Villarreal have unveiled their new signing in the most Spinal Tap way you can imagine

Transfer deadline day has been and gone, which means Premier League clubs have until January to think of increasingly contrived ways to announce new signings.

After last year’s antics from Arsenal, Liverpool and Championship outfit Aston Villa, we’ve seen plenty of clubs at home and abroad get involved with their Twitter announcements of new signings.

We’ve had good old-fashioned puns from Crystal Palace…

West Ham went down the fantasy football route after bringing in Lucas Perez…

We’ve had a couple of good goalkeeper announcements too, from Roma and Aston Villa.

So, after all of these over-the-top social media announcements, what’s next? Over-the-top actual announcements, of course.

Step forward Villarreal, who welcomed back their former midfielder Santi Cazorla in the most baffling way.

Cazorla began his career with the Spanish club, playing for them more than 200 times between 2003 and 2011, but has made just 11 Arsenal appearances in the last two seasons due to injury.

With that in mind, an overdramatic presentation might not be seen as the best plan – when even the slightest knock could set the midfielder back in his recovery, maybe just film him in an armchair or something?

But no, Villarreal are an ambitious club, which is why they invited a group of fans to their stadium to watch something that feels like it’s come straight from a 90s magic show and/or the classic 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap.

Compare and contrast:

At least the fans enjoyed it - though getting a guy with a history of achilles problems to jump off a platform felt like asking for trouble.

(Images: Getty)