Winners
Crystal Palace
THERE MAY HAVE been clubs who were involved in more high-profile transfers over the course of the summer, but Palace’s buys look no less astute by comparison. Of their new signings, Yohan Cabaye, Alex McCarthy and Connor Wickham all started in the 2-1 victory over Chelsea on Saturday, and all three made an impact as the Eagles secured an unlikely win. Moreover, persuading key players such as Damien Delaney and Scott Dann to sign new contracts was similarly vital.
Man City
Of course, their fantastic start to the season naturally makes everything look well, but City nevertheless appear to have made some good signings. Nicolás Otamendi comes with a big reputation and will surely improve their already impressive enough defence, Raheem Sterling has added pace and dynamism to their attack and Kevin De Bruyne is an attacking midfielder with exceptional technical ability and considerable physicality to boot. Patrick Roberts is a £12million gamble the club can afford to make, and while not everyone expects Fabian Delph to set the world alight, at worst, he is a decent replacement for the departed James Milner.
Everton
Everton’s transfer business is noticeable more for players who stayed, but those brought in don’t look bad by any means. Tom Cleverley may not be a top-level player, but he’s certainly a decent Premier League footballer, as he demonstrated during a loan spell at Villa last season. In addition, Gerard Deulofeu has already shown supporters at Goodison what he can do during a previous loan stint, and £4.2million represents excellent value by today’s exorbitant standards. Meanwhile, keeping top players such as James McCarthy, John Stones and Seamus Coleman shows that the Toffees are not necessarily a selling club nowadays.
Losers
Man United
At one point during the summer, Man United could probably have been in the ‘winners’ section of this article. However, as their start to the season has shown, they are still desperately short in certain areas of the pitch. Wayne Rooney is currently their only established striker, with James Wilson and the newly recruited Anthony Martial both relatively inexperienced at the highest level. In defence also, there is some doubt about whether Chris Smalling and Daley Blind can be the long-term solution in the centre-back slots. Moreover, the Red Devils seemingly made a right mess in transfers involving Pedro, David De Gea and Sergio Ramos, none of which left them particularly well off. Matteo Darmian seems a good buy, though the verdict is still out on most of the other players they’ve brought in.
Arsenal
All summer, it has been obvious that Arsenal badly need at least one top-class striker and centre-back to add to their significantly talented squad, and yet here we are in September, and still no decisive action has been taken. Both Saturday’s game with Newcastle, and the previous week’s encounter with Liverpool pointed to a lack of cutting edge in the Gunners’ forward line, so it would hardly be a surprise if similar problems recur throughout the season.
Irish players
It’s been a mixed summer at best for Irish footballers. David Forde’s chances of a regular starting spot in the Irish team appear to have dwindled owing to the fact that he is almost certain to be playing his football in League One for the remainder of the season. Similarly, despite talk of them stepping up a level, the likes of Daryl Murphy, Jeff Hendrick and Richard Keogh will be playing football in the Championship until January at least. Darren Randolph and Shay Given appear to have signed up to become reserve goalkeepers, while prospective big-money moves for Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy failed to materialise. On the plus side though, Kevin Doyle, Robbie Brady and James McClean all secured much-needed moves, with the latter two crucially returning to the Premier League.
