The transfer market in the Premier League made an explosive finish on deadline day as the biggest spenders, Chelsea and Manchester United, splashed the cash on Wesley Fofana and Antony.
Those signings took the league’s spending to over £2bn; an incredible figure at a time when liquidity is in short supply around the world, but this is the biggest domestic competition on the planet and money (sometimes) buys success. But it needs to be spent wisely.
So let’s take a look at the winners and losers, and three teams which have splurged eye watering sums, with a distich whiff of desperation.
Winners
Manchester City
Who can argue that the signing of Erling Braut Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for £51m hasn’t proved to be the deal of the summer, and maybe the century? A pretty wild statement but he’s made a pretty wild start to life in the Premier League. Unlike other recent movers from the Bundesliga to the Premier League, Haaland has simply ripped it up in his first five games, with nine goals including two hat-tricks. He scored his first treble against Crystal Palace last weekend and he was at it again in City’s midweek clash with Nottingham Forest, netting another three in a 6-0 win
Elsewhere Pep Guardiola has strengthened his midfield resource with the £50m capture of Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United and a deadline day signing of Manuel Akanji from Borussia Dortmund.
City are the SBOTOP picks to win the 2022/23 title and the Sky Blues are delighted with their summer business.
Arsenal
The Gunners are currently top of the league with five wins from five and they have recruited two players from Manchester City who have improved Mikel Arteta’s team hugely. Gabriel Jesus has scored three goals and made three assists and looks sharper than ever, while the signing of utility man Okeksandr Zinchenko has given the Gunners more experience and quality in the midfield.
Add the signing of Portuguese winger Fabio Vieira and this was a fine window for Arsenal.
Losers
Leicester City
The Foxes have had a shocking transfer window and their early Premier League 2022 results reflect that all too clearly. They waited until deadline day to bring in a new player in the shape of Reims defender Wout Faes for £15m, that after losing Fofana to Chelsea.
Leicester’s home game against Manchester United on Thursday ended in a defeat to leave the Foxes rock bottom. They could be in trouble.
Bournemouth
One team which will certainly be in the relegation mire is newly promoted Bournemouth who have just sacked manager Scott Parker after a 9-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool. He said his team was ill equipped for Premier League football but it seems that the Cherries owners disagreed with Parker.
He has a point though; the only money paid out over the summer was to buy Marcus Tavernier from Championship club Middlesbrough for £12m, and the Cherries have landed Ryan Fredericks on a free from West Ham.
Desperate Spenders
Chelsea
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has spent massively over the past few weeks, over £270m, on players he hopes Thomas Tuchel can mould into a team of title contenders. The Blues are way short at the moment, and after buying Marc Cucurella for £62m, Raheem Sterling, £50m and Kalidou Koulibaly, £34m, they went a little crazy on deadline day, bringing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang back to London; and 21 year old centre back Fofana from Leicester City for the princely sum of £69.5m.
The Premier League 2022 betting odds reckon the Blues will struggle to make a top four place and that would represent a very poor return on investment.
Nottingham Forest
After a 23 year absence from the top flight Nottingham Forest are desperate to prolong their stay among the elite and they have spent freely in the market, bringing in 21 players; with the most eye catching deals being to outbid West Ham in terms of wags for Jesse Lingard and spending a whopping £42.5m on Morgan Gibbs-White from Wolves.
The 22 year old made two appearances for Wolves in the Premier League last year, spending the season on loan at Championship club Sheffield United. Forest are a point above the drop zone.
Manchester United
It looked like being a disastrous window for Manchester United just over a week ago but Erik Ten Hag has brought in two players late on to try to plug the gaps. Only Chelsea have spent more money than Manchester United in the transfer window and, having bought some very expensive flops in recent seasons the jury is certainly out on whether the Red Devils have learned a lesson. After failing to lure number one target Frenkie de Jong, Casemiro has been brought in to do defensive midfield job, but to spend £70m on a 30 year old who was becoming surplus to requirements at Real Madrid seems a stretch.
So does the money spent on two former Ajax players. The Dutch league is miles away from Premier League standard but Lisandro Martinez arrived at Old Trafford for £57m and Brazilian winger Antony turned up on deadline day for an eye watering £86m.
It might do the business for Ten Hag…only time will tell.
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