Here’s What You Might Have Missed from the Transfer Window So Far
If the Euros didn’t quite live up to the hype (few things do these days, we live in a society of hype), they certainly hogged the headlines over the last month. What scraps of space they didn’t inhabit were left for excessive coverage of Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. So a little heads up on the transfer business that’s gone down behind the scenes seems like a good idea right about now, with most teams about to begin their pre-season odysseys.
Where do you start such an undertaking? With the champions, of course. Leicester City are well aware that their squad needs expanding if they’re going to deal with the rigours of Champions League football and while that could mean unbalancing what was a perfectly small and cohesive playing group, it’s a risk they have to take. Luckily they can do so without the expected exodus as to date Jamie Vardy is the only one of their core to have had a concrete bid come his way and he told Arsenal where to shove that. A few older players were released but only Andrej Kramaric has been sold so far. He joins Hoffenheim after spending time on loan in the Bundesliga last time out. That caps a tough spell for the Croatian striker who was their record signing but the Foxes really buried that by breaking that record in getting Ahmed Musa from CSKA Moscow. You’ll remember him for Nigeria at the World Cup or CSKA in European footy. He’s strong, technically good and very quick – able to play on the wing or up front. An ideal Foxes player, really. Ron-Robert Zieler also comes in as a reserve keeper and Luis Hernandez offers cover at CB. Spanish striker Raul Uche Rubio is one for the future after signing a four year deal from Valencia and Nampalys Mendy from Nice is a French midfielder who Claudio Ranieri has worked with before. He’s supposedly of the same cloth as N’Golo Kante and will either be cover or a replacement if he leaves. Given Kante has a £20m release clause, that’s a likely thing.
Arsenal didn’t even bother signing an outfielder last summer window and they still aren’t being all that aggressive with things but Gunners fans who saw Granit Xhaka play for Switzerland at the Euros will be ecstatic. A dominant midfield general who passes the ball as well as anyone and will get stuck in if he needs to. Exactly the player they’ve been begging for since… well, maybe even since Patrick Vieira left. Their one other addition has been young Japanese forward Takuma Asano who, given the players he’s up against, is probably one for the future and League Cup games as much as anything. People forget that Arsene Wenger used to manage in Japan though. Meanwhile Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky and Mathieu Flamini have been given releases as their contracts expired and fair enough too. Arteta has already taken up a coaching role under Pep Guardiola at Man City.
The problem with the Tottenham team is depth and that’s a tricky one to solve. Kevin Wimmer was a great replacement for Jan Vertonghen when he was out but there was nobody to cover Mousa Dembele during his suspension. Same would have gone for Harry Kane if he ever missed a game. Brendan Rodgers tried to solve that same thing with Liverpool a few years ago by stacking his bench with new signings that weren’t good enough to start. These new guys have to be coming in as challengers to the guys you have, and Victor Wanyama is a player that Mauricio Pochettino knows well having signed him for Southampton. Plenty of midfield steel right there and at £11m with only a year left on his Saints deal they got him at value too. Meanwhile Vincent Janssen came in recently for a little bit more, that’s a move that’s been on the cards for a while but the two teams had to figure out an acceptable price. Janssen comes in from AZ Alkmaar as the reigning top scorer and young player of the season in Holland, also making his Dutch international debut a few months back. He’s already scored at Wembley too: in a 2-1 win over England in March. Nothing outgoing for Spurs yet, which will have Ryan Mason sleeping soundly for now.
Which brings us to the main event as far as transfers go. The two Manchester sides found themselves scrapping it out for fourth place last season and each has already responded ferociously. Not in the least being their new managers, Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and Jose Mourinho at Manchester United. Mourinho made a big thing about having four major target areas to improve for his squad while Guardiola is more about bringing the best out of the guys he has… at least for now. Still, he’s added significant improvements in two areas with Ilkay Gundogan coming into their midfield and Nolito a very handy attacking player as well. Oleksandr Zinchenko is a young Ukrainian for the fringes of the first team too. There was also that weird thing with Aaron Mooy who signed from Melbourne City and then was loaned out to Huddersfield, probably with no hope of playing for the City first team and more a sign that they’re helping players at those international feeder clubs to make a career in Europe. Luke Brattan was the same last season and has been loaned back to Melly City. Also out on loan is young English forward Patrick Roberts, a proper talent who’ll be doing his thing for Brendan Rodgers at Celtic this season. There are obviously still a few positions they may want to fill and, like United, they may depend on who they sell first. At least Martin Demichelis isn’t there anymore.
While across town, three of Jose’s targeted four have arrived. The first was Ivory Coast central defender Eric Bailly, the second the inimitable Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the third Henrikh Mkhitaryan of Dortmund. Two big fees and a very expensive free but they’ll probably all pale in comparison to the fourth if he comes through. It’s a not so well-kept secret that Paul Pogba is high on Jose’s radar and centre mid would be the obvious fourth spot to improve. It’s been good decisive work so far though. A commanding defender, a reliable veteran striker with enormous marketing potential and the best player in the Bundesliga last term, one who creates goals from anywhere on the park – though looks to be a right winger for this squad.
What’s more telling is who now gets sold by the two Manchester teams. Pep has given his backing to Joe Hart and Raheem Sterling while Yaya Toure, a player he sold at Barca, also seems to have a place under the Spaniard. Wilfried Bony, Jesus Navas, Aleksandar Kolarov and Gael Clichy should probably be on the phone to their agents. There’s been heaps of chat that Mourinho will sell Juan Mata too but almost entirely on the basis that he sold him at Chelsea. Except that he sold him for well over thirty million pounds then, as a bench player, and Mata has been pretty crucial for this United squad since then. Different squads, plus there’s no indication there was any bad blood there (Mata might be the nicest man in football). Still, the signing of Mkhitaryan and the hints that Wayne Rooney will get the #10 role puts his place in doubt. As well as that, Mourinho will probably want to sell a couple faces of the Louis Van Gaal regime just to distance himself and Daley Blind (as one of Jose’s unwanted ‘utility players’), Bastian Schweinsteiger and Marouane Fellaini are probably on that list. Adnan Januzaj and Marcos Rojo are tough to find a place for also.
Right, so next up is Southampton. They got suckered into thinking it would be an unusually stable off-season only to lose their manager and player of the year in quick succession. Typical Saints though, they were well prepared. Ronald Koeman has been replaced by Frenchman Claude Puel which looks a clever one while Sadio Mane was immediately replaced by the much cheaper Nathan Redmond, a potentially superb bit of business there. Plus they grabbed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Bayern, a 20 year old Danish midfielder who spent the last season on loan at Schalke. He replaces Victor Wanyama. The other dude they’ve lost has been Graziano Pelle, the Italian cashing in on a good Euro 2016 to move to China’s Shandong Luneng. Fine by Southampton, his unreliable finishing and expiring contract meant they were trying to sell him anyway and this way they don’t have to see him move to Chelsea. Charlie Austin was signed in January with a mind to replacing Pelle.
Arguably the best transfer dealers last season were West Ham. A lot of that was through loan deals and typically they’ve grabbed Gokhan Tore from Besiktas on one of those already. There’s nothing dramatic in what they’ve done so far, Sofiane Feghouli (the Algerian winger) on a free looks brilliant, as well could getting Norwegian midfielder Havard Nordtveit also on a free, while Toni Martinez, Domingos Quina and Ashley Fletcher are all young players worth investing in. As far as exits go, getting £10m for James Tomkins is highway robbery for an uncapped 27 year old who is potentially a fourth choice centre back if all are healthy. Key for West Ham is making sure Dimitri Payet is still a Hammer come September.
Moving on to the once-mighty Liverpool, their major move was a six-year contract for Jurgen Klopp. That’s as good as any move any team will make this window. Joel Matip should walk into starting CB which helps fill a massive void and Loris Karius will give Simon Mignolet a good run for his money (and gloves). It’s easy to be sceptical about the Sadio Mane move but best to see what he’s like after a few months under Klopp first. Sad to see them sell a fine young English striker in Jerome Sinclair but also very cool to see him moving to Watford where he’ll get more of a go. A couple other youth players have been released, along with Jose Enrique and Kolo Toure. Oh, and Klopp has told Mario Balotelli that he has no future with the club which is nice. Christian Benteke will surely follow him out as well, what with Crystal Palace sniffing around. A little odd to see Jordon Ibe leaving for Bournemouth too, though fair enough on Ibe’s part. They got a good price for him too. Liverpool doesn’t have the money that the other teams with title pretensions have, and these are not the transfer dealings of a title contender either, so lucky that Klopp believes in training players over buying them.
There was a big drop off from eighth to ninth last season and that’s where Stoke City fit in… Stoke City who have done absolutely nothing other than releasing Steve Sidwell and Peter Odemwingie to date. Moving on then.
Chelsea signed the best manager of the European Championships when they got Antonio Conte. Another hard-driving boss who’ll bring shades of what Mourinho brought to them when they were so good just two years ago, though with a little more loyalty. Getting the best out of the players there is the main thing, which Guus Hiddink went a long way towards solving as interim boss. Look, they still have the bulk of the squad that won the Premier League so comfortably and Conte is a tactical professor. There are a couple positions they might want to get younger in (*cough*, defence) but so far their only move has been to bring in Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi. Seems like a smart enough plan to have some sort of cover for Diego Costa after all. Given that Conte’s been busy ‘til now, we’ll probably see Chelsea ramp up their business now, so expect a couple of Italian defenders and a whole lot of U21 players loaned out to Holland and the Championship. No, but seriously, expect a whole lot of U21 players loaned out to Holland and the Championship.
Shout out to Everton for their ambition at least. Ronald Koeman swapped an objectively better job at Southampton for this one and somehow he has to find a way to keep at least two of the Barkley/Lukaku/Stones trilogy. If they’re going to do that, bringing in some help for them would be a start, although they do have a quality team just to look at the names. Their biggest need was covered when Koeman brought in his old buddy Martin Stekelenburg to play keeper. Bassala Sambou and Chris Renshaw are ones for the future, something Everton do well. If Koeman so desires, he has one of the better youth teams to select from as well, Matty Foulds, Tyias Browning, Brendan Galloway and Conor McAleny all providing a bit of that. You’d figure Everton has a few targets to go after with the new ownership promising to spend, though like a few other teams it may depend on who they sell first and there’s plenty of time left yet.
For Francesco Guidolin at Swansea City, Leroy Fer should bring a bit of experience from QPR and Mike van der Hoorn of Ajax is an exciting deal at this stages too, even if not too much else has happened yet. Forgive the Welsh club if they were a little distracted by their national team (of which Neil Taylor and Ashley Williams were key performers). Also, seeing Lukasz Fabianski and Gylfi Sigurdsson doing so well at the Euros is one thing but for cast-off Eder to score the winning goal in the final wasn’t quite so flash for the Swans. Transfer wise, they’ve loaned a couple guys out to former manager Garry Monk at Leeds, while Swansea did get their hands on young Man Utd fullback Tyler Reid on top of that. It’s mostly a matter of sorting out their strikers now, with Bafetimbi Gomis likely to leave. No worries there but they have to replace him. Could they afford Wilfried Bony back? Nah, probably not.
Jose Mourinho talked about the legacy of Leicester City in his introductory presser and maybe another legacy of Leicester is the desire for players to keep from assuming the grass is greener at other stadiums. Watford hasn’t been too busy but they have managed to tell all suitors for Troy Deeney to stand the hell down, ensuring they’ll keep the important contributors of last season that weren’t on loan from Chelsea. Jerome Sinclair is a good investment, while Christian Kabasele is a Belgian international defender. Isaac Success is a young Nigerian forward with a wonderful name. Solid work there, chaps. Walter Mazzarri will be their manager next season. Getting a former Inter manager is a big deal, probably the Pozzo’s idea to look towards Italy too, though it’s a tragedy for fans of Quique Sanchez Flores and his immaculate style.
If you came here to read about West Brom, good for you. They’ve signed Matt Phillips from QPR and are still playing cat and mouse with Saido Berahino’s agent. There’s no room for anything else while Tony Pulis has the first team out running marathons uphill before breakfast every morning for pre-season.
Naturally the bottom half of the table has been much quieter but that doesn’t translate to the FA Cup finalists over here: Crystal Palace. A big money bid for Batshuayi was beaten by Chelsea and they’ve since turned their focus towards Benteke, which is probably one that will go down to the wire given Liverpool’s desperation to get every penny back for him (as if a bicycle kick goal at Old Trafford was worth nothing!). James Tomkins has come in to add to that very British central defence, a deal that makes more sense given Alan Pardew was a fan from back in his West Ham days when they worked together. Bringing in Steve Mandanda, the backup French keeper, is a much more obviously fine move – and another Marseille player sold to the Premier League, that’s now five in less than two years. Oh, and Pardew made the leap for Andros Townsend and that wicked shot of his for £13m. After how well the former Spurs man did for Newcastle, someone had to. They made most of that money back with Dwight Gayle going the other way too. Getting that striker will be huge for them, they may as well just meet Liverpool’s demands for Benteke already because if he can recapture his Aston Villa form he’s the perfect forward for this team. The other thing is not selling Yannick Bolasie. Curious to see the Eagles being as aggressive as they are with all of this.
Which brings us to another team that’s out there making deals in Bournemouth. Far be it for Eddie Howe’s boys to rest on their laurels with the fabled second season slump on the horizon. Lots of paperwork being filed here. Jordon Ibe is a straight replacement for Matt Ritchie, whose departure was a bit of a shock. The Scot had been one of their best players and he opts to join a relegated Newcastle team. Same goes for Tommy Elphick signing with Aston Villa after playing 14 times last season. Hardly a crucial member of the squad but still. On the incoming side, Mikael Ndjoli and Mark Travers are U21 additions but Lys Mousset should get a run in the first team. He’s a current French U20 international who they’ve plucked from Ligue 2, another example of Bournemouth shaping themselves as a hub for supreme young talent. At least that’s the aim – and it’s a decent investment too for a club without the finances to match most of their rivals. Mousset is 20. Chelsea loanee Nathan Ake is 21 and after playing as a left back for Watford last season he’s being eyed as a midfielder this time. Emerson Hyndman is a 20 year old American who gained a lot of fans at Fulham and signs on a free. Plus Lewis Cook, formerly of Leeds, was named young player of the Championship last time. There’s a very clear strategy coming through here from the Cherries. Six summer signings and the oldest is 21.
Sunderland are another club that hasn’t really done too much. They don’t plan on winning the thing, they just want maybe to avoid relegation a little quicker this time around. So with that, the squad they had last time should be able to do what they’re planning on. They have released Danny Graham, Steven Fletcher and Wes Brown though. Trimming that ‘overpaid veteran’ section of their squad. Jermaine Defoe and John O’Shea are the only men who ought to be sitting in that corner. Sunderland isn’t really anyone’s first choice so expect them to move later in the window.
And we close with the promoted teams: Hull City, Middlesbrough and Burnley. Two of those teams, Hull and Burnley, are not so far removed from the Premier League already and should be able to make fairly solid landings here. Players with the knowledge of this level and the ability to step up to it. There will be areas that need improving but so far each has been relatively quiet. Like, eerily quiet. Burnley will be banking on Andre Gray to supply the goals but they need to replace Joey Barton who’s moved on a free to Rangers. Hull need creativity in the middle by whatever means necessary. As for Middlesbrough, well they’re moving much more smoothly. Aitor Karanka has connections and he’s managed to convince Victor Valdes that Boro are going places. They played the best looking football of any team in the Championship last season (along with Brighton) and this promotion has been a couple years in coming – meaning there are players they're both hungry to succeed and with winning standards. Viktor Fischer from Ajax could be a superb creative midfielder while Bernardo Espinosa joins on a free from Sporting Gijon as a well-regarded central defender. Add in Marten De Roon from Atalanta to anchor the middle and there’s your spine right there. 19 year old Scottish defender Jordan McGhee is also set for a taste of the Premier League on loan from Hearts with an option to buy. Their main problem will be converting the chances with Jordan Rhodes and David Nugent their main strikers for now, each with worries about their ability to fit in at this level. Christian Stuani is even more of a question mark.
Five of the top six transfer fees so far have been paid by Premier League clubs, but the top one belongs to Shanghai SIPG (manager: Sven-Goran Eriksson), who paid roughly £45m for Hulk from Zenit. Other wider-scope stuff worth knowing:
- Mats Hummels and Renato Sanches are joining Bayern Munich
- Miralem Pjanic has swapped Roma for Juventus
- Nico Gaitan has been bought from Benfica by Atletico Madrid
- Breel Embolo has gone from Basel to Schalke
- Samuel Umtiti is now a Barcelona defender, leaving Lyon
- Mohamed Salah, formerly of Chelsea, will now permanently play for Roma
- As will Stephan El Shaarawy and Gerson, with Roma spending that Pjanic cash well
- And Kevin Volland has signed for Bayer Leverkusen from Hoffenheim
- Real Madrid have been conspicuously silent so far…