The international transfer window ended on Tuesday, September 2, and like always, a lot of money was spent and curious moves were made. Here are my winners and losers in the transfer window.
Winners: Manchester City
Looking to regain the Premier League title, Manchester City spent lavishly on the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, paying 54.5 million and 49 million pounds respectively. The added addition of Nicolas Otamendi means that City is likely to be in the title race right up until the end of the season.
Losers: Arsenal
Arsenal were the only club in Europe not to sign an outfield player this summer, and when major rivals in the Premier league splashed the cash, Arsene Wenger decided to show loyalty to his squad. His only real addition to the squad was Petr Cech from Chelsea, but what they really needed was a striker. With rivals making moves for multiple players, it makes his decision to hold off on purchases all the more confusing.
Winners: Juventus
Holding on to Paul Pogba can be considered a win, but Juventus spend big to try and consolidate their place within the European elite. They went out and got highly rated youngsters such as Paulo Dybala, Alex Sandro, and Mario Lemina, as well as more experienced players such as Sami Khedira, Mario Mandzukic, and Hernanes. It will take time for all the players to gel, but overall Juventus had a very good transfer window.
Losers: Manchester United
United added a bunch of pieces to try and hold on to their top four place, but what they really needed was a big statement signing, particularly a forward, and that never materialized. From Gareth Bale to Marco Reus and even Neymar, multiple big names were linked with the Red Devils over the summer, but none of them happened. The high price tag on a young, inexperienced Anthony Martial is also cause for concern.
Winners: Bayern Munich
Not many signings for them, but two quality additions will help them once again contend for both the Bundesliga and the Champions League. Vidal is a tenacious box-to-box midfielder who is one of the best at his role, and Douglas Costa is an excellent long term replacement for both Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben.
Losers: Real Madrid
It’s not often you can say this, but Real Madrid had a terrible transfer window. Use to getting pretty much any player that they want, they weren’t able to land a big name star this window. The closest they came to that was David de Gea, but could not get the paperwork in time before the deadline.
Winners: Inter Milan
After four years of not qualifying for the Champions League, President Erick Thohir decided to open up his chequebook. The team spent 30 million euros on promising midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia from Monaco, and convinced Ivan Perisic to join them from Wolfsburg. They also acquired Stevan Jovetic, Mario Montoya, Adem Ljajic, and Miranda on loan, as well as selling Xherdan Shaquiri for 15 million euros. They could be in the race for the Scudetto right up until the final week of play.
