Winners and Losers from the Transfer Window

The Transfer Window for the Premier League was shut last night. The league campaign starts this weekend with the first game being tonight when Manchester United face Leicester City. There was little time for teams to do their business with the World Cup and the transfer window closing early. While some teams managed to make smart signings or getting things done early, some teams struggled with their dealings and will have to wait for the winter window in January. Here are the Winners and Losers from the Transfer Window in the Premier League.

Winners: Liverpool

Liverpool have made some smart signings this summer that has improved their squad in terms of quality and depth. Naby Keita finally joined the club after the deal was done last year but stayed at Leipzig for another season. They beat Manchester United to signing Brazilian midfielder Fabinho from AS Monaco for £40 million as well as Chelsea in signing Alisson from AS Roma for £67 million. Xherdan Shaqiri adds depth to Liverpool’s attack costing them just £13 million to sign the Swiss winger from Stoke City. Despite not being to land Nabil Fekir from Lyon, Liverpool have addressed the areas that needed to be sorted and didn’t have the pressure to make any last minute signings.

Losers: Manchester United

Poor Jose Mourinho. This is a transfer window that he and Manchester United did not want at all. Signing just Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk and Diogo Dalot from FC Porto with Lee Grant joining as backup, United were unsuccessful in their key targets. United were in need of a centre-back, left-back and a winger to improve their squad with Pogba and Lukaku likely to miss the start of the season following the World Cup campaign for their countries. Heavily linked to the likes of Toby Alderweireld, Alex Sandro, Harry Maguire, Gareth Bale, Jerome Boateng, Ivan Perisic among others, United could not get one target over the line with Mourinho at odds with United’s Chief Executive Ed Woodward. With no addition of quality and Mourinho not feeling confident on his squad before the season, a disaster could implode at Old Trafford this season.

Winners: Chelsea

Maurizio Sarri joined Chelsea late into pre-season and had a challenge already on his hands. The Blues were successful in beating Manchester City to sign midfielder Jorginho from Napoli after Sarri was appointed but lost goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois as he left for Real Madrid for £35 million. The Blues managed to sign Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to replace Courtois after missing out on Alisson and Jordan Pickford and managed to keep hold of Eden Hazard and N’golo Kante as they have been linked to move away from Stamford Bridge whilst getting Mateo Kovacic on loan from Real Madrid. Managing to keep hold of their star players, Sarri can have a sigh of relief coming to the season.

Losers: Tottenham

Tottenham become the first club since the transfer window was introduced in 2003 to not make single signing during the summer transfer window which is in contrast to Pochettino comments back in May saying that Spurs need to spend in order to reach that next level. The only positive from Spurs will be getting Pochettino and Harry Kane in signing new contracts. Spurs have a talented young squad but have little quality in depth to make-up. They unsuccessfully tried to land Wilfried Zaha and Jack Grealish with no further targets. This will be a huge gamble for Spurs with their rivals making signings, the added pressure of the Champions League and many of their star players returning late.

Winners: Everton

Everton made a number of signings to cap off another spending spree from the Toffees. They signed Richarlison from Watford for £50 million and Lucas Digne from Barcelona for £20 million. However, they saved the last for deadline day. They went to Barcelona again to land Andre Gomes and Yerry Mina on loan as well as signing winger Bernard on a free transfer which is great given his quality and experience. Marco Silva now has a stronger Everton to that of last season as The Toffees are trying to make a point from last season’s transfer window which brought little results on the pitch.

Losers: Newcastle

Rafa Benitez managed to take a very average Newcastle to a high 10th place finish which is a big achievement considering the expectations from Newcastle last season. However, owner Mark Ashley has given little to no funds to support Benitez making the new season difficult for the Spaniard in making another miracle. They signed defender Federico Fernandez from Swansea plus the additions of Ki Yeung-Sung and Yoshinori Muto. Missing out on Danny Ings, Newcastle haven’t any big name signing which will leave Benitez and the Newcastle fans frustrated with Mike Ashley which increases the possibility of Benitez working out during the season.

Winners: Fulham

Fulham has finally reached the promise of the Premier League after 4 years in the Championship. They managed to keep hold of their prized asset Ryan Sessengon and added some quality into their squad for the upcoming season. They spent over £100 million in transfers becoming the first team to spend that volume of money getting promoted from the Championship. Jean Michael-Seri is their biggest signing with £27 million for the Ivorian and enjoyed a good deadline day signing Luciano Vietto on loan, Timothy Fosu-Mensah from Manchester United, Sergio Rico on loan and Calum Chambers on loan. They added a lot more bodies in their squad which will be crucial in their chances for survival.