Rating Club’s Transfer Windows thus far

To date, nine out of the window’s most expensive 12 signings can be attributed to English clubs. With that in mind, I have decided to rate the transfer activity of the so-called ‘big-six’ Premier League institutions.

Arsenal

This comes with a sizable, Vini Jr shaped asterisk next to it. Mikel Arteta’s reigning champions were doing thing at their own pace at the beginning of this transfer window (at least on the acquisition side of things). They finalised the move of Hincapie while securing more left-wing options in the form of Tzolis. Meslier is also a neat little bit of goalkeeping cover for Raya and Arrizabalaga. But I think Arsenal fans were growing slightly frustrated with their lack of big signings. They had their first bid for midfield lynchpin Bruno Guimares rejected (this despite weeks and weeks of back-and-forth between the clubs). Yet, despite Newcastle’s protestations, Arsenal appear to be on the precipice of making Bruno a Gunner. And then you have the Vini Jr saga. Signing the electrifying Brazilian would take the club into a different stratosphere and I think Arteta is probably weary of that. Arteta is notoriously prickly about big, glitzy personalities who can destabilize the unit. I think this is all a smokescreen for Vini Jr to renegotiate his current contract. Still, it’s impressive to see Berta and co showing this level of unbridled ambition. Berta has been moving like a ninja with the departures, shipping off the likes of Trossard and Norgaard with little fanfare.

Rating: 7/10

Chelsea

Some will argue that Chelsea are fortunate to be part of any transfer activity. The West London giants just had a two-window transfer ban suspended to June 2027 (these were infractions committed under the shady Abramovich regime). The ban will only come into effect if they commit similar breaches again (yet another example of the rich getting away with corporate murder). Blueco and Xabi Alonso have not been shy in this window, breaking the British transfer window when they brought the versatile Morgan Rogers through the door. They have beefed up the defensive ranks with the key signings of Palestra and Lacroix (Rayo Vallecano’s Chavarria is being lined up as a replacement for departed Cucurella). They managed to get rid of the scourge that is Alejandro Garnacho (he went to Villa on loan with a conditional obligation for a permanent move). Quenda breathes some excitement into the wide areas while the much-ballyhooed double coup for Welbeck and Henderson should help instil a sense of identity. I do think that the Rogers signing could cause some positional overlap with Cole Palmer. Otherwise, this is looking like it could be an exciting time for Chelsea and Xabi Alonso (who should have a little more breathing room than he did at Real Madrid).

Rating: 8/10

Liverpool

Andoni Iraola is quickly finding out some of the key differences between being Bournemouth manager and Liverpool manager. One difference: only one of those clubs is currently pursuing Bradley Barcola. Iraola has made two clever value signings in Jeremy Jacquet and Victor Munoz. But he is going to need to a lot more to replace the lost G/A of the legendary Mo Salah. The Reds lost out on Diomande before ramping up interest in Barcola. They surely need some kind of contingency plan in case the Barcola quest falls flat (Rashford would be a delicious backdoor option). Otherwise, Liverpool seem intent on capturing Zabarnyi to give them some centre-half depth following Konate’s departure. Overall, I’m not blown away but there are signs of encouragement.

Rating: 6/10

Manchester City

Enzo Maresca has the devil’s own job this summer. How do you replace the mighty Pep, and how much of their transfer clout is lost following the icon’s exit? Because they are going to lose Rodri. The allure of Real Madrid is going to be impossible to repel, and Manchester City will have lost two of their key figures in the space of a few months. Elliot Anderson will offer some box-to-box tenacity but will like Rodri’s metronomic purr (though they are homing in on Lille wunderkind Ayyoub Bouaddi). City are also going to be without the Champions League winning trio of Ake, Stones and Bernardo Silva. They have a couple of new left-wingers in Detourbet and Monga. But otherwise, I’m a little worried about their prospects. Many quality players are moving on and it’s going to be extremely hard to replace that.

Rating: 5/10

Manchester United

I must admit that I have been quietly impressed with the way that Michael Carrick and co have gone about their business. They weren’t prepared to get hoodwinked in their pursuit of Sandro Tonali and Matheus Fernandes, stopping well short of the ludicrous prices that Spurs were willing to pay. They instead did clever business, bringing in Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans at nearly half the overall price (Carrick needed to bolster that area in the wake of Casemiro’s departure). Otherwise, things have been quiet. They are currently pursuing Lewis Hall and are making some inroads in getting themselves out of the Marcus Rashford quagmire (Fenerbahce are said to be expressing proper interest). Yeah, they haven’t done a lot. But they were a team on the rise and didn’t necessarily need major surgery.

Rating: 7/10

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs certainly win the participation prize for this window. Spurs have been dreadful these past few seasons and needed a drastic overhaul. But £237 million for the trio of Fernandez, Tonali and van Hecke? I just think you can get strongarmed into some silly deals when you come out stinking of desperation. De Zerbi has looked to balance the ledger with some smart loan moves, bringing in the likes of Senesi and Robertson to offset those earlier costs. Spurs are far from over, supposedly exploring avenues to bring in the likes of Victor Osimhen and Savinho. I’m somewhat staggered that they opted to sell Luka Vušković to Brighton. Vušković went on loan to Hamburg last year and performed brilliantly, scoring six goals from defence before being named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season. Weird. Listen, Spurs are certainly enjoying flexing their financial might now. It’s just starting to feel ever so slightly scatterbrain. I guess we will have to wait to see.