ARSENALWow! Just one big wow! Maybe (just maybe) in a few years time, somebody will give credit to the sporting director Edu, but for now, the Gunners have managed to unite fans and sport pundits around the world – this was not a good transfer window! After the worst finish in the Premier League in the last 25 years, this was the opportunity for Edu and coach Mikel Arteta to put things right. Owner Kroneke provided the cash, but the general feeling about the players bought was…meh.To put the long story short: players are not good enough to get Arsenal out of the mess. 22 billion Ksh was spent on unfinished and unproven players, and pundits agree that the Gunners just can’t attract top players anymore. Out of the incoming crop of players, Martin Odegaard is the most “famous” name, and he is basically just a kid who came from Real, but only played one season in La Liga, as he was always on loans. Just as Edu secured a long term contract for the local (and talented) kid Emile Smith-Rowe, the Brazilian paid 4.5 billion for Odegaard, who plays the same position.7.5 billion was spent on an unproven Ben White, who has only one year of Premiership football under his belt. It was maybe wise to get a more proven defender to patch up the whole in defense, but they opted for future. White could be the next England defender for decades to come…or maybe not. In the last hours of transfer window they added Takehiro Tomiyasu from Bologna for 3 billion. Again, a talented but unproven player, who is yet to kick the ball in the Premier League. At some point during the last season, Arteta decided that Leno needs a real competition. So, the Gunners splashed 3.6 billion on Aaron Ramsdale from Sheffield United. Will he be the answer? If he is, Leno will be sold in January, if not, they have too expensive keeper on the bench. Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares were bought for the future.The best teams are usually a good blend of youth and experience, and current Arsenal team has a rookie coach, and a bunch of young and unexperienced players. If you look for experience in this team, look no futher than captain Granit Xhaka, but should the kids follow his example? As we said at the beginning, maybe these young players will turn out to be what Arteta and Edu are expecting them to be, but will they still be there to witness it?IN: Ben White (Brighton), Martin Odegaard (Real Madrid), Aaron Ramsdale (Sheffield United), Albert Sambi Lokonga (Anderlecht) , Nuno Tavares (Benfica), Mika Biereth (Fulham), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Bologna)OUT: Joe Willock (Newcastle United), David Luiz (released), Konstantinos Mavropanos (Stuttgart, loan), William Saliba (Marseille, loan), Matteo Guendouzi (Marseille, loan), Lucas Torreira (Fiorentina, loan), Zech Medley (KV Oostende, undisclosed), Willian (released), Mark McGuiness (Cardiff, undisclosed), Daniel Oyegoke (Brentford, undisclosed, Trae Coyle (FC Lausanne Sport, undisclosed), Daniel Ballard (Millwall, loan), Jordi Osei-Tutu (Nottingham Forest, loan), Ben Sheaf (Coventry, undisclosed), Matt Smith (Doncaster, loan), Tyreece John-Jules (Blackpool, loan), Harry Clarke (Ross County, loan), Miguel Azeez (Portsmouth, loan), Nikolaj Moller (Vitoria Koln, loan), Tolaji Bola (Rotherham, loan), Deyan Iliev (SKF Sered, loan), Levi Laing (released), Joseph Olowu (released), Luke Plange (released), Jason Sraha (released), Reiss Nelson (Feyenoord, loan), Alex Runarsson (OH Leuven, loan) Hector Bellerin (Real Betis, loan).CHELSEALet’s start with this unbelieveable fack – Super wealthy Chelsea finished the transfer window in plus. Sure, they paid a staggering 15 billion Ksh for Romelu Lukaku, but that was their only major coup. Bettinelli arrived for free and Saul is on loan, and his transfer fee will be paid in 2022. The combined free for sold players is bigger (20 billion), so the Blues can feel good about themselves. They just added two great players to a team which already won the Champions League.Saul was bought on a true deadline (23:59) and will be an excellent addition to the already crowded midfield, but don’t forget that Chelsea will push in all four competitions this season, and they need bodies. Their true and only need this summer was proven goalscorer, and Lukaku is as good as they come. Everybody are happy: Lukaku for coming back to the club he supported as a boy and getting the chance to be better than the first time he signed, Chelsea for getting a true goalscorer, fans for not having to watch Werner and Havertz make sensational misses and Inter, who earned three times more on Lukaku. The only miss was the proper defender, but after Seville raised their demands and wanted to squeese out 10 billion for Jules Kounde, Chelsea decided that the youngster Trevoh Chalobah should be given a chance. Maybe they wouldn’t let Zouma go to West Ham, if they knew that Kounde deal will not happen, but still, this is a Champions and Premier League contender anyway.IN: Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan), Marcus Bettinelli (Fulham), Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid)OUT: Tammy Abraham (Roma), Kurt Zouma (West Ham), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Davide Zappacosta (Atalanta), Tino Livramento (Southampton), Victor Moses (Spartak Moscow), Lewis Bate (Leeds United), Myles Peart-Harris (Brentford), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), Izzy Brown (Preston North End), Marco van Ginkel (PSV Eindhoven), Willy Caballero (released), Baba Rahman (Reading, loan), Emerson Palmieri (Lyon, loan), Tiemoue Bakayoko (AC Milan, loan), Danny Drinkwater (Reading, loan), Michy Batshuayi (Besiktas loan), Billy Gilmour (Norwich City, loan), Conor Gallagher (Crystal Palace, loan), Kenedy (Flamengo, loan), Dujon Sterling (Blackpool, loan), Ian Maatsen (Charlton Athletic, loan), Armando Broja (Southampton, loan), Jake Clarke-Salter (Coventry City, loan), Ian Maatsen (Coventry City, loan), Ike Ugbo (Genk, undisclosed), Jamal Blackman (released), Pierre Ekwah Elimby (West Ham, undisclosed), Levi Colwill (Huddersfield, loan), Nathan Baxter (Hull City, loan), Charlie Wiggett (Newcastle, undisclosed), Juan Castillo (Birmingham, undisclosed), Dynel Simeu (Southampton, undisclosed), Ethan Ampadu (Venezia, loan)LIVERPOOLIbrahima Konate. That is the only signing for the 2020 Premier League and 2019 Champions League winners. But, it’s not a necessary bad piece of business. Liverpool have a good and competitive squad, and the only problem last season was the enormous ammount of injuries. This season, they are all back, so that is basically the biggest reinforcement for the Reds.The main goal this offseason was to renew first team players, as Liverpool had a total of 12(!) players with only two years left on their contracts, Salah, Mane, Firmino included. Some of those players were sold (Shaqiri), some were extended (Henderson, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harvey Elliot), and others are waiting in line do to so. It was believed that Wijnaldum’s departure (he was not offered a contract extension) would be compensated, but it seems that Naby Keita is live and well, and can cover the position.IN: Ibrahima Konate (RB Leipzig, £36m)OUT: Harry Wilson (Fulham), Marko Grujic (Porto), Xherdan Shaqiri (Lyon), Kamil Grabara (Copenhagen), Georginio Wijnaldum (PSG, free), Joe Hardy (Accrington Stanley, free), Ben Davies (Sheffield United, loan), Sepp van den Berg (Preston, loan), Adam Lewis (Livingston, loan), Leighton Clarkson (Blackburn, loan), Paul Glatzel (Tranmere, loan) , Ben Woodburn (Hearts, loan), Jakub Ojrzynski (Caernarfon Town, loan), Kamil Grabara (Copenhagen, undisclosed), Liam Millar (Basel, undisclosed), Taiwo Awoniyi (Union Berlin, undisclosed), Liam Coyle (released), Joe Hardy (released), Abdi Sharif (released), Jack Walls (released), Rhys Williams (Swansea, loan), Sheyi Ojo (Millwall, loan) MANCHESTER CITYAnother team with only one true signing, but the most expensive one in the history of the Premier League (15 billion) – Jack Grealish. Kayku and Metinho (both from Fluminense), are the ones for the future, but the Citizens cannot be satisfied with this transfer window. Sure, Grealish is an excellent player, but he comes into a very crowded place, with some other excellent midfielders (Mahrez, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Silva), and the main taget has not been found. The Citizens, like Chelsea, had to bring in a proper striker, and while the Blues scored a winner with Lukaku, Pep Guardiola failed.Maybe it would have been wiser to buy Harry Kane first, and then tried to get Grealish, but after spending 15 billion on him first, they just couldn’t find the money for Daniel Levy’s big demands. Spurs supremo rejected 19.5 billion for his captain and in the end, City was defeated. The failed episode with Cristiano Ronaldo was never really a serious option, as Pep was less than thrilled when speaking to the Portuguese over the phone. Now they are back where they started – with midfielders scoring goals. It worked fine last season (Premier League title and Champions League final), but can they repeat that two years in a row?IN: Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Kayky (Fluminense), Scott Carson (Derby, free), Metinho (Fluminense)OUT: Angelino (RB Leipzig), Lukas Nmecha (Wolfsburg), Jack Harrison (Leeds, undisclosed), Sergio Aguero (Barcelona, free), Eric Garcia (Barcelona, free), Joe Hodge (Wolves, undisclosed), Adrian Bernabe (Parma, free), Felix Nmecha (Wolfsburg, free), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Anderlecht, loan), Ben Knight (Crewe Alexandra, loan), Morgan Rogers (Bournemouth, loan), Louie Moulden (Wolves, free), James Strafford (Accrington, loan), Gavin Bazunu (Portsmouth, loan), Lewis Fiorini (Lincoln, loan), Callum Doyle (Sunderland, loan),Yan Couto (Braga, loan), Morgan Rogers (AFC Bournemouth, loan), Tommy Doyle (Hamburg, loan), Claudio Gomes (Barnsley, loan), Philippe Sandler (Troyes, loan), Patrick Roberts (Troyes, loan)MANCHESTER UNITEDEven the greatest pessimist among the United faithfuls are taking about the Premier League title now. The transfer window for the Red Devils has been just short of brilliant. They finally managed to buy their long time target Jadon Sancho, a proper winger, and when Varane came to form a partnership with Harry Maguire, it was a great feeling. Then, all of a sudden, former crowd favorite, Cristiano Ronaldo, suddenly and unexpectedly fall into United’s lap, straight from rivals City. Well, it wasn’t really like that, but the fact of the matter is, nobody expected that Ronaldo would come back. How much will he bring, we shall see, but for now, United are among the favorites for the title. The only ’link’ is the midfield, where Fred is not up to Manchester’s standards, and Pogba will probably leave on a free transfer in 2022, leaving a huge hole. But, we’ll talk about it in January. IN: Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Tom Heaton (Burnley, free) OUT: Daniel James (Leeds), Sergio Romero (released)Axel Tuanzebe (Aston Villa, loan), Tahith Chong (Birmingham, loan), Andreas Pereira (Flamengo, loan), Facundo Pellistri (Deportivo Alaves, loan), Brandon Williams (Norwich City, loan), Di’Shon Bernard (Hull City, loan), Ethan Laird (Swansea City, loan), Ethan Galbraith (Doncaster Rovers, loan), James Garner (Nottingham Forest, loan), Nathan Bishop (Mansfield, loan), Reece Devine (St Johnstone, loan), Dylan Levitt (Dundee United, loan), Will Fish (Stockport, loan), D’Mani Mellor (Salford City, loan), Joel Pereira (RKC Waalwijk, free), Johan Guadagno (Copenhagen, undisclosed), Charlie McCann (Rangers B, undisclosed), Mark Helm (Burnley, undisclosed), Jacob Carney (released), Iestyn Hughes (released), Arnau Puigmal (released), Max Taylor (released), Aliou Traore (released).LEICESTERAfter failing to qualify for the Champions League on the last day of the season for two years in a row, the Foxes needed to bolster the squad with more bodies, capable of filing in during the upcoming season, in which Liverpool is healthy and United is fighting for the title. Soumare will be a quality midfielder, Daka was bought in to eventually replaced Vardy, while Ryan Bertnard is a proven defender. Vestergaard was not planed, but after Fofana sustained a long term injury, they had to react. In fact, the biggest coup for the Foxes is the fact that both Maddison and Tielemans are staying. Arsenal and Liverpool were probably not so persistent, but nevertheless, Brendan Rodgers has a reason to be happy.IN: Boubakary Soumare (Lille), Jannik Vestergaard (Southampton), Patson Daka (Red Bull Salzburg), Ryan Bertrand (Southampton, free transfer), Ademola Lookman (Fulham, loan)OUT: Rachid Ghezzal (Besiktas), Wes Morgan (retired), Josh Knight (Peterborough United), Admiral Muskwe (Luton Town, undisclosed), Matty James (Bristol City, free), Christian Fuchs (Charlotte FC, free), George Hirst (Portsmouth, loan), Tyrese Shade (Walsall, loan)Daniel Iversen (Preston, loan), Callum Wright (Cheltenham Town, loan), Khanya Leshabela (Shrewsbury Town, loan), Mitchell Clark (Accrington Stanley, undisclosed), Kamal Sowah (Club Brugge, undisclosed), Dennis Praet (Torino, loan)TOTTENHAMThe beginning of the transfer period didn’t look promising: Antonio Conte, Genaro Gattuso, Eric ten Haag, Graham Potter, Paulo Fonseca, Ralph Rangnik, Brandon Rodgers, Maurizio Sarri, Roberto Martinez, Julen Lopetegui – they were all under consideration for the new manager position, and yet, it was Nuno Espirito Santo who got the job. Not the man you expect to bring any trophies to Spurs. And then Fabio Paratici came from Juventus and took the role of sporting director. Daniel Levy provided the cash and managed to keep Harry Kane, while Paratici found some good players, like Romero from Atalanta, or talented Gil from Seville. This should be a better year for Spurs.IN: Cristian Romero (Atalanta), Bryan Gil (Sevilla), Pierluigi Gollini (Atalanta, loan), Pape Matar Sarr (Metz)OUT: Toby Alderweireld (Al-Duhail), Moussa Sissoko (Watford), Joe Hart (Celtic), Erik Lamela (Sevilla, player exchange), Danny Rose (Watford, free), Paulo Gazzaniga (Fulham, free), Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Pape Matar Sarr (Metz, loan), Troy Parrott (MK Dons, loan), Kion Etete (Northampton, loan), Alfie Whiteman (Degerfors IF, loan), Dennis Cirkin (Sunderland, undisclosed), Jubril Okedina (Cambridge United, undisclosed), TJ Eyoma (Lincoln City, undisclosed), George Marsh (AFC Wimbledon, free) , Kazaiah Sterling (released), Enock Asante (released), Chay Cooper (released), Keenan Ferguson (released), Rodel Richards (released), Jack Roles (released), Aaron Skinner (released), Kazaiah Sterling (released), Shilow Tracey (released), Serge Aurier (released) , Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic, loan)BEST OF THE RESTAston Villa didn’t have the best of starts, but the Villans had one of the better transfer in all Premier League. They did lose their captain Jack Grealish, but they lured Emiliano Buendia, Danny Ings, Leon Bailey and Ashley Young. In London, West Ham also did good during the summer. They failed to submit a satisfying offer for Jesse Lingaard, but bought Kourt Zouma from Chelsea, Alex Kral (another Czech?) and Nikola Vlašić from CSKA Moscow. Leeds took advantage of Ronaldo’s transfer to United and finally bought Daniel James, but also added Junior Firpo from Barcelona, and Lewis Bate from Chelsea.
