10 best value for money transfers including Lewandowski and Pogba

The January transfer window has been open for over a week now with a host of top clubs around Europe plotting moves to strengthen for the remainder of the year.

January doesn't always see big-money change hands though, with the majority of the bigger deals tending to take place in the summer.

But a big transfer fee doesn't always guarantee success.

There have been a clutch of big names who have gone on to achieve greatness over years without costing the earth; including a handful who didn't even cost a penny.

Mirror Football takes a look at 10 of the best value for money signings that have been made in the last decade or so...

Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich - £0)

Join the debate! Who do you think has been the best signing on this list? Let us know in the comments here.

After Borussia Dortmund refused to negotiate a deal for Robert Lewandowski with Bayern Munich back in 2013, the German giants simply sat tight and waited to pinch him for free when his deal ran out the following year.

Since joining Dortmund's bitter rivals, the Polish striker has gone on to establish himself as perhaps the greatest Bosman signing of all time.

The Polish superstar has smashed an incredible 324 goals in 354 games at the Allianz Arena, helping Bayern to a staggering 18 trophies since he signed on the dotted line back in 2014.

In fact, Lewandowski has evolved into such a complete player during his time at Bayern, many people felt as though the 33-year-old was robbed when coming up just short to Lionel Messi in this year's Ballon d'Or rankings.

Robbed or not, no one would deny that Lewandowski is the best striker in the world right now. And he didn't cost Bayern a single penny...

Erling Haaland (RB Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund - £17.1m)

Although Dortmund splashed out a reasonable sum to bring Erling Haaland to the club, it would be criminal to exclude him from this list.

The Norwegian superstar has evolved into one of the most coveted strikers in the world during his short stint in the Bundesliga. Already this year, Haaland has scored 19 times in just 16 appearances; taking his grand total for the German club to 76 goals in 75 matches.

It should come as no surprise then that Haaland is the latest Dortmund starlet to have the vultures circling over Signal Iduna Park.

And given that Dortmund could be set to quadruple their initial outlay on Haaland just two-and-a-half years after snapping him, it'd be criminal not to include him on this list.

Paul Pogba (Manchester United to Juventus - £0)

Paul Pogba may have struggled to live up to expectations since returning to Manchester United from Juventus, but he made a huge impact for the Italian giants back in Serie A.

The French midfielder ran down his contract at Old Trafford to link up with Juve back in 2012 and quickly established himself as one of the brightest young talents in Europe.

He picked up FIFA's Golden Boy award back in 2013, just a year after arriving in Turin before he went on to help Juve to four consecutive Scudetto's.

His influence in Italy persuaded Manchester United to shell out a club-record £89million fee to bring Pogba home in the summer of 2016.

Although that deal looks grossly overinflated based on Pogba's form in recent years, Juve's original deal, snapping him up for nothing and turning that into a near-£90m profit a few years later certainly merits a spot on our list.

Andy Robertson (Hull to Liverpool - £8m)

Not many eyebrows were raised when Liverpool forked out £8m to bring Andy Robertson to Anfield from Hull City back in 2017.

But the Scottish left-back has evolved into one of the most complete full-backs in the world over the past 5 years.

The attacking dynamism that Robertson and his cohort, Trent Alexander-Arnold, offer from their position make up a key element of the 'heavy metal' football that has sparked a golden new era under Jurgen Klopp.

Robertson has now made just shy of 200 appearances for the Reds and has put his relegation heartbreak on Humberside behind him to become a Premier League winner and a European champion since making the switch to Liverpool.

Not bad for £8m.

N'Golo Kante (Caen to Leicester £5.4m)

Leicester 's recruitment has been phenomenal in recent years, but it's hard to argue against N'Golo Kante being almost in a league of his own in terms of value for money signings.

The unknown French midfielder was snapped up from Caen for £5.4m back in 2015 - and his impact was nothing short of remarkable.

Kante was an integral part of the Leicester team that completed the stunning 5000-1 Premier League title triumph back in the 2015/16 season.

He missed just three league games over his two-year spell with the Foxes before Chelsea pounced to snap up the midfielder.

It says everything about how good Kante is that even his £32m move to Stamford Bridge could arguably make this list.

Riyad Mahrez (Le Havre to Leicester - £400k)

Riyad Mahrez may have also played a pivotal role in Leicester's stunning title win, but the Algerian winger did so much more than that during his four-year stint in the Midlands.

Mahrez arrived in England from French side Le Havre in a paltry £400,000 deal with Leicester in the second-tier. It didn't take long for Mahrez to help fire the Foxes back into the top flight.

It was in the Premier League where Mahrez really started to flourish; his career-best season's tally of 17 league goals came, unsurprisingly, in that iconic 2015/16 campaign.

In total, Mahrez racked up 48 goals in 179 games across five years of service for Leicester - figures which are absolutely outrageous when you take into account the minimal fee they laid out.

Cesar Azpilicueta (Marseille to Chelsea - £6.5m)

Cesar Azpilicueta arrived at Stamford Bridge from Marseille in 2012 as a prospect for the future - but even the most optimistic Chelsea fan would probably admit to being taken aback at just how much success the Spaniard has tasted since then.

Now in his tenth season with the Blues, Azpilicueta is a three-time Premier League winner, a two-time Europa League winner and he even lifted Europe's grandest prize back in May when Chelsea edged out Manchester City in the Champions League final.

Azpilicueta has also lifted both the EFL Cup and the FA Cup since rubber-stamping his £6.5m transfer.

Not only has he done it all, but he's also played in just about every position there is at Stamford Bridge. Azpilicueta was brought in at right-back but has also filled in admirably centrally and as a left-back in recent years.

Chelsea's Mr.Reliable has missed just a handful of Premier League games over the past decade and is arguably one of the Blues' best-ever signings.

Jordi Alba (Valencia to Barcelona - £11.2m)

Jordi Alba's swashbuckling performances for Spain at Euro 2012 caught the eye of Barcelona enough to persuade the Catalan giants to fork out £11.2m for his signature.

Almost a decade on, Alba has proven to be an inspired signing.

The wing-back has racked up over 400 games for Barca and won a staggering 15 trophies.

Given he now has a reported €500m (£417m) release clause, it's likely that the ex-Valencia ace will see out the rest of his career at the Nou Camp.

Jadon Sancho (Manchester City to Dortmund - £8m)

Jadon Sancho was one of the most exciting young players in England in his teenage years, but it was in Germany where the south Londoner truly made his name.

After growing tired of a lack of opportunities at Manchester City, Sancho rolled the dice and agreed to a shock £8m move to German giants Borussia Dortmund.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Sancho scored 50 goals and registered an astonishing 64 assists across his 137 appearances for the club before Manchester United came calling last summer.

Dortmund raked in a whopping £73m fee for the youngster they'd taken a gamble on four years earlier, with Sancho helping them to two trophies along the way.

Jamie Vardy (Fleetwood to Leicester City - £1m)

Jamie Vardy's rags-to-riches story is still nothing short of remarkable.

Leicester paid just £1m to pluck Vardy from the obscurity of non-league Fleetwood Town to join them in the Championship back in 2012.

Since then, Vardy has established himself as one of the Foxes' most consistent players - and one of the Premier League's most deadly strikers.

The 34-year-old has since gone on to win full England honours. He also clinched the Premier League's Golden Boot back in the 2019/20 season after notching an incredible 23 goals in 35 games.