Three United legends named among best Premier League bargains of all time

10. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – Molde to Manchester United, 1996 (£1.5m)

"A rare bargain from yesteryear where more context adds to the absurdity of the money involved. In the summer of 1996, Solskjaer's transfer fee equated to roughly half a John Hartson, one-third of a Jason McAteer or half a Darren Peacock."

"The Norwegian's off-the-bench heroics, in Barcelona and elsewhere, would plant him firmly in Old Trafford's hall of fame, but the 'supersub' tag does a great injustice to a player of sumptuous technique and tactical understanding – his late-career conversion to jobbing winger was a quiet masterstroke."

9. Sami Hyypia – Willem II to Liverpool, 1999 (£2.6m)

8. Dele Alli – MK Dons to Tottenham, 2015 (£5m)

7. Edwin van der Sar – Fulham to Manchester United, 2005 (£2m)

"Arriving aged 34 from a bottom-half club, as the eighth goalkeeper Alex Ferguson had signed in six years, with United well adrift of the past two title races, Van der Sar didn't set many pulses racing. But what was there to lose, paying only £2m for a Champions League-winning keeper who'd just won his 100th international cap and had experience of English football?"

"Ferguson knew the Dutchman's quality but can't have expected to get six years out of him. Today, Van der Sar retains the third-best ratio of matches to clean sheets in Premier League history despite spending four of his 10 seasons with Fulham, finishing 13th, 14th, 9th and 13th. Going a world-record 14 games without conceding did help."

6. Patrick Vieira – Milan to Arsenal, 1996 (£3.5m)

5. Nicolas Anelka – PSG to Arsenal, 1997 (£500,000)

4. Lucas Radebe – Kaizer Chiefs to Leeds, 1994 (£50,000)

3. N'Golo Kante – Caen to Leicester, 2015 (£5.6m) 

2. Sol Campbell – Tottenham to Arsenal, 2001 (free)

1. Eric Cantona – Leeds to Manchester United, 1992 (£1.2m)

"Little did Leeds know that they were losing the greatest catalyst that the Premier League has ever seen; one who joined a United team in eighth and a club without a league title in 25 years. Cantona inspired them to the first four of 13 in 21 seasons."

"If an iconic figure was at his finest in the expansive 1993/94 side, he was at his most crucial two years later, capping his return from an eight-month ban for kung-fu kicking a fan with a series of winners. Not bad for a man signed as a replacement for the injured Dion Dublin after Sheffield Wednesday refused to sell David Hirst."