As another exciting, dramatic and downright outrageous transfer deadline day drew to a close on Monday night there would have been fans up and down the country trying to work out if their club had enjoyed a good summer window or endured a miserable one. TIBS News looks at the British winners and losers from this year’s record-breaking jumble sale.
WINNERS:
Tottenham Hotspur
It would be hard to argue, although time will tell, that Tottenham were not one of the major winners during the summer transfer window. Whilst many may point out that they have now lost their main man in Gareth Bale, the fact that they recouped such an enormous fee from Real Madrid for the Welshman means that Andre Villas-Boas has been able to completely revamp a squad that was so obviously in need of an attacking boost towards the end of last season when they narrowly missed out on Champions League to rivals Arsenal on the last day. Fans and pundits alike where crying out for AVB to sign a renowned world-class striker and Roberto Soldado certainly fits that bill and Christian Erikson alongside Paulinho in midfield means that the White Hart Lane club now boast one of the most sought-after attacking fronts on the planet. Add into that mix the acquisitions of Roma’s Erik Lamela and FC Twente’s Nacer Chadli, alongside others, it is fair to say that things are looking very rosy in the lilywhite garden at present – should they all gel it seems the Tottenham could be setting their sights on much higher prize than just top four this time around.
Liverpool
It has been a very satisfactory close season indeed at Anfield for boss Brendan Rodgers. The reds did good business in the January window – bringing in both Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho – and continued in the same vain this summer. A majority of the so-called ‘dead wood’ has been shipped on to pastures new and with Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing both heading to West Ham for reasonable fees some money was clawed back from disastrous previous transfer debacles. As for players coming in, although there were a few targets missed (Willian to Chelsea and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Borussia Dortmund to name a couple), Rodgers will be delighted overall to have found solutions for most if not all of the targeted problem areas. Jamie Carragher’s retirement highlighted the need for strength in the defence and with Kolo Toure and Mamadou Sakho both arriving as well as Aly Cissokho on loan from Valencia it seems that serious competition will now be faced by Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtl. Up front the additions of Iago Aspas and Victor Moses will provide healthy options and with Luis Suarez remaining at the club it seems Liverpool will pack a punch. Perhaps the most inspired move of all so far though is the signing of goalkeeper Simon Mignolet from Sunderland, with Pepe Reina heading out of the Anfield door Liverpool needed an almost perfect replacement and, so far, Mignolet hasn’t put a foot wrong. That will need to continue if Anfield is to have a realistic chance of Champions League football returning next season.
Southampton
Saints fans have endured many turbulent windows in the past, often looking to cling onto their best players only to ultimately see them leave for bigger and better challenges – not to mention excellent fees. Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gareth Bale have all moved on from St Mary’s in the last decade and captain Adam Lallana is constantly speculated about. It’s a different era on the south coast now though, many players are looking to Southampton as the ‘bigger and better’ challenge and with chairman who is recognised as one of the best in terms of business acumen in Nicola Cortese Southampton have had another fabulous transfer window. Players who didn’t quite make the grade have been moved on clearing space in the wage structure for a higher quality model and the three signings brought in have made people sit up and take notice. Players with Championship experience have been replaced with those of Champions League ilk with Roma’s Pablo Osvaldo following Celtic’s Victor Wanyama and Lyon’s Dejan Lovren into the club. Italian international Osvaldo was rumoured to have been tracked by clubs such as Juventus, Manchester United and Chelsea but it was the Saints’ project under manager Mauricio Pochettino which excited him most. Overall the squad is now high in quality and with a season’s Premier League experience under their belts it could easily be a top-ten finish for a club that nearly went out of existence as recently as 2009.
LOSERS:
Manchester United
Manchester United already have a title-winning squad and the argument is that there is no need to add if what you have is better than what is available on the market. However this summer was an opportunity for David Moyes to come in and put his mark on a squad assembled by his great predecessor, Sir Alex Ferguson – I believe it turned into a circus rather than the funfair that was so often promised. Names such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Cesc Fabregas and Mesut Özil were linked with moves and even Moyes himself openly admitted his pursuit of former Arsenal captain Fabregas. In reality what the red devils ended up with was what seems for all the world to have been an overpriced panic buy of someone that, with all due respect, is not nearly in the same bracket as any of the previously mentioned names in Marouane Fellaini. The one shining light for the former Everton boss is that he managed to show that his authority would not be questioned by keeping hold of Wayne Rooney, a feat that looked very unlikely at the end of the last campaign. I’m sure that many United fans reading this may take the attitude of “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, but what cannot be denied is that whilst United have continued to dominate the Premier League their struggles in Europe have demonstrated the need to develop for some time now, another missed opportunity. And the failure to land a late deal for Fabio Coentrao may display that their pulling power may be on the wane post-Ferguson; A bad window indeed for David Moyes as he tries assert himself.
Newcastle United
Things on Tyneside are very seldom quiet and fans of the North East giants have often begged for the spotlight to be taken off their club but perhaps they should be careful what they wish for! Quiet is not what the magpies needed in the transfer window this summer, it is though, exactly what they got! After a season of strife last time out the Geordie public were in no doubt that quality signings were required should Newcastle have a realistic chance of improvement this time around – what they have got, is nothing more than scandalous. Another farcical appointment made by the board in Joe Kinnear as director of football was followed by Kinnear’s own brags that he could access any player in the world and bring them to St. James’ Park (a claim that was quickly proved to be false), no investment and just the loan signing of Loic Remy means that once again Newcastle United appear to be the laughing stock of England’s Premier division. Another season of struggle looks to be lying in wait for Alan Pardew and his men, once more it is the loyal fans that will ultimately suffer.
Fulham
Some may well be shocked to see Fulham’s name on this list – after all they have added plenty of numbers to the squad. My grumble though, is not what with the quality of player being brought through the door at Craven Cottage but more the age of them. Fulham already have an aging team: John Arne Riise, Damien Duff, Breda Hangeland, Giorgos Karagounis and Dimitar Berbatov are just a few of the names that are in the twilight of their careers and Fulham have proceeded to add yet more players of a similar age to the squad. Scott Parker, Derek Boateng and Maarten Stekelenburg are all 30-years-old or above whilst Darren Bent is 29 and whilst all being quality players in their own right only increase the average age of the squad. It seems that there has been an incredible lack of foresight to Martin Jol’s transfer strategy and at a time which could have seen him bring in younger players that could draw upon the knowledge of those already at the club with proven pedigree it seems he has wasted the opportunity by filling gaps with players that may only have as little as two seasons left in their legs at the top level. It may not seem like an immediate problem as the squad appears to contain some of the top names in the league but in the long-run it could cost new owner Shahid Khan a lot of money to revamp the squad over the next two or three years or face Fulham spiraling downwards quickly.
By Jack Murphy
Follow @J_Murphy91
Image provided by nicholasnova via Flickr