EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsWith the new Premier League season almost upon us, clubs are busy signing players and getting their squads into shape. Plenty of transfers have already gone through, but an unusual deal was struck this week between Crystal Palace and Everton to garner a little extra attention.A source told ESPN on Monday that the two clubs have agreed a deal that will see Palace winger Brennan Johnson and Everton winger Dwight McNeil make a rare straight swap with no monetary fees exchanged either way.Both players are expected to undergo their respective medicals at their new clubs on Monday before putting pen to paper on four-year contracts.Though the term is regularly used when players move between clubs as part of the same transfer negotiations, there have actually been comparatively few true "straight swap" deals (i.e, player for player without any additional fee) to take place in the upper echelons of the game.Alexis Snchez and Henrikh MkhitaryanPerhaps the highest profile straight swap deal to take place in recent years saw winger Sanchez leave Arsenal in January 2018 to sign for Manchester United, who allowed Mkhitaryan to move in the opposite direction to help balance the deal.Sanchez looked to be on the brink of signing for Manchester City at one point, but the club ultimately baulked at the Gunners' desired �35 million transfer fee and ended their pursuit. This allowed rivals United to muscle in and prize the Chile star away from the Emirates by offering Mkhitaryan as part of their negotiations. The Armenia international's transfer was also conveniently valued at �35 million, allowing the two clubs to conduct the trade smoothly."We lose a world-class player and we gain a world-class player," Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said at the time, summing things up succinctly, though it's fair to suggest that neither player excelled for either club in the aftermath.Sanchez made 43 appearances in a 2 year spell at United, scoring just five goals. Meanwhile, Mkhitaryan lasted just two years at Arsenal, scoring nine goals in 59 games.The pair eventually ended up as teammates at Inter Milan, where Mkhitaryan remains to this day, and they won the 2023-24 Serie A title together.Jose Antonio Reyes and Julian BaptistaThe Sanchez-Mkhitaryan deal wasn't the first time that Arsenal had found themselves involved in a straight-swap transfer.In 2006, Arsenal did exactly that when they allowed winger Jose Antonio Reyes to join Real Madrid in exchange for long-term striking target Julio Baptista moving the other way on deadline day in twin season-long loan deals.Arsenal had attempted to sign Baptista the previous summer only to see the powerful Brazil forward opt for Madrid, where he subsequently struggled to bed in during his debut season at the Bernabeu. Reyes had spent two fairly successful seasons at Highbury, but signalled his intent to move home to Spain, so the swap seemed to make sense.Baptista hardly set the Premier League alight during his sole season in England, though he did manage to score six goals in just three games in the League Cup as Arsenal reached the final, only to lose out to Chelsea at the Millennium Stadium.Reyes scored seven goals in 38 games for Madrid. He later enjoyed spells at Atltico Madrid, Benfica and Sevilla before tragically losing his life in a car crash while travelling to Seville in 2019.Clarence Seedorf and Francesco CocoAs unlikely as it may seem, Inter Milan and AC Milan managed to put hostilities aside long enough to strike a deal in 2002 that saw Seedorf and Coco swap directly between the two Serie A rivals.Seedorf had spent two years at Inter but failed to help land any silverware. Still only 26 years old at the time, the Netherlands international was allowed to cross the divide and sign for Milan, with Italy defender Coco, who had spent the previous season on loan at Barcelona, moving the opposite direction.Seedorf went on to spend the next decade at the Rossoneri, winning two Serie A and two Champions League titles, as well as a host of other trophies.By contrast, Coco's Inter career was blighted by injuries and, following a couple of unsuccessful loans elsewhere, he eventually left the club in 2007 after deciding that he fancied trying his hand at becoming a professional actor instead.Fabio Cannavaro and Fabian CariniTwo years after allowing Seedorf to waltz across the threshold to AC Milan, Inter once again found themselves down on the deal in 2004 when they allowed Cannavaro to leave for Juventus on the summer transfer deadline day.The deal saw Juve's third-choice goalkeeper Carini move to Inter in a deal that valued both players' transfers at around 10 million, despite the latter having played little more than a handful of first-team games for Juve.Sure enough, Cannavaro went on to win two Serie A titles with Juve (though both were revoked as part of the Calciopoli refereeing scandal) before captaining Italy to 2006 World Cup glory and becoming only the third defender to win the Ballon d'Or as a result.While Carini did amass an impressive 74 caps for Uruguay, he mustered just four appearances in three years at Inter before leaving for Murcia in Spain in 2007. A chronic back injury then ultimately forced him to retire from football in 2016.Kenwyne Jones and Peter OdemwingieCardiff City and Stoke City effectively swapped strikers halfway through the 2013-14 Premier League season when Jones and Odemwingie moved in opposite directions as part of the same fee-free deal.After failing to find the net for Stoke, Jones failed to find any fresh impetus at Cardiff and scored just once in 11 games for the Bluebirds during the remainder of the campaign. Odemwingie fared a little better initially, scoring five goals in 15 games for the Potters -- though they proved to be the last goals of his largely barren three-year stint at the Britannia Stadium.
