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On the occasion of this year's January transfer window, time to have a look back at some of the outstanding players of the past who used that "window of opportunity" to join the ranks of Maccabi Tel Aviv

In last year's January transfer window, two players joined the Maccabi Tel Aviv squad who would leave an indelible mark on the team's march toward the 2012/13 Israeli Premier League title: Swedish striker Rade Prica and star midfielder Eran Zahavi. No doubt their continued invaluable contribution on the pitch will highlight them as among the outstanding January signings in Maccabi's history. But as this year's window begins to close, time to have a look back at some of the club's past winter transfer successes.

Shalom Shikva

When Shalom Shikva first made his appearance in Maccabi Tel Aviv kit in 1962, the now familiar January transfer window was not yet the institution it is today. Nonetheless, it was in the winter of that year, December to be exact, that this outstanding striker made his move from Maccabi Ramle to Maccabi Tel Aviv, with two players moving in the opposite direction. The timing could not have been better. The 1962/63 season had got off to a bad start, Maccabi Tel Aviv were languishing at the bottom of the table and the threat of relegation weighed heavily on the Maccabi faithful. They were in desperate need of someone to get the ball in the net and from his very first appearance in yellow, scoring a brace in a 3-1 victory over Hapoel Jerusalem, it was clear that Shalom Shikva was the answer to Maccabi's prayers. He would go on to score a further five goals that season, most of which made a decisive contribution to Maccabi's avoiding relegation that season, a precedent that unlike at any other football club in Israel  has been maintained throughout Maccabi Tel Aviv's illustrious history.

Alejandro Martin Kenig

When Argentinian Alejandro Martín Kenig arrived at Maccabi Tel Aviv in January 1990, he and Uruguayan striker Valkir Silva, who arrived at the club just before him, were the first foreign players to appear in yellow and blue kit. This promising young striker made his first appearance for the team on February 10th of that year and immediately scored his first goal in a 3-3 draw against Beitar Tel Aviv. He would go on to score in each of his next two games as well, a 1-3 loss to Bnei Yehuda and a 2-0 victory over Hapoel Kfar Saba. He finished his half season at Maccabi with four goals in all, but also an injury that ended his career at the club earlier than anticipated.

Rodrigo Goldberg

One of the most beloved and influential foreign players to join Maccabi Tel Aviv was Chilean striker Rodrigo Goldberg. Goldberg spent two terms with the club, the first of which began at the start of the 1997/98 season and lasted just half a year. But he will be most remembered for his second term, which began in the first month of the new millennium with the renewal of his contract following a trial that confirmed his fitness after recovering from a serious injury. In his very first match, the small-built Goldberg scored against Hapoel in a Tel Aviv Derby, a propensity that would crown him Maccabi's all-time most successful foreign player derby scorer with five goals to his credit. Goldberg finished the first half season of his second term at Maccabi with eight goals, two of them coming in the other two derby matches of that season. He also scored a brace in Maccabi's 7-0 thrashing of Beitar Jerusalem and an additional goal in the season's prestigious State Cup final, the opening goal in a 3-0 victory over Maccabi Petach Tikva that would bring him his first title as a Maccabi Tel Aviv player. His second, also in the State Cup, followed a year later in his first full season (2001/02) with Maccabi, a season in which he scored 19 goals in 46 appearances in all competitions. In 2002/03 Goldberg celebrated his first league championship, his last for the club before leaving Maccabi the following year due to injury.

John Pantsil

Maccabi Tel Aviv began the 2002/03 championship season without a natural right back, with a young Avi Strul filling in at the position.  During the January transfer window, then head coach Nir Klinger brought in the Ghanaian defender John Pantsil from the Polish side Widzew Lodz. Pantsil made his first appearance in a 1-2 victory over Hapoel Petach Tikva and was an immediate success, not only cementing a permanent place in the starting eleven but also in the hearts of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans, who quickly invented a song in his honour. After helping the club win a dramatic title that season, he held down his place in the following season as well and was part of the history-making squad that made Maccabi's first ever appearance in the group stage of the Champions League. Pantsil had already had the honour of a call-up for the Ghanaian national side that appeared in the Athens Olympics in the summer of 2004 and has gone on to make 63 international appearances in his career. In January 2005 Pantsil left Maccabi and a year later began a stellar career in England, playing for both West Ham United and Fulham in the Premier League, and for Leicester City in England's second division, the Championship. Still active, Pantsil now plays for South African first division side Santos.