Last-ditch signings
Arsene Wenger embarked on a last-ditch spending spree on transfer deadline day as the under-pressure Arsenal boss signed Mikel Arteta, Andre Santos, Per Mertesacker and Yossi Benayoun, while Manchester City completed their shock swoop for injury-plagued midfielder Owen Hargreaves.
Wenger has been feeling the heat since his side's humiliating 8-2 defeat at Manchester United on Sunday and he reacted by splashing out around £24 million on a quartet of new faces on Wednesday.
He paid £10 million for Everton midfielder Arteta in an attempt to fill the void left by Cesc Fabregas's move to Barcelona.
The Frenchman also landed Brazilian full-back Santos from Fenerbahce for £6.2 million and Werder Bremen centre-back Mertesacker for around £8 million as he tries to shore up his leaky defence.
Chelsea midfielder Benayoun was Wenger's other signing, arriving on loan for the rest of the season -- effectively to replace Samir Nasri after he joined Manchester City -- while Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner left Arsenal for a loan spell at Sunderland. Meanwhile City took a gamble on Hargreaves, released by local rivals Manchester United at the end of last season after the champions rejected his offer to play for free following a miserable four-year spell at Old Trafford.
City believe Hargreaves is completely recovered from his knee operations and they put the finishing touches to the one-year contract after the 30-year-old passed an extensive medical over the last 24 hours.
Elsewhere, Tottenham signed England midfielder Scott Parker from West Ham in a deal believed to be worth £6 million.
Redknapp was able to hang onto Croatia midfielder Luka Modric despite a £40 million offer from Chelsea on Tuesday, but England striker Peter Crouch followed Spurs teammate Wilson Palacios to Stoke after the Honduras midfielder completed a £6 million switch to the FA Cup finalists.
With Chelsea failing to get Modric, the Blues made a £12 million swoop for Liverpool midfielder Raul Meireles, who handed in a transfer request to force through a deal shortly before the window closed at 2200GMT.
Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish brought Craig Bellamy back to Anfield four years after the Wales striker left the club.
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