2005: Hleb joins Arsenal from Stuttgart
Arsenal strengthened their midfield with the signing of Aliaksandr Hleb from VfB Stuttgart.
The Belarus international, who had spent five years in the Bundesliga, soon established himself as a first-choice player for the Gunners.
Hleb scored the first of seven Premier League goals for the club in a 7-0 win over Middlesbrough.
He went on to spend three years at Arsenal, making 89 PL appearances, before joining Barcelona.
In the 2010/11 season he returned for a loan spell at Birmingham City, playing 19 times in the top flight for the Blues.
2012: Spurs seal Vertonghen signing
Tottenham Hotspur completed the signing of Jan Vertonghen from Ajax for an undisclosed fee.
The Belgium international endeared himself to supporters by scoring his first goal for the club in Spurs’ 3-2 win at Manchester United, their first victory at Old Trafford in 23 years.
Vertonghen was named Premier League Player of the Month the following March, making him the second Belgian and 12th Spurs player to win the award, but his first season ended in disappointment as Andre Villas-Boas’s side were pipped to fourth place by north London rivals Arsenal.
Vertonghen went on to make over 225 PL appearances for Spurs in eight seasons at the club, helped them qualify for the UEFA Champions League in three successive seasons from 2015/16 to 2017/18 and is widely regarded as one of the best centre-backs in the English top flight.
