Clint Dempsey's left Fulham for Tottenham Hotspur while Fulham signed Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov, as English football clubs did some last-minute wheeling and dealing on the final day of the summer transfer window.
Dempsey had been tipped to move to Liverpool but the free-scoring United States forward instead completed a transfer to London rivals Spurs for almost $12 million for three years, while Honduras midfielder Wilson Palacios is reportedly on his way to Fulham from Stoke.
On a frantic day at White Hart Lane, Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart was sold to German side Hamburg and Mexico forward Giovani Dos Santos was off-loaded onto Spanish club Real Mallorca.
Fulham were busy, also signing Kieran Richardson from Sunderland as well as Iran right winger Ashkan Dejagah from VfL Wolfsburg, both on three-year deals.
Ghana midfielder Michael Essien's loan move to the Spanish champions Real Madrid was the headline story until Dempsey's shock move.
The 29-year-old Essien, who joined Chelsea from Olympique Lyon in 2005, links up again with former Stamford Bridge boss Jose Mourinho for the rest of the season.
The troubled Queens Park Rangers midfielder Joey Barton joined the French club Olympique Marseille on a season-long loan while Rangers signed Cameroon defender Stephane Mbia from Marseille.
The Premier League champions Manchester City signed Brazil fullback Maicon from Inter Milan, along with Swansea winger Scott Sinclair, one-cap Spain midfielder Javi Garcia from Benfica and Serbia defender Matija Nastasic from Fiorentina. Dutch defender Nigel De Jong joined AC Milan from City earlier in the day.
Olympique Lyon allowed 38-cap France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to join Tottenham on a four-year contract.
Serbia defender Matija Nastasic left Fiorentina for Manchester City, Macedonia left back Goran Popov went on loan to West Bromwich Albion from Dynamo Kiev, Belgium striker Christian Benteke joined Aston Villa from Racing Genk.
