Players Departed : 7
Players Loaned Out : 7
Total Spent : £49.25million
Total Sold : £3.23million
Net Spend : £46.02million
Surprisingly Newcastle had the second highest net spend in the summer window, behind Man City alone. With 3 signings costing over £10million, Newcastle fans will be hoping that their new men can help turn the club's fortunes around after a disappointing end to last years' campaign. New manager Steve McClaren started the summer by bringing in Giorgio Wijnaldum to the club for a fee of £14.5million and the attacking midfielder showed his worth by scoring a great header on his debut. The Dutch player has been tipped for greatness in recent years due to his creativity and quality of passes in the final third. However something he will clearly have to work on is how well he plays off the ball in dropping deeper to collect the ball and working forward in ball retention. However due to the quality which the Dutchman clearly possesses, this has been a great signing for Newcastle and he will surely be crucial to Newcastle's success in big games. Florian Thauvin and Aleksandar Mitrovic were signed for a fee of £13million each. Thauvin had a big impact in the Capital One Cup win against Northampton and that has really opened Newcastle's fans eyes on how well their new man can play on his day. He's young so he might take a little while to adjust to the pace of the Premier League however when he does adapt, he will be crucial to Newcastle's midfield. Mitrovic however, will need to cut out the amount of silly fouls he's made after getting booked within 5 minutes of coming off the bench in his first 2 games and then picking up a red card against Arsenal will not be acceptable at Newcastle. Fans love to see players work hard to win the ball back however they don't want to see their side reduced to 10 men often so Mitrovic just needs to find a balance between trying to win the ball back and just going in for reckless challenges. If he finds that balance then hopefully he will be a star for Newcastle as long as he can produce the quality of goals that got him this transfer. Mbemba could be the best bit of business from Newcastle this summer as it will strengthen up the department in which they are weakest, their defence. They were so poor defensively for most of last year and the partnership of Coloccini and Williamson just wasn't working and already Mbemba looks to have improved the central defence. It seems to have improved Coloccini's game as well and they could form a great partnership and help Newcastle to a comfortable position this year. Their final purchase was a bit of surprise as they bought in Ivan Toney from Northampton for a fee of £250,000. They 19 year old striker impressed for Northampton last year getting 10 goals in all competitions. I wouldn't expect him to feature in the league this year and he'll probably go back out on loan in order to gain experience. Their loans out are all understandable and I think you'll see Adam Armstrong in the first team next year if he continues to play as well as he has in the start of this campaign. The Jonas Gutierrez story was one that pleased football fans everywhere, he survived testicular cancer, got dropped from the team, brought back in and scored the winner on the final day of the season to keep Newcastle up. He was never technically the greatest footballer and Newcastle fans would admit that however he was a fighter and you could see his passion for the club when he celebrated that goal. Therefore releasing him in my opinion was not the right thing to do and I was gutted personally to see him leave and hopefully he has success at new club Deportivo. Overall, Newcastle have done some good business and have acquired some quality players and hopefully this will see them have better success this year and help them battle for a top half finish.
Woody's Rating - 7/10
Norwich City
Players Loaned In : 3
Players Departed : 3
Players Loaned Out : 7
Total Spent : £10million
Total Sold : £0.1million
Total Net Spend : £9.9million
Norwich City return the Premier League with the youngest manager this season and Alex Neil looks as though he's more than capable of coping with the pressures of managing a Premier League club. They haven't been too active in the window which is probably a good thing as it shows the players that he trusts in their ability to keep the club in the league. £7million signing Robbie Brady is the stand out acquisition for Norwich as he was arguably Hull's stand out player last season. Left-back Brady has improved his defensive game and going forward, he can be one of the hardest players to defend against and his crosses are very threatening to defences which will help bolster Norwich's attacking options. Dorrans and Mulumbu were bought in for a combined £3million and they were signed to strengthen Norwich's midfield. They both have a lot of premier league experience therefore could could be pivotal in helping Norwich's younger players in adjusting to the Premier League. They are not the best technical players however they are strong, no nonsense players who have proved over the years that their best ability is breaking up play and then picking the pass to the creative players and hopefully they can do a good job for Norwich City. Keeper Jake Kean has been brought in on a free transfer and I think we'll only see him feature in the cup competitions rather than the league but I do believe that right now he is being tutored by John Ruddy who will help improve his game in order to take over from John effectively if he gets injured. Loaning in Matt Jarvis and Andre Wisdom in particular was very good business as Jarvis is a proven Premier League quality player and on his day, he can be unstoppable and he's already proved what he can do with a goal against Bournemouth on Saturday. Wisdom is improving in the Premier League and he had a good year at West Brom last year and moving to Norwich will be very good for him as he will be in the first team very often therefore he can develop more. Mbokani will be more of a back up in my opinion and if he makes good of opportunities off the bench then maybe he will help Norwich in staying up. The departures from the club are understandable and I think the two loanees you need to look out for are Jacob and Josh Murphy and I do believe that they'll be two stars for the future that will come into the team within the next few years. Overall, Alex Neil has done a good job in my opinion during the summer window by not being drawn into buying a whole new starting XI and he clearly trusts in his players to keep them in the league this year.
Woody's Rating - 8/10
Southampton
Players Loaned In : 2
Players Departed : 9
Players Loaned Out : 3
Total Spent : £36.7million
Total Sold : £37.5million
Total Net Spend : -£0.8million
Next we discuss Southampton, who were the only team to make a profit during this window. I feel sorry for the fans as yet again they've seen some of their best players leave the club for the second year in succession and hopefully they can cope despite suffering these losses. They've strengthened the midfield with the addition of Clasie and Romeu for £8million and £5million respectively. Clasie is someone I believe Koeman would have looked at in great detail due to them both being Dutch. I wouldn't expect to see him contribute in the goals department too much as he's only notched up 10 goals in 188 games in his career however he's been labelled as the 'Dutch Xavi' therefore giving the impression that he'll be instrumental to the style of play that Koeman expects to see from his side. Oriol Romeu is a different type of midfielder, he's similar to Francis Coquelin as he looks to break up play and play the ball forward to his fellow midfielders. Both of these will help fill the gap left by the departure of Schneiderlin and although they don't have the quality of the Frenchman as of yet, they will surely improve as they get older. To solve defensive problems, Van Dijk, Caulker and Cedric have been brought in. Virgil Van Dijk is what you can describe as a modern defender, he looks better going forward at times then at actually defending. He's a free-kick specialist so if Southampton get a free-kick on the edge of the box, odds are that Van Dijk will smash it in. Caulker is more traditional, good in the air, strong and looks to get the ball clear before all else and his sense of urgency when defending could be crucial to keeping Southampton clean sheets this year. Cedric has been brought in with a very difficult task, replacing Nathaniel Clyne. He doesn't look as good at defending as Clyne did however going forward they are very similar and I think the Saints will benefit from this purchase. If he works on the defensive side of his game then he could become invaluable to Southampton. Cuco Martina is another right-back who could help fill the gap left by Clyne's departure however I think he'll be more of a backup player and will feature more if Cedric picks up an injury. Juanmi was acquired for £5million from Malaga and is an interesting purchase as he only managed 8 goals in 35 appearances last year however Koeman must clearly see potential in the young man and will hope to improve the forward as he gets older. Finally they loaned in keeper Stekelenburg from Fulham as he is there to fill in the injured Fraser Forster. Southampton had suffered in recent years in losing their best players and this year proved to be no different as they lost Clyne to Liverpool and Schneiderlin to Man United for £12.5million and £25million respectively. They do make a lot of money from these two players however their aren't many top quality players like these two that will drop down out of the Champions League clubs. Overall, it's yet another hard transfer window for Southampton fans as they've seen two more top quality players leave the club however with the young players they've brought in, it looks like Koeman is planning for the future.
Woody's Rating - 7/10
Stoke City
Players Loaned In : 1
Players Departed : 7
Total Spent : £21.1million
Total Sold : £18million
Total Net Spend : £3.1million
Mark Hughes has done an excellent job this year in bringing in the players he has and this is shown by the fact that Stoke City now have 5 Champions League winners in their squad, 2 of which arrived in this window. We start with one of these, Xherdan Shaqiri in a move that shocked me as well as many others. He's played with some of the best players in the world at Inter Milan and Bayern Munich and won the Champions League with the latter, therefore his experience will be invaluable. £12million for a player like Shaqiri is a steal and hopefully he will lead Stoke to their best ever finish as on his day, he is unplayable. He'll be instrumental to Stoke's style of play of running down the wing and crossing it in to players like Crouch will be easy for a player with the quality of Xherdan to perform week in and week out and don't be surprised if he tops the assists chart and reaches double figures on the goal scoring front also. Ibrahim Afellay was the other Champions League winner to join the club this summer and the most surprising thing about this transfer is that Barcelona gave him to Stoke on a free transfer. He's a flamboyant winger who possesses all the tricks and dribbling capabilities which you would expect from a Barcelona youngster and if he can develop his game further at Stoke, he can be one of the best players the Premier League has seen. Glen Johnson, Shay Given and Sergio Molina on a free transfer. The first two are vastly experienced and have been brought in order to help players like Molina and Afellay adapt to life in the Premier League. Molina comes from Real Madrid so you know he's clearly got the ability to go far in the game therefore could prove to be a great signing for The Potters. £9.1million was spent in bringing in Joselu, Wollscheid and Haugaard in to the club. Joselu has been brought in to help out with the goalscoring but is more likely to come off the bench rather than starting. Wollscheid has been brought in to replace Robert Huth and I think it's a good signing as at only 24, he has played against some top quality players in the Bundesliga so should be prepared for the threat of players in the Premier League. Finally Haugaard may just be a back up keeper and I don't see him replacing Butland in the league. Blackpool youngsters Waddington and Telford have joined the Premier League clubs but I expect to see them feature in the reserves as they continue their development. They lost Asmir Begovic to Chelsea however Jack Butland has started to play phenomenal in between the sticks however the departure of Steven N'Zonzi has hurt them. It's left the back four exposed and without a replacement in the CDM department, Stoke may be overwhelmed on the defensive front. Overall, Stoke seem to be building a real footballing squad and the days of aerial and set piece threats seem to be going and they seem to be adapting to a more technical style of play and I think it'll take a little time for them to adapt therefore it is understandable to see Stoke near the bottom at this point in time however, once the transitional period is over, I would expect to see them rise to a mid-table finish.
Woody's rating - 8/10
Sunderland
Players Loaned In : 3
Players Departed : 3
Players Loaned Out : 3
Total Spent : £31.45million
Total Sold : £9million
Total Net Spend : £22.45million
Sunderland will be hoping to change their fortunes this year and stay mid-table however after a slow start to the Premier League yet again for Sunderland, it could be another relegation fight. The majority of their money was spent bolstering their attacking options with the purchases of Jeremain Lens and Fabio Borini for £12.5million and £9.75million respectively. Lens has shown already what he can do with his pace and skills being showcased to the Sunderland fans on a few occasions. The Sunderland fans know what they're getting with Fabio Borini as he notched up 10 goals in 40 appearances 2 years ago so fans will be hoping they will get more of the same. The other 4 signings are all defenders costing a combined £9.2million, these are: Centre-backs, Kaboul, Coates and Vergini and left-back Matthews from Celtic. This is in the hope that Sunderland won't leak in as many goals as they have in recent years. Kaboul and Matthews will be key in defence this year as they are both quality players on their day and I feel like Kaboul is that leading figure which Sunderland have been missing. Matthews proved his worth in his consistency at Celtic and Sunderland fans will be hoping he can rediscover this kind of form at their club. On the contrary, I think Vergini and Coates aren't great signings as they are fairly inconsistent and can be dodgy defenders on their day so I don't think they are great signings. Yedlin, Toivonen and M'Vila have been brought in on loan and all of them could get into the first team. M'Vila is a similar player to Kouyate for West Ham in the position they play and the way they can be unstoppable when they drive forward and I'd expect to see him take Cattermole's place in the side as the Englishman has had a shocking start to the year. Selling Wickham is not ideal for Sunderland as he can score goals when he's playing well however I'm sure the young striker would have like to play for another club as he aims to further his development. Other than that the other departures and loans are understandable, especially Giaccherini who failed to live up to expectations. Overall, Sunderland have signed some solid players however on the pitch, performances are yet again not being achieved and it looks like history will repeat itself yet again at Sunderland where it will take their manager to lose his job and for the threat of relegation to sink in for their players to try again but hopefully I'm wrong.
Woody's rating - 6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment