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Arriving on a free, earning the club a reported £400,000 on his departure and scoring goals aplenty in between - Chris Porter provided the club with an almost perfect modern day deal
Motherwell fans were already pretty content at the way Mark McGhee had stamped his authority on the club since taking over and that was before he brought £750,000 rated striker Chris Porter to Fir Park in the summer of 2007.
With much publicised targets John Sutton and Craig Dargo disappearing over the horizon, 'Well fans began to wonder who the new manager might bring in to replace the prolific Scott McDonald. Within hours of Dargo electing to move to St Mirren, McGhee pulled the proverbial rabbit from the hat when he announced he had secured the capture of Oldham Athletic striker Chris Porter. Suddenly Dargo looked like small beer in comparison.
Under normal circumstances it's fair to say the striker wouldn't have come close to being in Motherwell's budget, but able to exploit a loophole in cross-border transfer regulations between Scotland and England, McGhee was able to sign the forward without having to pay a penny.
The Wigan born player began his career with Bury and made his debut towards the end of the 2002'03 season against Macclesfield in a 0-0 draw. In his first full season for Bury Chris netted 10 times as the Shakers finished mid-table.
Another mid-table finish and another consistent haul of 10 goals in season 04'05 prompted nearby Oldham Athletic to take an interest in the player. It wouldn't be the last time Porter would be transferred in some controversy and it took a tribunal to settle the fee of £150,000 after Bury and Oldham failed to reach agreement.
Chris's debut season at Boundary Park was interrupted by injury on several occasions but he made the step up to League One with ease and netted 9 times, including a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw with Brentford.
It was Porter's second season with Oldham where things really began to click for him. He had beaten his previous seasons tally by November and had fired home 17 times before the turn of the year.
Moving into the final six months of his contract Oldham gambled on the player on the signing a new deal or at worst moving on for a considerable fee as they turned down a £750,000 bid from Championship side Plymouth Argyle in the January 2007 transfer window.
Perhaps affected by the transfer speculation and with a couple of niggling injuries also impacting on his performance Porter's progress slowed in the second half of the season, though he still added another five goals to the tally for the campaign.
The expected big money bids that Oldham had anticipated failed to materialise and Porter had also failed to sign the existing contract offer the Latics had made.
When Dundee Utd and Motherwell in the SPL began to show interest in the striker and found they could sign him at no cost, suddenly Oldham were in a very vulnerable position.
Porter spoke to Craig Levein at Tannadice but it would seem neither of the two quite believed in the other, before Mark McGhee made his interest known to the player.
Sufficiently impressed with the new Motherwell manager, and the ambition and location of the club courting him, Porter signed on for 'Well within days on a two year deal, thrilling 'Well fans in the process.
Despite taking a little while to fully adjust to Scottish football Chris quickly found the net and it became clear that he would comfortably cope with the leap in standard from League One to the SPL.
By the turn of the year Ports was close to reaching double figures as he spearheaded a 'Well attack regularly finding the net through the trio of Clarkson, McCormack and Porter.
As the season drew to a close Chris really demonstrated his value to the club. Coming to form at exactly the right time he found the net five times after the split as 'Well closed in on a UEFA Cup place including the goal which took the Dossers over the finish line against Aberdeen to complete one of the finest debut seasons a new signing has made in some time.
As he did in his opening season at Fir Park, Chris started the 08'09 campaign in somewhat slow fashion, taking until the 8th game of the season to find the net against Falkirk. Porter also had to endure further disappointment when harshly red-carded in the 2-1 loss to Hamilton in the League Cup, a decision which contributed heavily to the loss on the night.
Having got that elusive first goal of the season though Ports quickly added another three in three games to get back on track and help 'Well rise to third place by the close of the first round of matches.
A further barren spell followed as 'Well struggled to put their strongest team out and it was the return to the side of David Clarkson, his preferred strike partner, that saw Chris return to form with another sustained burst of goals.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle were put to the sword thanks to a trio of Porter headers and the Englishman would go on to next five in his next six, including the winner against one of his suitors Hearts.
With the last week of the January transfer window arriving and 'Well fans beginning to convince themselves that they might well keep Porter until the end of the season, a bid from Cardiff City was received and accepted. Derby County quickly joined the chase and it was the latter the striker elected to sign for after Motherwell accepted the Rams bid.
The player went with the best wishes of both the club and the supporters having given first class service to 'Well in his months at Fir Park contributing enormously to a 3rd place finishing and taking Motherwell back into Europe.
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D.O.B:
12/12/1983
Born:
Wigan
Height:
6' 2'
Weight:
12st 7Ibs
Signed From:
Oldham Athletic
Sold To:
Derby County
Position:
Striker
International Caps:
 0
International Goals:
0
2008/09 Squad No:
9
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