Another dramatic transfer window has come to a close with a massive £870 million being spent throughout the summer.
In fact, the Premier League has more than doubled the net spend of the other major leagues in Europe, and nearly quadrupling the Bundesliga’s summer spend.
Big money transfers such as Kevin De Bruyne, Anthony Martial, Pedro, Memphis Depay among others have pushed the total spending in this calendar year over the £1 billion mark for the first time.
Despite their season getting off to a flier, Manchester City didn’t rest on their laurels as they spent a huge £55 million on De Bruyne and landed Raheem Sterling.
Manchester United’s signing of Martial makes him the world’s most expensive teenager, ahead of Luke Shaw, Marquinhos, Anderson, and Wayne Rooney. Three of those names look familiar.
Manchester United were certainly the busiest come deadline day too, with the David De Gea transfer saga, and being linked to every player under the sun.
Teams at the lower end didn’t miss out though, and most of the clubs made some very shrewd signings.
The same can’t quite be said for Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur though.
Keeping all this in mind, here are the real winners and losers of the summer transfer window.
Saido Berahino – Definite loss
He demanded a transfer in the summer, despite seemingly making progress under Tony Pulis.
Rumours never stopped regarding a move away from West Bromwich Albion this summer, but no-one expected what was to come on deadline day.
WBA rejected numerous bids from Tottenham, as they failed to meet their asking price for the young England striker.
However, Berahino’s reaction on Twitter was one that’s only going to make his next three months minimum with the Baggies that bit more awkward. Let’s hope someone meets his asking price in January, for his own sake.
Manchester United – Win
Sergio Romero, Matteo Darmian, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Memphis Depay, Anthony Martial and Morgan Schneiderlin aren’t bad acquisitions at all for Louis van Gaal.
David De Gea is now reportedly set to pen a new deal as well, after that debarcle from Real Madrid.
Although United fans were hoping for a more proven forward than Martial, they can’t be too disappointed with what LVG has managed to bring in this summer.
Darmian is a great improvement to their side at right-back, Depay has bags of potential, and he’s shown glimpses of it so far.
Does anyone need to expand on Schweinsteiger? Schneiderlin bolsters the centre of the park too, which seemed so weak at times last season.
There were cries for another centre back to be brought in, but with three clean sheets from four league games so far, would one really be necessary?
Martial, however, is a gamble. But, the lad’s certainly not going to be a pushover after sides such as Barcelona and Arsenal were rumoured to be interested in him.
It’s a gamble United needed to take. However, £36 million might have been better spent on more proven players. Time will tell.
Arsenal and Spurs – Defeated
Yet another transfer window has gone by where Arsene Wenger promised so much, but delivered so little.
The only player that came in this summer was goalkeeper Petr Cech. Undoubtedly, he’s a great signing for Arsene Wenger’s men, but there were other areas over the pitch which needed improvement.
Arsenal are the only club in the top five European leagues not to sign an outfield player, and with the news that Danny Welbeck is now out for months, fans have been left fuming – understandably so.
Spurs meanwhile did well offloading players that were surplus to requirements.
Paulinho, Lewis Holtby, Roberto Soldado and Aaron Lennon, among others, all left the club. But, they didn’t really bolster their side, bar the signings of Toby Alderweireld and Son Heung-min.
Spurs desperately needed a partner for Harry Kane, which unfortunately didn’t happen. One positive has to be that Daniel Levy didn’t happen to flog Kane, Christian Eriksen, or Hugo Lloris.
Chelsea didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory either, making big money bids for Marquinhos on deadline day and ending up with two players their fans had to google.
Crystal Palace, Sunderland, West Ham United and Aston Villa – Success
All three of these clubs have been busy, and certainly successful to say the least.
Yohan Cabaye is an absolute drop in the ocean for £10 million, particularly with the money that gets thrown around in the Premier League these days.
The free transfer of Bakary Sako too seems an astute one, as he gave the Chelsea full backs a torrid time in one of his opening appearances for Alan Pardew’s men.
And, he’s managed a goal in both appearances for Palace.
West Ham meanwhile conducted some impressive business, and got in some signings who will really add to their squad.
In particular, landing Victor Moses from Chelsea will be huge for the club.
They might be paying £2 million and his wages for the season, but if he performs and helps them push for the top half of the table, it will be worth it tenfold.
Sunderland needed a busy summer of transfers, and three came in the latter stages of the window, and vitally, they seem to have added where they needed to improve.
Ola Toivonen adds some attacking prowess to Sunderland’s midfield, which they were crying out for. Fabio Borini is a fans favourite in the North-East, and he’ll provide options going forward, along with fellow summer-signing, Jeremain Lens.
Yann M’Vila was once heavily linked with Arsenal, and if he keeps his head, he could be a good signing for Dick Advocaat too.
After selling Christian Benteke, it could’ve been all doom and gloom for Villa fans. But, they seem to have spent well.
Scott Sinclair has impressed as of late, Micah Richards has strengthened the back line, along with Jordan Amavi, Tiago Illori, and Joleon Lescott.
Jordan Veretout and Adama Traore also seem to be stellar signings for the club.
