So yeah, I didn’t stay up for the deadline day (like my Liverpool friends out there, hello Ida Torres) but boy was I shocked when I woke up and turned on the Internet. As a Manchester United fan — and sitting pretty on top of the table, mind you — I knew that there weren’t gonna be any significant comings and goings to and from Old Trafford this deadline day. But for some teams, it got a tad bit exciting as the last few hours of transfer deadline day rolled in. Not a lot of wheeling and dealing involved, but the deals that did happen have changed the face and landscape of English Football for the years to follow.

This should give you a strong idea of what happened.

This is our lowdown on  all the big transfer deadline day deals and news — and there were quite a few big ones. Strap yourselves on and let’s go!

Chelsea vs Liverpool football odds

Chelsea – 1.65

Liverpool – 6

Draw – 4.2

Fernando Torres to Chelsea for a cool 50 mil

Fernando Torres to Chelsea – £50 million

It looks like Roman Abramovich is not happy at all with how his oldies-but-goodies team having thrown away a significant lead early this season and is hoping that the Spanish golden boy Fernando Torres can help Chelsea back into Champions’ League places and even a title fight with United. This move has been rumored to be on for a while there, with issues of pricing the main cause for concern. Liverpool were very keen on getting a replacement striker with the money from El Niño‘s sale and that heavily factored into the deal.

But there never was much doubt that the deal would happen when Torres himself submitted a transfer request to the Liverpool management, thereby forcing their hand. Of course, one can imagine that this didn’t go pretty well with the Anfield faithful (as referenced in the earlier image). He is now hoping to team up with Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and John Terry in a Chelsea team that suddenly looks competent with his addition.

Benfica's central defender David Luiz now wears Chelsea blue

David Luiz from Benfica to Chelsea – £21.3 million

Chelsea then continued their extensive deadline day spending with the £21.3 million signing of Benfica’s Brazilian defender David Luiz. Luiz has signed a contract that ties him to Chelsea until the summer of 2016 and joins for a fee of €25 million (£21.3 million), while young midfielder Nemanja Matic will also move the other way from Stamford Bridge to Estadio da Luz at the end of the season.

Luiz, 23, was named Portugal’s Player of the Year for 2010 as he helped Benfica win the domestic Double and has carved out a reputation as a defender of some repute since joining the club in 2007. He now bolsters the Chelsea defense and joins an already formidable (albeit aging) backline that includes  Alex, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, and Ashley Cole.

Ajax and Uruguay striker Luis Suarez with Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish

Luis Suarez from Ajax Amsterdam to Liverpool – £22.7 million

With cash now to spend from Nando’s sale, Liverpool were keen to bolster their squad with what little time was left. This move was first seen as a support for Torres — now it can be seen as a bit of foresight on Liverpool management’s side. Luis Suarez joins the club for a fee that could reach €26.5 million (£22.7 million) and takes the No. 7 shirt made famous by his new manager, Kenny Dalglish.

Suarez scored a remarkable 49 goals in 48 games for the Dutch Eredivisie side last season and courted notoriety in the summer when he was dismissed for deliberate handball in Uruguay’s victory over Ghana in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Big Andy Carroll joins the Reds from Newcastle

Andy Carroll from Newcastle to Liverpool – £35 million

A bit of records keeping here, striker Andy Carroll became the seventh most expensive player in the history of football after the confirmation of his £35 million transfer to Liverpool. Crazy? Well, in a transfer deadline day megabuck deal, who isn’t?

As a direct replacement to Torres, he will now seek to find an understanding with Suarez as the main attacking force of Liverpool and seek to lift Liverpool out of midtable mediocrity. He is currently injured for a month, so his home debut will have to wait. But when he does play, his forceful running and accurate finishing should help Liverpool a lot. He is also very tidy on the floor — as they say, good touch for a big man.

Just as perspective — this deal has elevated Carroll into an elite group of footballers.

Cristiano Ronaldo cost Real Madrid £80 million when joining from Manchester United in 2009, while only Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£60.7 million), Kaka (£56 million), Zinedine Zidane (£45.6 million), Luis Figo (£37 million) and Hernan Crespo (£35.5 million) have cost more than Carroll’s reported price.

No pressure, eh?

Newcastle – sold 2 strikers (Xisco to Deportivo La Coruña, and Carroll), no replacements

The big losers of transfer deadline day will have to be Newcastle. For the reasons mentioned, they will now have to rely on the untried Leon Best and Nile Ranger, as well as the aging and injury-prone pair of Shola Ameobi and Peter Lovenkrands to keep them in the Premier League come May. Tall order, if we may say so.

There is also the small issue of re-investing the 35 million from Carroll’s sale. With Newcastle owner Mike Ashley’s history, we don’t expect the team to see any amount from that total in the summer transfer window.

THIS JUST IN!

Gary Neville quits football at 35

Manchester United defender Gary Neville has become the first of the ‘Fergie Fledglings’ to end his footballing career after announcing his immediate retirement at the age of 35.

You had a good run, Gary. Woeful these past few months, but your good years were behind you. We wish you well.

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To end this, and as cruel fate would have it — it’s Chelsea vs Liverpool at he weekend, football betting odds surprisingly put Chelsea as heavy favorites to win this one outright. With Luis Suarez at the point doing well on his debut, I guess we’ll all have to see about this one, shall we not?