Ranking best ever January transfers: Liverpool landing Virgil van Dijk, Man United's Bruno Fernandes make list

USMNT legend Clint Dempsey's Fulham switch is up there with the likes of Luis Suarez and Marcelo

January is a risky period for transfer business in European club soccer with no shortage of moves that have not panned out for one reason or another. The list of expensive failures such as Fernando Torres' largely ill-fated move from Liverpool to Chelsea one winter window back in 2011 is lengthy, but even that underlines how the Reds actually do some surprisingly good business as this selection of gems is about to illustrate. Manchester United have also had some success in previous Januarys while Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have also been known to use the winter window surprisingly well.

We take at look at 15 impressive pieces of business pulled off in what is traditionally a tricky period for good value acquisitions. The only qualifying factor to consider going into this is deals that were permanent from the off -- not initial loans which were eventually made permanent as is quite a frequent occurrence.

Here are the top 15: