel Morisson
Sir Alex Ferguson told Sam Allardyce of Morrison when he signed him on deadline day 2012: “A brilliant footballer. Brilliant ability. First-class capability. Must move away from Manchester and start a new life.
To Morrison’s credit, he first took his chance at the start of the 2013/14 campaign after a productive loan spell at Birmingham City.
He scored West Ham’s goal of the season in a 3-0 win over Tottenham before things turned sour and he was loaned out to Queens Park Rangers for the second half of this campaign.
Morrison eventually left the east London side in February 2015 after his contract was terminated.
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Early signs were promising for Ravel Morrison at West Ham
Juan Cuadrado
Cuadrado failed to make an impression at Stamford Bridge following his £21million transfer from Fiorentina in January 2015.
The 33-year-old was one of the stars of the 2014 World Cup for Colombia but never really had a chance under Jose Mourinho.
Cuadrado made just 15 outings for Chelsea before spending two years on loan at Juventus – eventually making the move permanent in 2017.
Juan Cuadrado only played 15 times for Chelsea after Mourinho signed him in 2015
Afonso Alves
The Brazilian seemed to have been Middlesbrough’s man to solve his problems in front of goal when he arrived from Heerenveen for £12.5million in 2008.
Alves scored six times in his first 11 league outings, but his four-goal comeback across the 2008–09 season failed to keep the club in the top flight.
Boro was relegated, Gareth Southgate was soon sacked, but not before Alves jumped ship to join Al-Sadd in Qatar that summer.
Alves was hugely prolific in the Netherlands but only scored four goals in the 2008/09 season
Benjani Mwaruwari
Harry Redknapp tells the famous story that he had to shove Benjani on a plane to Man City when Portsmouth were offered almost £5million for his services.
The Zimbabwean managed to score on his derby debut but only managed two more all season – including one against his former club.
He was loaned out to Sunderland before his contract with City expired in 2010 after just 31 games and soon found himself at Blackburn.
Benjani failed to find his form at Portsmouth after joining Man City
Eric Djemba-Djemba
The Cameroonian went down in Man United folklore as one of the club’s worst signings during his 18 months at Old Trafford.
So it’s hard to understand what Aston Villa were thinking when they paid £1.5million to sign him on deadline day in 2005.
Unsurprisingly, Djemba-Djemba only played 11 league games for the Villains before being loaned out to Burnley and his contract terminated.
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Djemba-Djemba has been tipped as the next Roy Keane
Benni McCarthy
McCarthy made 14 appearances and failed to score a goal for West Ham following his £2.2million transfer from Blackburn Rovers on Deadline Day 2010.
The South African also fell out with the club hierarchy during his year after he was fined £200,000 for not adhering to a weight loss regime.
Hammers vice-chairman Karren Brady added insult to injury after calling his signing a “big big mistake”, as reported by Sky Sports.
Benni McCarthy has been fined by West Ham for being overweight during his short spell at the club
