I will always remember the summer of 1995 with the best memories. It was the hottest summer on record in the UK at the time, second only to 1976, and it seemed as if every day was a scorcher.
With no World Cup to watch, it also meant that players were available for transfer negotiations earlier than the previous summer. This was particularly exciting for me, a game-obsessed nine-year-old. My dad had recently bought a TV with teletext and could now watch the transfers that were announced during the summer before having to wait for the six o’clock news!
On June 17, Liverpool announced the first big-name signing of the summer and it turned out to be a record-breaking one. The Merseyside club parted with a British record £8.5million to bring striker Stan Collymore to Anfield from Nottingham Forest.
If it was Tottenham Hotspur who signed the previous summer’s biggest name, Jurgen Klinsmann, it was their north London rivals Arsenal who grabbed the headlines in 1995. Three days after Stan Collymore appeared at Anfield for the national press , new Arsenal manager Bruce Rioch announced the signing of striker Dennis Bergkamp. The Dutchman had spent two unhappy years at Inter Milan and was now going to try his luck in the English league.
Tottenham Hotspur signed Crystal Palace striker Chris Armstrong the following day for £4.5 million and on June 22, Paul Ince signed for Inter Milan for £7 million.
A second Dutchman moved to a capital club on the 23rd, when Ruud Gullit was introduced by Chelsea manager Glenn Hoddle at Stamford Bridge. He had arrived from Sampdoria on a free transfer. Chelsea also signed Mark Hughes from Manchester United on the same day, but this went decidedly under the radar compared to Gullit’s signing.
Aston Villa broke their transfer record by signing Savo Milosevic for £3.5m from Partizan Belgrade before Newcastle United caught the eye by signing French midfielder David Ginola from Paris Saint-Germain for £2.5m .
Before the month was out, England captain David Platt joined Dennis Bergkamp at Arsenal from Sampdoria after the two clubs agreed a fee of £4.75 million. On the same day David Platt put pen to paper at Highbury, his England team-mate Paul Gascoigne joined Scottish champions Glasgow Rangers.
With Bergkamp, Gullit, Platt and Gascoigne leaving Italy, the Premier League was quickly becoming the best place to play and watch football. At the start of the 1995/96 season, the Italian Serie A was quickly approaching being the best league in the world.
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