Now that the transfer window has been firmly sealed, JOE takes a club-by-club look at how things fared out. Everton fans will be overjoyed, while Ed Woodward and Joe Kinnear won’t be basking in the glory of their dealings, or lack thereof.
Premier League fans in Norf London and Merseyside can be rightly pleased with how the transfer window has panned out, while the Old Trafford faithful will lament summer speculation that promised so much, but only delivered Marouane Fellaini, and at the last minute.
Here is a full rundown on all the clubs involved.
Arsenal:
All about one man, and we don’t mean Yaya Sonogo. The arrival of Mesut Ozil yesterday transformed Arsenal from transfer window also-rans to champions, bringing a truly world-class player to the Premier League. Fans may have wanted a keeper/defender/striker, but we reckon most Gooners are pretty happy today.
Aston Villa:
A good window for Paul Lambert. He managed to keep Christian Benteke, his most important player. He also shipped out the players he didn’t want, like Barry Bannan, Stephen Ireland, Richard Dunne and Darren Bent. And he brought in striker Libor Kozak from Lazio, to give Bentekkers a hand.
Cardiff City:
Best bit of business might be bringing in Stephen Caulker, who we think is a classy defender. Gary Medel is a wild, but effective midfielder and if Malky Mackay can get Peter Odemwingie firing, he’ll have had a very good window indeed.
Chelsea:
A funny one by Jose. Bringing in Willian seems odd, good and all as he might be, and they seem to have way too many midfielders and only a handful of strikers. They let Lukaku go again, leaving them to rely on Fernando Torres and new arrival Samuel Eto’o.
Crystal Palace:
By our count, 15 players arrived at Palace this summer, a huge turnover. Big money was spent on untested striker Dwight Gayle, but Cameron Jerome and Jason Puncheon should get a goal or two as well. Villa reject Bannan could also thrive under Ian Holloway.
Everton:
At 10.30pm last night, things looked bleak at Goodison. Then it all fell into place as Gareth Barry, James McCarthy and Lukaku all arrived, and all will improve the team, even with Marouane Fellaini gone. They kept Leighton Baines too, while Barca man Gerard Deulofeu looks top quality. Well played Roberto Martinez.
Fulham:
Okay, wake up, the Cottagers did some business too. Sascha Riether – who signed permanently after spending last season at the club on loan – is a quality full back but Scott Parker, Darren Bent and Adel Taarabt are very much gambles for our money. A bit like their early form, not great stuff from Martin Jol.
Hull:
The Hull City Tigertrons’ comings and goings almost saw them bring in Irishman Shane Long late last night, only for that to fall through. They have been busy though, getting in Jake Livermore and Tom Huddlestone from Spurs, Figueroa from Wigan and Yannick Sagbo and Danny Graham up front. A mixed bag you could say. Importantly, they managed to hang on to Paul McShane too.
Liverpool:
They got the majority of their business done nice and early bringing in Iago Aspas, Simon Mignolet and Luis Alberto Romero, but some later signings on the deadline day will also add some badly needed depth to the squad in Victor Moses, Tiago Ilori (who apparently holds the record for fastest sprint time at Sporting Lisbon, meaning he’s faster than Ronaldo was at his age) and French international Mamadou Sakho, for badly-needed cover at the back. So far it all seems to be paying off, but we’ll see how long that lasts with Sturridge now injured.
Manchester City:
Another club that went into the window prepared and got their stuff done. Fernandinho settled in pretty instantly and was (statistically) very impressive against Newcastle, Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo are also fantastic signings, and Navas gives them a width they lacked at times last season. Martin Dimichelis, however, is papering over the cracks of a defensive crisis and he may well be found wanting in the pace of the Premier League.
Manchester United:
Judging by our Twitter timeline today, United fans are happy with the window and think that Moyes is a great lad. Megalolz. Fellaini coming in at the last minute for an inflated price has given fans of the Champions some reason to complain, but it should be remembered this squad won the league last year and doesn’t need an overhaul. Still, the public way in which they handled their business will certainly cast them in a bad light, and that won’t help Ed Woodward.
Newcastle:
Loic Remy comes in on loan. That’s it. Perhaps holding on to Yohan Cabaye is the best piece of business that they did, but won’t save Joe Kinnear from further embarrassment as it seems no one answered their phone or the knocks on their door.
Norwich:
For a team in their position in the league, Norwich made some absolutely fantastic signings over the summer. Leroy Fer is a hugely promising young player, and Ricky Van Wolfswinkel certainly has goals in him, as he’s already proven. Gary Hooper will surely also grab his fair share of goals and Nathan Redmond is a fantastic prospect. Under Hughton, this team could go quite far this year.
Southampton:
The standard of player Southampton brought in this window was surprising, possibly even for Saints fans. Pablo Daniel Osvaldo, apart from looking like Johnny Depp, is a seriously talented player, Victor Wanyama (who got his first pair of football boots aged 14, having played barefoot before that) has impressed in his opening games and Dejan Lovren should add some stability at the back.
Stoke
A relatively quiet window for Mark Hughes, who will be working once again with Stephen Ireland after he signed a season-long loan deal. Erik Pieters joins from PSV for £3 million, while Barcelona defender Marc Muniesa leaves the Nou Camp in favour of the Britannia.
Can Stephen Ireland resurrect his career at Stoke?
Out go the experienced Dean Whitehead (Middlesbrough), Matthew Upson (Brighton), Carlo Nash (Norwich) and former Irish international Rory Delap (Burton, free). After splashing the cash in recent years, this window looks a little more sensible.
Sunderland
Where to begin? Fifteen players in total have arrived, while 17 have either left or being loaned out. Paolo Di Canio is already throwing the dummies out of the pram. Some of the players look decent – Giaccherini could be the best of the lot – but can he gel the new squad together? The early evidence doesn’t look good.
Swansea
Michael Laudrup has again dipped into the Spanish market with no fewer than seven players making the move either permanently or on loan. The boss has spent more than £20 million to bolster the squad and on paper they look stronger than last season.
Holding onto Michu and Ashley Williams was a huge boost for the Swans as they look to push on from last season.
Tottenham
The club by which the global transfer market has seemingly hinged on. The inevitable departure of Bale has meant that the club have turned a profit even after breaking their own club record three times and adding depth to the squad.
AVB has sold eight members of the first team squad and Assou-Ekotto, Carroll and Livermore are gone on loan, so the squad has had quite an overhaul. A little light for defensive midfield options after an injury to Etienne Capoue on his debut, but most will agree it was good transfer window all things considering.
West Brom
It has been a mixed-Bag(gies) for Steve Clarke. The acquisition of Lugano and Anelka looked to be good business, along with the loan signing of Scott Sinclair. Last night they added real quality in Stephane Sessegnon after he left the Wearside madhouse, with Victor Anichebe following suit.
The one that got away?
However, they will be very disappointed to lose out to Everton for Romelu Lukaku’s signature, and that loan deal would have been a real coup. Shane Long nearly went but didn’t, while Peter Odemwingie finally exited the Hawthorns. If at first you don’t succeed…
West Ham
There were some disgruntled Hammers supporters voicing their concerns over their lack of activity last night, but it must be remembered that Andy Carroll has already signed a permanent deal, Stewart Downing will supply him with more crosses and Romanian captain Razvan Rat also moved to Upton Park. Solid, if unspectacular, in keeping with the Hammers themselves. They are a little light up front, but we’re not sure Big Sam had much left in the coffers to spend after the contracts were handed out to the former Liverpool misfits players.
