Deadline Day Dramas: Analysing the Ins and Outs
It constantly stuns, the fact that these intricately run footy clubs wait until the last minute to get these crucial, sometimes season-defining, transfers done. And here I thought I was lazy waiting to the last night to write up assignments, bloody irresponsible, I’ll tell ya that.
But year after year it’s the same, the fax machines come out of the cupboard and once the cobwebs are cleaned off it’s business time. Then something happens like David De Gea’s Real Madrid deal 12 months ago and you have to wonder why the hell this is how some of the most lucrative deals in modern sports are made. Of course, I’m still of the sneaky opinion that Man United sabotaged that move to keep their star keeper appeased without being the villains. As soon as that deadline flashes into sight, we’re talking wild, wild west out there.
Anyway, a bunch of stuff has happened over the last 24 hours so here’s an attempt to get it into some context. There will be no mention of David Luiz though, that sonovabitch needs his own article all to himself. No idea what was happening there, did someone hack the Chelsea twitter account? Is this a prank? Jeezus, someone help us.
INCOMING MAIL
Moussa Sissoko – Tottenham (from Newcastle)
So he didn’t quite get the Real Madrid move they were touting after the Euros. Not sure if this is a brilliant thing for Spurs or one that they oughta be wary of. That whole flaky Spurs thing may not be aided by bringing in a player who looks a devastating superstar one week with the way he wins the ball and charges forward into attack but then the following week he’ll look entirely bored and wasteful. He didn’t show up for Newcastle last season until it was too late and a cynic may suggest he was playing for a transfer. But then he was brilliant for France in the Euros. Quite the enigma over here, folks.
As was the whole deal. Newcastle didn’t really need to sell him given some of the money they’ve got back from other places (Giorginio Wijnaldum, for example) but they had also prepared for life after him. Meaning they had the luxury of holding out for £30+ like they valued him at. Spurs initially didn’t even come close to that but then Everton got involved and word is they were all but convinced they had him, having met the evaluation. They even booked a medical and a private jet for the lad only for Sissoko not to get on the plane. Elements of the finale of Friends here, Spurs drastically upped their bid at the last moment and Sissoko jumped at the chance for Champions League.
Everton could have used him well a guy to get the ball to the likes of Barkley and Lukaku but Spurs are perhaps more in line with what he offers as a player. Between Eric Dier, Victor Wanyama, Mousa Dembele and Moussa Sissoko (that won’t get confusing for them, will it?), they now have four genuine holding midfielders and three of them can cover other positions as well - I prefer Sissoko at CM where he offers something unique but Pochettino may see him more as a winger given the balance of his unit. That’s handy, given how much their squad looked like a starting XI and others last time. When Dembele didn’t play, they were a considerably weaker team. That should be sorted. Now it’s a matter of figuring out what to do with Harry Kane (hint: play the bugger all the way up front and get Vincent Janssen back in the gym!).
Islam Slimani – Leicester City (from Sporting Lisbon)
£30m they reckon here, so that Ahmed Musa club record didn’t last too long. You know what the other ridiculous thing about deadline day is? It comes three games into the league season. Slimani was apparently Leicester’s number one target all summer and when they finally get him they’ve already started. It’s great spectacle for us but the clubs, well I’m surprised there aren’t more complaints about it all.
Slimani’s a good one though. You can trust Leicester’s scouting department if you can trust anything in football and this year for the first time, with Champions League footy, they can actually get some of their top targets. This dude’s a 28 year old Algerian international, a striker who scored 57 times in 109 games for Sporting – including 31 in 44 games last season. He has Champions League experience too. Not sure where he goes in that starting XI, you’d assume he starts alongside Jamie Vardy – though with the fixture list about to get real and most of these players unused to that, rotation is gonna be a regular thing for the manager once known as the Tinker Man. It has to be. And if Slimani settles in then they shouldn’t lose too much if Vardy doesn’t play.
Jeff Hendrick – Burnley (from Derby County)
The Irish midfielder, who was arguably his national side’s best player at the Euros, has been a target of Sean Dyche for a while now and he definitely is worth the £10.5m club record fee to sign him. Hey, club records are being broken like Hull players these days, nothing to worry about there. Even for Burnley, who top the fee of £8m that they spent on Steven Defour two weeks ago.
Hendrick has been one of the better central mids in the Championship for a couple years and showed at the Euros that he can play at a higher level. He’s a hard worker with a fine eye for an attacking pass who can slide past defenders and muscle up with them as well – all things that can add a positive dimension to Burnley. Injuries are the only thing that’ve held him back in recent seasons. As for that fella Defour, he’s a more silky attacking playmaker. Good dynamic there. Burnley tried to sign Polish winger Kamil Grosicki as well but that collapsed on D-Day.
Alvaro Arbeloa – West Ham (from Real Madrid)
As their website has made a point to note, West Ham have signed a World Cup winner. He didn’t actually play in that final but he did start the 2012 Euros final, which Spain won 4-0 over Italy. Arbeloa is a name familiar to the Premier League after he played 98 total times for Liverpool over three seasons, before returning to Real Madrid where he’d become a regular, playing anywhere across the back four though mostly at fullback after Sergio Ramos moved infield. At 33 years old now, he’d fallen out of favour at Real and left on a free at the culmination of last season having played only nine times in all competitions. He signs on a one year deal with the Hammers.
Arbeloa adds to what’s been a busy window for West Ham, though it hasn’t been the slam dunk set of dealings they made last time. Mostly because of injuries and timing for now, it’ll definitely be interesting to see the likes of Sofiane Feghouli, Andre Ayew and Simone Zaza once they’re good to go. I’d only say I’m excited about Feghouli of that lot, while most of their other move have been for young guys like Ashley Fletcher. Havard Nordtveit and Gokhan Tore have been average so far (give them time before writing them off though) and Arthur Masuaku is mostly cover for Aaron Cresswell. Edmilson Fernandes could be interesting but with all the hit or miss blokes they’re gambling on there, Arbeloa is a welcome proven veteran. He also fits a desperate need at right back where Sam Byram is decent if not world class and Michail Antonio is blatantly out of place. On a single year contract, there’s little risk as well.
Bruno Martins Indi – Stoke City (from Porto, loan)
You’ll remember this joker by his enormous eyes, which he uses to intimidate refs into constantly yellow carding him. Yeah, he should fit in well at Stoke, who needed to find a partner for Ryan Shawcross anyway. Getting one who is also a Dutch international coming into his prime with the experience of starting in a World Cup semi-final is not a bad get, even if it’s only on loan for now. His departure from Porto was made possible with a certain Manchester City defender going the other way, scroll down for that scoop.
It’s funny that a club with the reputation of Stoke would have trouble at the back but the more Mark Hughes has tried to shift them towards being more creative at the other end, the holes have appeared. Marc Wilson had a cheeky dig at their lack of defensive preparation before he left for Bournemouth, so Martins Indi looks a solid get. They conceded ten more goals last season than they did the year before.
Georges-Kévin Nkoudou – Tottenham (from Marseille)
Bloody Daniel Levy, aye? 40 days after Nkoudou completed his medical, they’ve finally sold him. Why the hold up? That’d be because Levy went back and renegotiated the deal. The extended talks almost led to the breakdown of the entire thing and it did lead to the resignation of Paul Mitchell, their head of recruitment. But in the end they got it done for £9.4m, which saves on the 11 mill they were gonna pay initially. Hope it was worth it. In return to OM, Clinton N’Jie heads over on loan.
In effect, Nkoudou replaces N’Jie exactly in the squad situation. He’ll be a winger and depth striker who plays mostly off the bench with the hope that they can develop him like they did Erik Lamela. Spurs had tried to get Wilfried Zaha in from Palace but that fell to pieces when they very typically offered way less than CPY were willing to take. Spurs must be a bitch to deal with, they did the same with Moussa Sissoko there too only to eventually come to terms once Everton pushed them.
As for Nkoudou himself, he rates his chances: “I can’t wait to get to know the Premier League and the English game. It suits my playing style, it’s explosive. Everyone knows I’m fast, I like to dribble around players so the English league is best for me.” He also saw the humour in the drawn out negotiations:
Hal Robson-Kanu – West Bromwich Albion (Unattached)
There were three clubs that desperately needed a striker once the season started. Crystal Palace got Christian Benteke. Stoke got Wilfried Bony. And Crystal Palace got Hal Robson-Kanu. When you put it in that perspective, it’s not exactly a wonderful coup. The Baggies are the kind of team that would be at their best with a target man and here they are with Robson-Kanu, with Saido Berahino who is inexplicably still there – quick strikers who like to run in behind the defence. But, ah, who’s the guy looking to push that ball in for them? They have Darren Fletcher but he plays pretty deep like the rest of their team. Unless they wanna do the Leicester thing and unleash their new Welsh forward from halfway onto long balls over the backline.
Robson-Kanu was really impressive at the Euros, having gambled his future on doing well enough there to get a Premier League contract, hence he left Reading at the end of the season. It worked, though the fit is a little tricky. At least in Tony Pulis he has a Welsh manager, which probably helped. Dunno what Berahino is still doing there though. After his dejected figure on the steps last game, where Pulis told him to warm up and then subbed on Jonathan Leko instead, only for Leko to come off injured within minutes and Berahino to finally get on, you’d have figured that was a final straw in a relationship that’s seen a few of those come and go.
Jason Denayer – Sunderland (from Manchester City, loan)
He should be in the next section really, but I love this. The 21 year old Belgian international has all the tools you want from a centre back. He’s big, even despite his age, and he’s good on the ball. Strong in the air and a positive leader. Commanding. After seasons on loan at Celtic and Galatasaray, he might have been able to get the odd run for City once Mangala left but opted instead to be a regular elsewhere. Fair enough. I’m looking forward to watching him more regularly.
For Sunderland, it caps a lovely Deadline Day after mostly feeding on scraps the rest of the window. Not that the likes of Paddy McNair, Adnan Januzaj and Papy Djilobodji will be duds, but they were unwanted players at their previous clubs and Sunderland needed more. They finally got it by plugging two quality players into their spine. Denayer, but also Gabon international Didier Ndong who is regularly compared to a young Michael Essien. Things were dicey before, now David Moyes can hopefully fashion some kind of structure from what was pre-Allardyce one of the weakest and most bloated squads in recent memory. Seventeenth is still the target but at least that might be achievable now.
Marcos Alonso – Chelsea (from Fiorentina)
You say Chelsea needed another fullback and I agree. So did Antonio Conte, who did the Jurgen Klopp thing by picking up a player from his old league but not from his old team. Alonso is a left back which might allow Cesar Azpilicueta to play on the right a lot more. A central defender wouldn’t have gone astray either… unless they plan to play David Luiz there. Good lord.
Alonso is a former Real Madrid kid, who spent time at Bolton Wanderers as well as a spell on loan at Sunderland. They’ve spent a reported £23m on him as well, it’s all kinda weird from the Blues. They did keep a hold of Cesc Fabregas and a couple other wanted men so there’s that.
OUTGOING PACKAGES
Jack Wilshere – Bournemouth (from Arsenal, loan)
Of all the places you might have guessed Wilshere would be heading after it emerged that the logjam of midfielders who can actually stay fit at Arsenal was too much for him to push through, Bournemouth were possibly the second least likely name being floated around…
Ah but mate, Bournemouth is so perfect. They’re the kind of club in the bottom half of the table that has a number of good attacking and defensive players, several of them picked up in the last few months, but they need a complete midfielder to tie it all together. Wilshere, when fit, can be that dude. He’s of the class that Bournemouth aren’t usually involved in conversations for, so big ups to them for spotting an opportunity. Having said that, there was way more to it with over twenty clubs interested per reports. Footy-wise, Roma and Milan would’ve been the best clubs for him but they were short on cash apparently. Then when you look at the PL teams that took their interest to the next level, Watford and Crystal Palace just aren’t as enticing. Particularly Watford, whose training ground you can almost throw a stone at from Arsenal’s. Bit awkward that’d be. Watters are in a bit of trouble this season, I feel, while Palace are doing the right things in the transfer market (apart from losing Bolasie) but I can’t help but speculate that Alan Pardew’s job may not be there in nine months’ time.
Yet in Bournemouth you have a manager in Eddie Howe who was mentioned in England chatter a few months back and you have a squad that is young and building towards something cool. Wilshere won’t only be a leader on the park, but off it as well. Plus they have Benik Afobe who Wilshere played with in the Arsenal ranks back when and the pair are more or less best friends in the world. He’s godfather to Wilshere’s kid.
As far as Arsenal goes, Wilshere hasn’t played 90 minutes in the Premier League since 2014 and in their position – especially with Mohamed Elneny and Granit Xhaka coming in – they can’t afford to rely on a guy as injury prone as he is. A year away from whatever potions Arsene Wenger uses to constantly injure his players will do him well. Get him back on track and show he can be a key player again. He’ll have another year on his Arsenal deal when he returns and is still only 24. Meanwhile a day earlier (Wenger’s so well organised), the Gunners sorted out transfers for Shkodran Mustafi (superb move) and Lucas Perez (a little unnecessary unless he’s gonna play up top but why not?). Not sure Arsenal fans can have too many complaints there, except that they should have gotten it done a month ago. Mustafi in particular has the potential to forge a top class pairing with Laurent Koscielny.
Joe Hart – Torino (from Manchester City, loan)
It’s pretty cool to see English players playing overseas. It’s not something that happens very often for whatever reason and you get the feeling that playing out of their comfort zone might be a good thing – I’ll stop short of drawing the national team comparison though. Joe Hart was up against it under Guardiola given his feet are strictly for long balls when he plays and Peppy wants more. But then that stylistic element overlooks the fact that over the last 12 months his form just hasn’t been good. I remember floating the idea of whether he should be England’s top dog or not before the Euros but came to the conclusion that he had to be – it would have been too big a decision without a clear replacement, which was the case once Jack Butland was injured. Then he was terrible at the Euros and from there you could say a kick in the arse of his career ain’t a terrible thing.
So massive credit to Hart for choosing a Serie A team. Get out of England and away from the British tabloids, immerse yourself in a team that some reckon are poised for fine things this season. Striker Andrea Belotti will play for Italy one day, count that one as concrete, while defender Arlind Ajeti was a monster for Albania in the Euros. Their one defeat this season came 3-2 away to AC Milan, this move is great on so many levels – not the least being that Joe Hart is only 29. He could play another decade at the top level, there’s no reason to lose ambition now. Good for him.
Mario Balotelli – Nice (from Liverpool)
Most people would have had that moment over the last few months where they saw Balotelli’s name and thought: oh yeah, he still plays for Liverpool. He feels like a relic of a pre-Klopp time, which he is I s’pose. Now he’s off to France on a free transfer which is fine for all involved. Balo still has enormous ability but his attitude over his time at Liverpool suggests he isn’t really about it anymore. Which is why this comment from the Nice president is a little ominous… “We hope that Nice, in a family atmosphere, will help him rediscover his joy for the game.” Good thing it’s only a one year deal.
Liverpool, meanwhile, happily wipe their hands.
Gokhan Inler – Besiktas (from Leicester City)
The other side of the Foxes’ late business was supposed to be a move for Sporting’s midfielder Adrien Silva, ideally for a combined fee but they were told that wasn’t gonna happen. And the Silva thing didn’t happen individually, so their midfield is left just a little bit exposed with that N’Golo Kante sized hole the main issue. Big pressure on Nampalys Mendy now, which is a problem because as Mr Inler will tell you, not every midfielder settles in the Premier League. The Swiss international was bought last season to replace Esteban Cambiasso. He played 13 times (unlucky for some) after a £5m move from Napoli and a year later he’s off to Turkey for £3m.
Eliaquim Mangala – Valencia (from Manchester City, loan)
This one’s a little disappointing. You’ll see a few City names scanning up and down this page but Mangala is one I’d hoped had a future in Manchester. It was only two years ago that MCFC spent £42m to bring him in from Porto and he’s still only 25 years old but here he is on his way to Spain for a year. Maybe it’ll be the year he needs to solidify his game but more likely it’s Pep trying to ease a year off his contract before selling him. Mr Guardiola has a specific idea of what he wants his centre backs to do, so yeah.
Now this fella’s gonna be remembered as a massive flop, which straight sucks. That price-tag was always a cross to bear and he never quite overcame that with some highly inconsistent performances. But remember that while he was abysmal at times, he was also completely commanding at the start of last season playing next to Vincent Kompany. If he’d had a leader next to him more often, rather than a geriatric Martin Demichelis then it could have been different for him. Valencia’s a good destination for him though, Mangala will play for France again. Once John Stones came in at City though, the writing was on the wall for one of those defenders.
Samir Nasri – Sevilla (Manchester City, loan)
Another City fella, one of seven to move on Deadline Day. Funny that it was Pep Guardiola swinging the axe on his inherited squad while at Manchester United Jose Mourinho ended up keeping Marouane Fellaini, Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian, Phil Jones, Memphis Depay and even Bastian Schweinsteiger are all still there. All Jose did, naturally, was sell a bunch of academy graduates. Of ten departures, only Victor Valdes didn’t come through their youth team, although he did play for them. Even including him, the average age of players to leave MUFC this window is 22.5 years old. Granted, half of those were loans and James Wilson, Andreas Pereira and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson should all still have a future there.
But I digress. Samir Nasri was told he was too fat to train with the first team when Pep came in. Credit to him, he got himself into a slimmer shape and even managed to fit not only into his training shirt but onto the bench for their last game. And he was really good against West Brom in his cameo. Some fighting talk about impressing the boss followed, but Pep seems to be a pretty steadfast fellow once his mind is made up. Nasri leaves on loan and although he’s contracted to City until 2019, he’s unlikely to see that through. City have too many attacking mids anyway, something had to give. Great for Sevilla too, who have lost a few key players since winning yet another Europa League. Gregor Krychowiak and Kevin Gameiro chief among them.
Enner Valencia – Everton (from West Ham, loan)
A little odd from the Hammers to let this one go. Diafra Sakho I understood when he was set for West Brom, however that one broke down due to Sakho breaking down and I guess Slaven Bilic wanted to get rid of at least one striker. He has a few of them, from Andy Carroll to the young bloods of Ashley Fletcher, Jonathan Calleri and Toni Martinez, not to mention the big money buys of Zaza and Ayew. So fair enough, perhaps. Sakho will probably leave in January when he’s fit as well.
From the buyer’s perspective, Valencia offers an alternative to Romelu Lukaku – who is still on Merseyside we should point out. That’s something they haven’t often had and while he’s a different kind of player, one that relies on speed rather than power, that’s not a bad thing to have sitting on the bench. Lukaku may still be a Toffee but he was real rusty on the weekend and you never know how his mind’s gonna be. Everton got stiffed for Sissoko which makes this feel like an underwhelming one coming so soon after but they were after a backup striker anyway. This one is an okay choice. Okay, but not especially exciting.
Wilfried Bony – Stoke City (from Manchester City, loan)
The last of our Man City departures, Bony gets himself a pretty mouthwatering move to Stoke where he can get back to playing… no, that’s it. Get back to playing. But it does also help that this Stoke squad have been crying out for a striker who can finish sharply and hold the ball up given some of the playmaking talent that they can surround him with. They had three major weaknesses last season: a defence that was average besides Ryan Shawcross, a midfield that lacked any kind of dynamic approach and no target man striker to anchor their attack. Giannelli Imbula looks to have solved half of that midfield dilemma and Joe Allen perhaps the other half and Wilfried Bony can take care of the striking. As for the defensive hole, that’s covered up the page.
At his best for Swansea, Bony was outstanding but the City fit was always a little square peg round hole and they have many other options. Also, this may be a loan but there’s a £2m fee involved too so not cheap. Still, it was a necessity it Stoke were gonna rise above and I’d argue this is a better deal than Palace getting Benteke (which I’m also fond of).
Also, this: