Transfer window closed - winners and losers?
The Dust has finally settled on the summer transfer window of 2011 and after a frantic final few hours on deadline day, we can now finally look and see who the winners and losers are from the August window.
How It Compares
Last January’s transfer window was arguably a much more entertaining affair. January 31st brought the footballing world to a stand still as we waited to find out if Torres would make his £50 million move to Chelsea and if he did, who would be joining him at Chelsea and replacing him at Liverpool?
This August, however, all we had to look forward to was the is he, isn’t he saga of Everton’s Mikel Arteta as he tried to force a move to Arsenal while Chelsea shocked us with their sly snag of Liverpool midfielder Raul Meireles.
Sky Sports News tried to add more excitement to the evening’s proceedings but when reporter David Craig began to spend more time talking about cups of tea and deals elsewhere then the expected action involving the Black Cats, it became obvious that this deadline day wouldn’t bring about too many massive surprise deals (although the Raul Meireles move to Chelsea caught all off us by surprise).
Despite the lack of last minute spending from the big clubs, August 2011 still saw almost twice the amount of money move between clubs then we did in January 2011. A total of around £468,000,000 drifted between clubs, with Manchester City being the biggest spenders of all as they splashed out an estimated £73 million on new talent, including £35 million for Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Agüero and £24 million on Samir Nasri’s move from Arsenal.
The Winners
With all that money being thrown around by the blue half of Manchester it only seems fitting that they be the first of our winners of the August window.
With massive wages and Champions League football to offer, it may seem too easy for City to attract star players to Eastlands, but at least now they have a squad set for a realistic run at a title and possibly a Champions League, with many saying they now have a squad to match the all conquering Barcelona.
Aguëro and Nasri give City an attacking foursome that few can match, while Gael Clichy, Stefan Savic and Owen Hargreaves (if he can stay fit for five minutes) provide quality depth for a squad that will tire quickly due to the added fixtures that League, Cup and Champions League football will bring.
Liverpool must also be considered as big winners this August for similar reasons. Although they haven’t signed superstars this summer Liverpool have bolstered a squad, that already had realistic ambitions of a top four spot, with players of a similar standard to provide adequate replacements should the Reds be hit by either an injury crisis or suffer from late season fatigue.
Both City and Liverpool were able to finish the majority of their business before the season started, which may have added a little more to the cost of their signings but also has given them the time to settle their new recruits into their squads and let them get a feel for their new club, without rushing them into a starting eleven that their not comfortable in.
It was bold of Liverpool to blow Jordan Henderson for £16 million or City to fork out £35 million for Agüero, but allowing your players, even just a few extra days, to feel at home in their new surroundings is priceless and it certainly has set both these two sides up for great seasons.
The team to make big strides forwarded this August is Queens Park Rangers.
Less than two weeks after Tony Fernandes bought a 66% stake in the London club, the Malaysian businessman is already making good on his promise to invest in QPR and make them a secure, top-flight club once again.
Joey Barton, Kieron Dyer and DJ Campbell have a wealth of Premier League experience between them which could prove invaluable to the Premiership new boys. Jay Bothroyd provides Rangers with improved firepower up front, while the deadline day signings of Shawn Wright Phillips and Anton Ferdinand are will go straight into Neil Warnock’s starting eleven.
Although the figures surrounding some of QPR’s dealings remain undisclosed at this time it is though that the improvements to their squad will have cost under £12 million. WHAT A BARGAIN!!
The Losers
To have winners there must also be losers.
David Moyes at Everton will have been sat today wondering where it all went wrong.
Just two weeks ago Mikel Arteta told BBC Sport that Everton must keep hold of their star players. Obviously he wasn’t including himself in that group as his persistence on deadline day forced Everton to let him go for £10 million to Arsenal leaving Moyes little almost no time to bring in a replacement.
Having also sold Jermaine Beckford to Leicester and Striker Yakubu to Blackburn, Moyes has only been able to bring players in on season long loans, although Royston Drenthe from Real Madrid does give the Merseyside club some hope of avoiding an uphill early season battle.
Arsenal too have also had a rather rough transfer window. Losing Cesc Fabregas and Nasri combined with resounding defeats to Liverpool and Manchester United left many wondering if Wenger should walk away from the north London club.
But the Gunners may have made a mends slightly as they managed to sign five players inside the last 48 hours of the August window.
Time will tell if these five (Yossi Benayoun, Per Mertesacker, Chu Young Park, Mikel Arteta and Andre Santos) can have the immediate expected from both the fans and the manager but should things work out Arsene may well have save his, and Arsenal’s, skin at the last second.
What’s Next?
Others have made steps forward this August and the interesting part of the transfer saga is just around the corner. How will the new boys fit in with their new teammates? Who will flourish in their new surroundings and who will flop into mediocrity? Either way, the real winners and losers will soon be revealed. Just don’t expect it to stay that way for too long.
Remember, the transfer window re-opens on January 1st, in just 122 days
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