Deadline Day came and went and it was pretty dramatic stuff indeed. We decided to have a look back at the transfer window in its entirety and select what we believe is a pretty impressive XI from all the signings made.
1. Fraser Forster
The new Southampton keeper signed from Celtic and got our vote ahead of Michel Vorm, who moved from Swansea to Spurs. Impressive enough at Celtic to earn an England call-up, Forster will be first choice at Southampton while good as he is, Vorm will be understudy to Hugo Lloris at Spurs.
2. Mathieu Debuchy
The French full-back has impressed already for Arsenal since his move from Newcastle and looks the part. He gets in ahead of Bacary Sagna, who moved from Arsenal to City but looks like he’s going to be understudy to the brilliant Pablo Zabaleta.
3. Alberto Moreno
Liverpool’s new Spanish signing from Sevilla already looks the real deal despite only a few showings in red so far. Roundly criticised for his error against Manchester City which gifted them their first goal in a 3-1 defeat at the Etihad, Moreno showed what he was all about with a wonder-goal against Spurs. We like the look of this tigerish, marauding full-back.
4. Dejan Lovren
Another Liverpool signing, this time from Southampton. He was excellent for Southampton last season and played for Croatia in the World Cup. He will take time to settle at Anfield, but he looks like a shrewd buy for Liverpool with his imposing presence and no-nonsense defending.
5. Eliaquim Mangala
The only real big money signing for champions Manchester City, the big French centre-half was signed from Porto in a £32m deal. He is already a very imposing figure and working and playing alongside Vincent Kompany will be the best kind of education he could ask for. It could be a fearsome partnership.
6. Esteban Cambiasso
This may be our one nostalgic pick, but you cannot deny the man’s achievements in his career to date. An out and out warrior for Argentina in a long and distinguished career, his move to Leicester City brought back memories of past windows when Juninho and Ravanelli signed for Middlesbrough. He will add real experience to the midfield of the Premier League new boys.
7. Angel di Maria
Manchester United fans were positively giddy when they signed the brilliant Argentine winger from Real Madrid. Diego Simeone called him the ‘best player at Madrid’ and he won man of the match award as they claimed the Champions League with a win over Atletico Madrid in the final. He’s pure quality and a shoo-in for this team.
8. Cesc Fabregas
Already a Premier League legend from his time at Arsenal, some people believe his transfer to Chelsea was the best piece of business from the whole transfer window. He knows the league inside out and now, after a couple of seasons playing for Barcelona, he is older, wiser and possibly even better than his Arsenal days. He’s an absolute gem.
9. Radamel Falcao
A last ditch signing for Manchester United, the Colombian striker joins on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent deal at the end of the season. Whether he is needed or not by the club, who wouldn’t want this player in their team? Easily in the top five strikers in the world, he is a brilliant addition, not only to United, but the Premier League as a whole.
10. Diego Costa
He scored goals for fun last season as Atletico Madrid won La Liga and he has continued that goalscoring form for Chelsea at the start of this campaign. He’s a big man who is more like the old-fashioned English centre-forward and it looks like the Premier League is the perfect league for his style of play.
11. Alexis Sanchez
The Chilean maestro is just pure quality. He was lost a little at Barcelona, but Arsenal could be the perfect club for him. Despite the presence of Mesut Ozil, he is the star man at the Emirates and he looks like the type of player who will thrive in that environment. A great team player too with an incredible work ethic.
The Bench:
12. Dusan Tadic (Southampton): We are big fans of the new Southampton winger from Serbia, who was signed from FC Twente in Holland and is already making a big impact
13. Sandro (QPR): The big Brazilian midfielder made a surprise move to QPR on Deadline Day. We’re not sure why Spurs let him go, but he’ll do a job in the middle.
14. Bacary Sagna (Manchester City): The former Arsenal defender might struggle for game time at City with Zabaleta there, but if he gets in, he’ll do a job.
15. Mario Balotelli (Liverpool): Eccentric genius or erratic nut job, Mario on his day is as good as anyone and even though the jury is still out as to how he’ll fare at Anfield, we reckon he deserves a spot on the bench here.
16. Romelu Lukaku (Everton): The big Belgian striker had a great season on loan with Everton last time out and his permanent move could be the making of him.
A few choice words were had amongst us here in the office before the team was selected, but we finally settled on this compromise and we don’t think it’s a bad looking team at all. Of course, football is all about opinions and we’re sure there are others that some of you would have preferred to have seen there, so feel free to let us know your own choices in the comment box below.
