It's all relative of course – bigger clubs buy better players but who do you think has had the most progressive transfer window? We have to be, all things considered, delighted with our work. But have we done best? Who is your top 3, bottom 3, most exciting and best 'pound for pound' signing? Here are mine - do you agree? Top 3 1. Tottenham – despite losing their star man Gareth Bale, Spurs have done tremendously well, strengthening throughout the side. Time will tell as to whether Villas Boas can mould undoubtedly brilliant individual talents into a hard-working and effective team, but on paper you have to say they've had a remarkable transfer window. 2. Norwich – an overall outlay of £24.5m (if you include last seasons purchase of Van Wolfswinkel) is unchartered territory for us Canaries but the money has been spent extremely wisely and pound for pound, I think we can be very proud of the improvements made. Fer and Redmond appear to be the stand out signings so far but on what I've seen, every single one makes a difference to our first team. 3. Everton – it originally looked like being a tough window for the Toffees but in the end, the loss of Fellaini was covered by the clever introductions of Lukaku, McCarthy, Barry (very astute signing that one) and most importantly of all, keeping Baines. Losing Fellaini would have been a huge blow last season but I don't think he fits the new plan very well. A few additions from Wigan but I think Martinez has done pretty well. Bottom 3 18. Sunderland – don't get me wrong, one or two signings have really impressed me but some of the outs are bizarre such as Sessegnon. So many odd signings are interspersed with one or two gems, I just don't see how it will work. The manager will be out on his ear by Christmas, mark my words, and whoever takes over will have an almighty fight to sort out this messy and unbalanced squad. 19. Manchester United – ok, they didn't need much but what they did need was a creative midfielder and have done for a while, yet still there is no sign. In my opinion, had Fellaini gone to Arsenal and Ozil gone to United both clubs would have made the correct signing – as it happens, they've got them the wrong way round! They've also unsettled Evra with their unnecessary pursuits of Baines and Coentrao. 20. Newcastle – Joe '****ing' Kinnear. I need say no more. Nothing much to see here... Most exciting signing Has to be Mesut Ozil really. A genuinely world class midfielder playmaker. Not sure he was what Arsenal actually needed - their squad is still paper thin and they've strengthened the only area they were already strong - but who cares? Can't wait to see him play in England. Best 'pound for pound' signing I'm biased, yes, but Leroy Fer at a ridiculously low £4.3m is an absolute steal. If Saturday was anything to go by then he won't be a Norwich player for long but he will make us a large fortune.
Spurs have had a good window, but in doing so they have given serious ammunition to the argument that they were a 'one man team' last season. FIRST CHOICE PLAYERS OUT: Bale (Dempsey??) IN: Lamela Eriksen Chiriches Capoue Soldado Chadli Paulinho
I'd be very interested to know what the Everton medical team spotted in January that ours in July didn't? Unless the F C Twente physio has 'healing hands'? This, from wiki, is still very vague: Unashamedly biased, but he gets my "best value deal of the window" vote
but they were a one man team! ok, its a cliche but without him i think they'd have been below everton and liverpool in the table.
Have to agree with all of the above and considering that Fellaini went for 27.5m, then when Fer goes we can build a new stand and buy a fine replacement for Fer
i think it was an excuse to not sign him. twente were on record as saying he was fine. they just decided not to sign him
good point about fellaini - wasn't his buyout clause £23m? and they let it expire to get him cheaper! man utd really have buggered that deal right up
The term 'panic buy' has been used a couple of times this transfer window, but it definitely applies here!
agree with sunderland and newcastle - the latter look weaker as they have lost perch and a few others what about fulham in the bottom 4 - tarabt, parker & bent amongst some other unknowns? bent will get some goals, but they really could do with some younger quality players in their ageing team
i don't think fellaini was a panic buy - they've wanted him all summer. but there is little doubt they've cocked up this summer
i was very close to putting fulham in the bottom three but i just think the other three have had worse windows. fulham, like sunderland, are another very unbalanced squad, full of talent but there doesn't appear to be a 'team'
Personally i think Man City have had the best 'window' They have assembled a group of very talented players without rocking the boat too much that will get better throughout the season.. I suppose that is the perks of having 100's of millions to spend year on year. They clearly aren't the finished article but I don't think you'll need to look much further than them for the title this season as they easily have the most gifted team & Squad Also, Everton have (potentially) pulled off a masterstroke in flogging Fellaini for big bucks and bringing in quality in McCarthy and (especially) Lukaku and the experience of Barry. I fancy they'll surprise a few teams this season.. also worth a mention is (top of the table) Liverpool who have spent a bit and seem to have turned a corner, i fancy this will be another season of development for them and they'll look to lay some really strong foundations to kick on from next season.
And the delicious irony there is - the amount they ended up overpaying Everton for him as a result is almost exactly what Leroy Fer cost NCFC. Who, on Saturday's performance, wouldn't look at all out of place in a Manchester United shirt
Newcastle, absolutely unreal. Imagine if that was us??? Guess they'll have to make do with Johan "kebab"
the reason man city did not feature in my top 3 is because they have not introduced sufficient cover for vincent kompany - surprising really as its bloody obvious that when he is out, they struggle. liverpool meanwhile have signed a whole host of players, some will come off, others won't. they are still very much in transition, even though they have made a good start. i can;'t see them getting in the top four though they will improve on the last few years.
I get what you're saying, but I still think the nature of it makes it a panic buy. they realised they weren't getting Herrera and splashed an unnecessary extra £4mil.
I'd consider signing Martin Demichelis as suitable cover for Kompany and will probably play alongside him when Kompany returns.. also the likes of Nastasic offer real competition Lescott and Micah Richard will be sufficient cover....
have you watched demichelis recently? he is painfully slow and not even close the the player he was years ago. i think he'll be a weak link if he plays
My understanding was that was the opposite - Everton saw the knee problem as a pretext for demanding a price chip, but Twente caled their bluff. I think the Herrera deals wasn't on the cards at all- sounds like some sort of attempted scam!
