AuthorBoth Outcats The January transfer window slammed shut last week, its always an interesting window, even if the is hype is overblown. The January window is usually not one for big signings in the EPL with most of the big teams having settled squads. It’s typically a time for teams in trouble to try to boost their squads. As was the case this year, with Hull City bringing in no less than nine players, Crystal Palace trying to buy between 20 to 30 players (if Allardyce is to be believed) and we also had one of those weird swap deals happen. In December last year we discussed the potential areas where EPL teams might try to improve and we thought we would revisit this and assess the outcomes of the window. AFC Bournemouth
Eddie Howe and Bournemouth had a very quiet window which we are surprised by. It appears as though they attempted to bring in Asmir Begovic and Nathan Ake from Chelsea but failed in both. Instead they have brought in a young goalkeeper for the future in Aaron Ramsdale from Sheffield United. We thought that they may go for an attacking option to improve upon the 32 goals scored this season but ultimately it was slow on the south coast. It will be interesting to see if the failure to strengthen will result in the Cherries being dragged into the relegation fight. Signings: Aaron Ramsdale (undisclosed, Sheffield Utd) Arsenal Always the way with Arsenal, looking strong in 2nd with the squad having a lack of injuries, Walcott and Welbeck back to full fitness and then they go an lose to Watford at home and Chelsea away. As we previously said Wenger rarely splurges in January but long-time target Julian Draxler did move this window but to France with PSG rather than the Emirates. Is it a case of Groundhog Day again for them? As we said big clubs doing well tend to avoid spending big in the January window and prefer settled squads but its always seems the lack of strengthening when the going is good at Arsenal is their undoing. Arsenal fans will be frustrated knowing that there’s £85 million sitting in the bank waiting to be spent too. Its 4th again isn’t it. Signings: Cohen Bramall (£40,000 Hednesford Town) Burnley At the time of writing Burnley were in 12th. Fantastic home form from Burnley this season has lifted them into mid table and it’s thoroughly deserved. We thought they may go for a striker, our pick was Scott Hogan (he ultimately did move but to Villa), but Burnley did break the bank this window for an attacking threat in Robbie Brady. The Irishmen is officially their most expensive transfer ever and when firing Brady was easily Norwich’s best player but he can go missing. They have also resigned former player of the year Joey Barton after his ill-fated Rangers move and much will depend on how he affects the current squad. Ashley Westwood appears an astute signing for £5 million and boosts the quality of the squad too. Overall a pretty decent window for Sean Dyche we think and mid table finish really should be the aim. Many would not have predicted that at the beginning of the season. Signings: Joey Barton (unattached), Ashley Westwood (£5m, Aston Villa), Robbie Brady (£13m, Norwich). Chelsea Its all about who Chelsea sold this window more than anything else. Oscar and John Obi Mikel off to China and Bamford finally offloaded for a fee rather than a loan. Chelsea recouped $60million in the window (admittedly $52 of that was Oscar), not bad business to be fair. Plenty of loans going out too, 10 in total, you may not like their methods but Chelsea certainly are the blueprint to deal with FFP rules. Still top of the league at the time of writing and still with the best defence, Conte has done wonders and clearly happy to sit on what hes got until the summer. We certainly can’t blame him with them being 9 points clear at the top. It’s going to be difficult for teams to catch them nd we don’t think anyone will. Chelsea did bring in Kyle Jameson on a free transfer, so expect to see him loaned out to Swindon or somewhere in Holland soon. Signing: Kyle Jameson (Unattached) Crystal Palace Palace is still very much in a relegation fight and historically what gets you out of a relegation dogfight is a good defence. Big Sam has been brought in to prevent relegation, something that he is very good at and he has promptly set about bringing in a few EPL experienced players to do just that. We said before that a move for a full back was a good idea and Palace did certainly that in bringing in Patrick van Aanholt from Sunderland. Not bad, bringing in a quality player and at the same time weakening a relegation rival, although after the 4-0 battering they just received from Sunderland maybe not. The last minute loan signing of Sakho from Liverpool we think is a good signing and on paper Sakho and Scott Dann is a mean central defensive partnership. Two new wingers come in as well; having both Schlupp and Milivojevic putting crosses into the box for Benteke will be key for Palace. Andros Townsend just simply hasn’t clicked for them yet and so bringing in some new wingers might provide the assists for Benteke to feed off. Palace should pull away from the drop zone we think. Signing: Jeffrey Schlupp (£12m, Leicester), Patrick van Aanholt (£14m, Sunderland), Luka Milivojevic (£12.5m, Olympiakos). Mamadou Sakho (Loan, Liverpool). Everton Koeman got his man, Morgan Schneiderlin has come in to provide much needed quality to the squad and elevate some pressure of Idrissa Gueye. We think this might be the signing of the window. Previously we thought some backup to Lukaku was needed too and Everton may have picked up a little gem in Ademola Lookman. The young striker has already scored for Everton and looks the business. Let’s hope the hype train doesn’t ruin another young prospect. Everton also offloaded fringe players like Gibson, Oviedo, Cleverley and amazingly Oumar Niasse. Fair play to Koeman, not a bad window at all for them. Signing: Ademola Lookman (£7.5m, Charlton), Morgan Schneiderlin (£20m, Manchester United), Anton Donkor (loan, Wolfsburg) Hull City At the time of writing Hull had 5 wins from 23 games and so it was also going to be an active window for them. A total of 9 players have been brought in by the new manager Silva, so it will be interesting to see how they bed in. They have certainly brought in quantity and that in some ways thats enough for Hull, they have been running a bare bones squad thanks to injuries for a while now. However, the question is whether players like Oumar Niasse, Lazar Markovic and Alfred N’Diaye, all on loan, will be up for a relegation fight when they will back to their parent clubs come the end of the season. Selling their best player, Robert Snodgrass, to West Ham, is also hard to take. Although plenty of bodies have come through the door it’s a squad that looks destined for the Championship next season. Signings: Markus Henriksen (undisclosed, AZ Alkmaar), Oumar Niasse (loan, Everton), Evandro (undisclosed, Porto), Omar Elabdellaoui (loan, Olympiakos), Lazar Markovic (loan, Liverpool), Andrea Ranocchia (loan, Inter Milan), Alfred N’Diaye (loan, Villarreal) Leicester City It’s an understatement to say the Foxes are having a bad domestic season so far. The news that striker Leonardo Ulloa has stated he feels betrayed by the manager and club and that he won’t play for them again hardly helps. They did get the man they wanted in Wilfred Ndidi but they just can’t seem to stop the rot. They are well and truly in the relegation battle and we are unsure whether a defender from Serie A who has only played 6 games this season will be the answer (Wague). They need a pick me up; the Champions League can’t come soon enough. Are we looking at Champions last season, relegation this season? The way the form is going yes. They really need their big players to get back to form. Signings: Wilfred Ndidi (£15m, Genk), Molla Wague (loan, Udinese) Liverpool We previously said that the fun times were back at Liverpool and they should very much be considered title contenders but the defence is still a concern. Well the start of 2017 has been miserable for them. Only 1 win in 9 is hardly tittle challenger form and pinning hopes on one player coming back from the African Cup of Nations is not a good sign. No signings in this window is not really surprising but out of all the title contenders Liverpool play the hardest style on the body. They have run more kms than any other side, is that coming back to bite them at the moment and would a few extra signings of helped ease the workload? As of writing they are closer to Everton in 7th than Chelsea in 1st but they are still sitting up there and with them not having any more midweek cup games to worry about the pressure on the legs should ease. Signings: None Manchester City We thought that with the issues that have plagued City over the past few months that Pep might be in for a defender in the window. Alas it seems that City were content to stick with what they have this season and rebuild in the summer. Extensive work needs to be done in defence in the summer, we think Pep should have swallowed a little pride and brought Joe Hart back from loan (surely he isn’t as daft as not inserting recall clauses as other managers are?). He did so with Yaya Toure, so why not with a keeper that can at least make a few more saves than the one he currently has between the sticks. We think Hart might even provide a little bit more assurance behind a defence that is wobbly at the best of times. It could prove the difference between which team gets into the top 4 Champions League places. If City don’t manage that then it would be a disaster for Pep and any potential summer recruits. Signings: None Manchester United It was quiet in the red part of Manchester as well. Jose Mourinho appeared to be having a bit of a winter cleanout and a bit of balancing of those FFP books before the summer spend. No players coming in but two players out for large fees that Jose just didn’t fancy (rightly or wrongly). With the public spats with Luke Shaw though we were surprised that a left back wasn’t brought in and Shaw also shipped out. We didn’t expect much in this window but certainly we now expect some big spending in the summer. The question is whether this current squad has enough in it to break into the top 4. It’s the strongest top 6 in EPL history and like with the other Manchester team, not making into that top 4 Champions League places would be a disaster for the potential summer spending spree. Signings: None Middlesbrough We said previously that another target man might be a good option for Middlesbrough and they went out and purchased a player we had recommended for Hull City, Rudy Gestede. Defensively they have been decent, which is key for staying out of the relegation zone. However, goals were needed; they only have 19 this season. Gestede should elevate some pressure of Negredo and the big forward will certainly help provide a focal point for the Boro attack. They also went out a bought Patrick Bamford from Chelsea. Bamfords last good season was for Boro, so both him and the club will be hoping he can rediscover his best form. He has been accused of being lazy so time will tell. If they can all gel and chip in with a few more goals then Boro should be able to pull away from the drop zone. Signings: Mikael Soisalo (undisclosed, Ilves), Rudy Gestede (£6m, Aston Villa), Patrick Bamford (£5.5m, Chelsea), Adlene Guedioura (£4m, Watford) Southampton Whats this, a transfer window where Southampton have not been raided for their best players? Deadline day is full of surprises! We said the key issue for them was keeping their best players and they did so (at least till the summer) and another attacking option was required. The Saints have gone big and brought in Manolo Gabbiadini from Napoli. The Italian international previously had 15 goals in 55 games for Napoli. They have struggled for goals this season but hopefully Gabbiandini can fill the hole left by Pelle in the summer, something they should have addressed then but there you go. Europa league is very much on the cards for Southampton if the striker can hit the ground running. Losing captain Fonte is a big loss but its good to get rid of players that don’t want to play for the club anymore. Signings: Mouez Hassen (loan, Nice), Manolo Gabbiadini (£17m, Napoli) Stoke City Theres no point in denying that Wilfried Bony has been awful this season, hes only had 5 shots on target so far. Think about that for a second! Mark Hughes has attempted to address that by bringing in Saido Berahino from West Brom and it could be a good move for all parties. Berahino had stagnated at West Brom and so this could reinvigorate a career that promised so much. We are kind of perplexed by Bojan leaving on loan though. What it doesn’t address is the defensive fragility of Stoke this season and that will come back to haunt Stoke we think. Stoke will still come 9th though. Signings: Lee Grant (£1.3m, Derby), Saido Berahino (£15m, West Brom) Sunderland The selling of Van Arnholt provided some cash for Moyes to spend and spend it he did. Although we are of the opinion that selling to a relegation rival is poor business. Previously we thought he might go back to Manchester to recruit but we totally forgot that he might nip down to the road to Liverpool instead and raid his other former EPL side. Two signings from Everton have come in and to be honest they won’t set the Sunderland fans hearts racing. Byran Oviedo and Darren Gibson have come in. This is a team that is screaming Championship level at the moment and the free signing of Jolean Lescott doesn’t persuade us from that thought. Signings: Joleon Lescott (unattached), Darron Gibson and Bryan Oviedo (£7.5m, Everton) Swansea City ‘It will be interesting to see how Bob Bradley handles his first transfer window with Swansea’. It reads as being so silly now. Bradley didn’t manage to make it to the January window to attempt to prevent the decline. Paul Clement has come in as only his second managerial job and it’s a big one. He didn’t waste time in bringing in some fresh blood. Martin Olsson and Tom Carroll look decent signings and Jordan Ayew will hopefully provide a little more firepower. They have strengthened the spine of the side; it might actually be enough to keep them up. Well done to the Swans for actually making a swap deal work too. Signings: Luciano Narsingh (£4m, PSV), Martin Olsson (£4m, Norwich), Tom Carroll (£4.5m, Tottenham), Jordan Ayew (£5m + swap deal, Aston Villa) Tottenham Hotspur It was a long shot that Spurs would sign anyone this window, although they were thinking about striker options, with Moussa Dembele from Celtic apparently one such option. Spurs have a strong squad and are up to second in the league at the time of writing and so again it was unlikely that vast sums would be spent. Unlike some of their rivals though, Spurs appear to again only need minor tinkering with the squad in the summer. In hindsight though the money spent of Sissoko at the beginning of the season could have been used now to strengthen where needed. Sticking in the top 4 though should not be beyond this squad. Signings: None Watford Watford have done a Chelsea and loaded out no less than 6 players this window and made a big sale to China. The sale of Odion Ighalo for £20 million to Chinese club Changchun Yatai will have helped balance the books and a cheaper replacement in Mauro Zarate has come in. Zarate has played a few times in this league and will add some flair to the squad. It will be interesting to see how Watford use Tom Cleverley as I don’t think anyone knows what his best position is. Niang comes in from AC Milan and could be quite a coup for Watford; the young striker could provide some real threat for the final months of the season and is quick and powerful. He will be no stranger to Football Manager fans, he is somewhat of a wonderkid on the game. Not the vast sweeping changes that seem to be the norm now at Watford, a bit of stability could really help this team. These signings and the squad they currently have should keep them away from danger. Signings: Mauro Zarate (£1.6m, Fiorentina), Tom Cleverley (loan, Everton), M’Baye Niang (loan, AC Milan) West Bromwich Albion Whats a West Brom transfer window without Tony Pulis signing a central defender! Order is restored even though he left it late to sign Marc Wilson on loan. Wilson will provide adequate cover for the defence. It is in midfield that we indicated West Brom needed some extra help and although Jake Livermore is not of the same quality we thought might come in (we suggested Fabian Delph) he does add something extra to the squad and could be somewhat of a good balance to the likes of defensively minded Darren Fletcher and attack minded Nacer Chadli. The loss of Berahino could be an issue but this West Brom squad is probably the best on paper for a long time and Europa League qualification is very much a possibility. Signings: Jake Livermore (£10m, Hull), Marc Wilson (loan, Bournemouth) West Ham United Well the saga of the winter window is now over; Payet was sold back to Marseille after all. Assurances were made that he would rot in the reserves until the summer but a £25million bid to get rid of a rotten apple was a good decision really. Jose Fonte finally replaces the loss of James Tomkins in the summer and is a good signing, if only as a stop gap. Robert Snodgrass has had a good season so far and has added some goal scoring threat at the very least. We mentioned this on our Twitter feed but since Gold and Sullivan bought the club in 2010 West Ham have brought in 31 different strikers and oddly they still need a quality striker. They should have the enough to ease away from the relegation zone really and Fonte is a good improvement in defence that needed a leader. Signings: Jose Fonte (£8m, Southampton), Nathan Holland (free, Everton), Robert Snodgrass (£10.2m, Hull) That’s it, another window over. How successful do you think your club recruits will do in the final few months of the season? |
AuthorsJust Some Fans Writing About Football. Archives
June 2018
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