Transfer deadline day in the Premier League this year could never match the drama of last year with the moves of Ashley Cole, Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez. But Lassana Diarra’s move from Chelsea to Arsenal sparked some life into a rather dull last day of August.

Diarra, who played against Arsenal in last season’s Carling Cup Final, has been out of touch with Jose Mourinho’s plans this season. The French midfielder made the trip across London for an undisclosed fee.

The former Le Havre player is hoping to bring glory back to Arsenal and has a strong belief in his new manager: "I have great respect for Arsene Wenger and am attracted by the style of football that the team plays.Of course I am excited by what the future holds and keen to play my part in helping Arsenal fight for trophies,"  the 22-year-old said.

'Diarra is hoping to bring glory back to Arsenal and has a strong belief in Arsene Wenger'


Earlier in the day, Fulham were busy in the market to sign Shefki Kuqi from Crystal Palace, Danny Murphy from Spurs, Dejan Stefanovic from Portsmouth and Seol Ki-Hyeon from Reading. Liam Rosenior made way for Lawrie Sanchez’s 15th signing of the summer by swapping with Seol to sign for Reading.

There were talks of Chelsea smashing the world-record transfer fee for Ronaldinho and Inter Milan’s Brazilian striker Adriano heading to West Ham but these rumours were quashed hours before the window eventually shut.

A disappointing deadline day, then, for those longing for the mega-deals and shocks to turn up but there have still been some brilliant introductions to the Premier League before the season started. Fernando Torres has made an immediate impact at Anfield, Nani and Tevez are shining at United, Eduardo looks promising at Arsenal, Spurs spent big with Gareth Bale and Darren Bent and Sunderland rewrote the record books with the £9m signing of keeper Craig Gordon.

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