Transfer window round-up

KARACHI:

The transfer window has shut; there will be no more signings this year. Major clubs have spent big once more, with a total record outlay of €1 billion, and the typical frenzy of deadline day gripped the footballing world. New faces have been welcomed and old ones have been shown the door. We now take a look at how the major clubs across Europe’s five biggest leagues fared.

English Premier League

Arsenal spent €108 million to bolster their FA Cup winning squad. Proven players such as Alexis Sanchez, David Ospina and Mathieu Debuchy were brought in after their success at the World Cup. The promising Calum Chambers was signed for a surprise €20 million, and Danny Welbeck comes in from Manchester United to provide cover for and competition to the injured Olivier Giroud.

While the outgoing players – Tomas Vermaelen, Bacary Sagna and Lukasz Fabianski – have been replaced and a formidable attack strengthened further, there is a feeling that Arsenal still lack a tough-tackling defensive midfielder and could also have done with some further cover at centre-back and right-back.

Perhaps the best business in the Premier League has been done by Chelsea, strengthening considerably while also getting good value for their outgoing players. David Luiz was sold to PSG for €50 million, and the likes of Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas, Loic Remy, Didier Drogba and Felipe Luis were signed to address the three biggest problem positions for the Blues last year. Thibaut Courtois is also back from his loan stint at the Vicente Calderon and has overtaken Petr Cech for the Number 1 position.

The Blues have been by far the best side in the league so far and the new signings have slotted in seamlessly, making a mockery of Chelsea’s €10.8 million net outlay.

Liverpool, funded partly by the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona, went on a spending spree that saw them bring in Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Rickie Lambert from Southampton, Lazar Markovic from Benfica, Emre Can from Bayer Leverkusen and also Mario Balotelli from AC Milan.

While the match against Manchester City showed that Liverpool’s new players need some bedding-in time, the one against Tottenham showed that there is definitely life after Suarez for The Reds.

City have surprisingly been understated in their transfer dealings, spending just under €73 million, most of which was spent on Eliaquim Mangala, who was bought for €40 million. Manuel Pellegrini is clearly favouring stability as the other additions — Bacary Sagna, Fernando and Willy Caballero — will expect to be part of a rotational policy. A whole plethora of players, including Jack Rodwell, Javi Garcia and Alvaro Negredo, have been allowed to move on in an attempt to reduce the wage bill.

After their disappointing seventh-place finish last year, Manchester United have spent €207 million this transfer window; the highest by any club. This includes the British record €75 million signing of Champions League winner Angel di Maria; and the €30 million paid for Luke Shaw, making him the most expensive teenager in history. Marcos Rojo comes in to slot into the left side of defence, while Ander Herrera and Daley Blind have also been bought to provide some much-needed quality in midfield. Up front, Radamel Falcao has been brought on a season-long loan with an option to buy despite the presence of Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney.

Experienced defenders Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra all left but have not been replaced adequately. Strikers Javier Hernandez and Welbeck were allowed to leave in order to make room for Falcao and Di Maria.

La Liga

Diego Simeone will be relatively happy that he has managed to keep hold of most of the players that led Atletico Madrid to the title last year. While Courtois, Luis and Costa all left for Stamford Bridge, there were no other major casualties.

To replace the trio, a whole host of players have arrived at the Vicente Calderon. Miguel Ángel Moyà and Jan Oblak will vie for the vacant Number 1 spot, while Guilherme Siqueira comes in from Granada to replace Luis. Raúl Jiménez, Alessio Cerci, Mario Mandzukic and Antoine Griezmann have all been brought in to bolster the attack and soften the blow of Costa’s departure.

Keeping their upcoming transfer ban in mind, Barcelona spent €174.8 million in the transfer window, including Suarez, who was bought for €88 million. The Catalans’ spending was second only to United and addresses the weaknesses that were exposed by Atletico last year.

Marc-André ter Stegen and Claudio Bravo come in to replace the outgoing Victor Valdes and Ivan Rakitic comes in for Cesc Fabregas to provide added pace and urgency, albeit at the cost of the La Masia graduate’s technique and creativity. Carlos Puyol has retired to take a non-playing role for the club and Jeremy Mathieu and Vermaelen come in to partner Gerard Pique at the heart of the defence.

Real Madrid spent €136.4 million and signed the two outstanding players of the World Cup: James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos. Perhaps the league’s best keeper last year, Keylor Navas, was signed after an impressive World Cup with Costa Rica. Hernández’s loan deal was also finalised on deadline day.

However, eyebrows were raised at the players that were allowed to leave, with the club’s talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo, showing his bemusement at the decisions. Madrid’s best player last season, Di Maria, was allowed to leave after Rodriguez’s arrival, along with Xabi Alonso and Diego Lopez. Madrid’s early season form has shown that the latest galactico project is following the same worrying pattern of the previous one and the new signings need to gel immediately in order to address the slide.

Bundesliga

Bayern Munich, who did the domestic double last year, have signed Mehdi Benatia to slot in at centre-back, while Robert Lewandowski’s arrival means that Mandzukic has been shown the exit. Former Liverpool teammates Alonso and Pepe Reina have also been signed. However, the decision to allow the 24-year-old Kroos to leave surprised many, especially considering his age.

Lewandowski was the main casualty for Borussia Dortmund, but Jurgen Klopp has signed Ciro Immobile and Adrián Ramos to fill his considerable boots. Former favourite Shinji Kagawa returns after an underwhelming spell at United, while Sahin’s loan has been converted into a permanent deal.

Serie A

None of the traditional big-spenders of Italy signed any marquee players and the Italian league has suffered another blow this transfer window as Balotelli and Benatia, two of the most talented players in the league, have both left.

While AC Milan failed to use the money generated from Balotelli’s sale – opting to loan Fernando Torres – Roma have been busy in the transfer market and are the only Serie A club to be in the list of top 10 biggest spenders this summer.

League winners Juventus have also neglected to add to an aging squad that has failed to deliver in Europe, but managed to hold onto star midfielders Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba.

Ligue 1

Monaco’s stint as the next big-spending club has come to a premature end as Eric Abidal, Rodriguez and Falcao were all allowed to leave and no marquee players were brought in to replace them.

PSG smashed the transfer record for a defender when they paid €50 million for Luiz but decided against adding any another worldclass player to their already large squad due to Financial Fair Play restrictions.

Top 10 signings of 2014

                                                                       From                          To                          Price

1.          Luis Suarez                 Liverpool                 Barcelona                 $127.8m

2.      James Rodriguez             Monaco                 Real Madrid               $107.4m

3.           David Luiz                   Chelsea                       PSG                        $85m

4.        Alexis Sanchez             Barcelona                   Arsenal                    $59.6m

5.          Diego Costa           Atletico Madrid              Chelsea                    $54.5m

6.        Cesc Fabregas             Barcelona                  Chelsea                    $51.1m

7.           Luke Shaw              Southampton             Man United                 $51.1m

8.        Ander Herrera          Athletic Bilbao            Man United                 $49.4m

9.        Adam Lallana           Southampton               Liverpool                   $42.6m

10.         Toni Kroos            Bayern Munich           Real Madrid                $40.9m

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2014.

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