Looking Back Through The Transfer Window

With the transfer window firmly shut, Adam Sharpe takes us through all the in-comings and outgoings of this summers window.
This summers transfer window has seen some interesting twists and turns, with long running sagas, some very shrewd deals and a couple of surprises.


The big stories throughout the window were the Modric & Fabregas sagas, Luka Modric stayed put with an alleged £40 million bid being turned down on deadline day, but Fabregas finally moved back to Barcelona to put an end to a bidding war that has been in the headlines for the past two or three seasons.


A lot has been made about the format of the transfer window such as over inflated prices, and illegal approaches but mainly the fact that it runs into the start of the season and with the usual flurry of deadline day activity it can be quite unsettling to the clubs involved in the deals. Which is why you have to admire Manchester United and how they conducted their business this season, Sir Alex Ferguson identified his targets and secured the deals very quickly which meant that the new squad were available and training together at the earliest opportunity, the signings of Ashley Young and Phil Jones may not have come cheap but the most experienced and decorated Manager in the league knew exactly what his squad needed and the club were willing to pay the fee that would satisfy both clubs involved.

Young has made a huge impact since his move from Aston Villa

Another club with a similar draw is Liverpool who went about their business in almost the same fashion, with a free spending owner in place and ‘King’ Kenny back at the helm after a 20 year absence, Liverpool are still a club most players will not turn down given the opportunity to join, despite their recent failures some exciting signings have put Liverpool firmly back on the Champions League trail and the Merseysiders have started the new season brilliantly.

King Kenny has brought British this summer

Last seasons deal that sent Torres to Chelsea to be replaced by Carroll and Suarez was a master stroke, but to add Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam to the squad have given the team the extra quality they were looking for, Liverpool have possibly paid over the odds for some of their new players but it meant they secured their targets early and were less impacted once the season was underway, however one late arrival was Craig Bellamy who returns to the club and will also add to their strength in depth.



Man City continued to buy throughout the window and improve their already talented squad, we are now seeing the best from previous signings such as David Silva and Edin Dzeko but adding players such as Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri will surely move them up another level. A slightly curious late signing was Owen Hargreaves, assuming he will be fit to play at some point will he be able to slot into the team with such an array of talent at Mancini’s disposal, would it have been a wiser move for the player to find a team that would more likely see him as a regular first teamer?

A you-tube video of Hargreaves in training was enough to convince Mancini to swoop

Man City do appear to have one problem as they have been, and still are to a degree, a free spending club offering large transfer fees and astronomical wages, with the constant addition to the squad it puts the fringe players in a difficult situation, stay and get paid but find something else to do on a Saturday afternoon, or seek a move to another club who would not be able to match even half of the current wage.



Emmanuel Adebayor saw a wage share deal as the answer as he secured a season loan to Spurs, prompting the exit of Peter Crouch to Stoke who joins former Spurs players Jonathan Woodgate and Wilson Palacios at the Britannia Stadium. It appears Spurs were focusing on cutting the wage bill by selling a number of players that have been moving down the pecking order at White Hart Lane, Hutton moving to Villa on a permanent deal with Jenas heading in the same direction but only on loan for now, David Bentley should finally see some first team football with a loan move to West Ham with Scott Parker moving the other way on a permanent deal.

Tottenham snatched England's Scott Parker for just £5 million

Most of these deals happened on a hectic deadline day for Spurs who seemed to leave it too late to negotiate the transfer of Gary Cahill, a deal which will surely be resurrected in January. Daniel Levy’s firm stance on keeping Luka Modric continued to the end, how the player will react on the pitch remains to be seen, January will no doubt see renewed speculation.


There was a rare flurry of activity at Arsenal on the final day of the window, with millions available from sales of key players to spend Arsene Wenger was able to bring in Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun to replace Fabregas and Nasri, but was unable to significantly improve his defence which might prove costly in the matches to come.

A Spaniard for a Spaniard at Arsenal, but is Arteta enough to please the gooners?

A couple of other interesting moves that could prove to be excellent business were Bryan Ruiz to Fulham, and Raul Miereles to Chelsea who is reunited with Andres Villas-Boas, not quite the trophy signing that Modric would have been but a quality buy none the less.


Although the format of the window will likely not change in the near future it will be interesting to see if more clubs try to do less last minute deals, and trying to look for late bargains and follow the example set by Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson must have chuckled from his arm chair watching a worn out Harry Redknapp being interviewed in his car on his way home late on Wednesday night!


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