The Summer Transfer Window’s Winners and Losers

It’s been a Summer of false rumors and deals being “hijacked,” but they now come to an end as the transfer window closed last Tuesday.

However, what was different with this window in the BPL? A beautiful thing called a T.V. deal worth 5 billion pounds. Each club was given a good amount of that money, which they could use at their disposal.

Supporters of each club wanted to see money spent on players that will better their squad. But some clubs didn’t use their money as well as others.

Myself and the ISH Soccer Writers looked at what each team did this Summer in the transfer window and decided the teams that had the best window, and also the teams that had the worst window.

Disclaimer: This is only based off of incoming transfers, not getting money on selling players as well.

Best: Manchester City

Manchester City have established themselves as a financial powerhouse. Although they faced FFP penalties, they bounced back this Summer and made big signings in positions they needed to fill. They finally sealed the deal for English youngster Raheem Sterling, but the sky Blues didn’t stop their. They signed Valencia’s center-back Nicolas Otamendi, Fabian Delph from Aston Villa (in quite a dramatic way), and Kevin DeBruyne from Wolfsburg.

City didn’t just focus on established professionals. They got some up and coming players like Patrick Roberts and Enes Unal.

The signing of Raheem Sterling to me is better than just adding a great player to the team. A big thing that UEFA is trying to stress is having homegrown players, and adding the England international will help prevent any troubles regarding the amount of homegrown players in their UCL squad.

Best: Leicester City

Leicester was famous last year for pulling off a great escape. This year seems like they will not be in that situation. The reason for that? A solid Summer window.

The Foxes signed Japanese center-forward Shinji Okazaki from Mainz. Okazaki is the striker that Leicester need that will consistently score and will help solidify their place in the top half. But, they didn’t just have striker questions. They answered their midfield doubt by getting Swiss defensive midfielder Gokhan Inler. They capped off by improved their defense by permanently signing Robert Huth (who was credited as being the main reason why Leicester pulled off the great escape last year), and Austrian left back Christian Fuchs from Schalke.

Worst: Norwich City

With the T.V. money, newly promoted clubs were given an advantage in finding players to help them stay up. However, the Canaries failed to do that. Their highlight signing was Youssuf Mulumbu from West Brom, but the defensive midfielder won’t be able to cover their entire defense. Their defense has too many questions around it for me, as well does their attack. Norwich signed Matt Jarvis on loan, and he has been out of form. Ricky van Wolfswinkel is a bust, and Gary Hooper hasn’t performed like he was expected to. For me, Norwich had to fill their attacking and defensive holes, and they did not do that this Summer.

Worst: Arsenal

Arsenal didn’t necessarily have a bad window. They managed to sign a world-class goalkeeper in Petr Cech from a direct title rival, Chelsea.

It was their inactivity that made me think they had one of the worst windows in the Premier League.

Arsenal were the only club that did not sign a single outfield player. That is mind-boggling for any team, big or small. The Gunners are weak in the striker and defensive midfielder positions, and failed to sign players to fill those holes.

Arsenal was rumored to sign Karim Benzema. That didn’t go through. Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyeng, Gonzalo Higuain were all strikers Wenger was rumored to splash the cash on. None of those players were signed. Arsenal’s “failed rumors” weren’t just about strikers. It was “confirmed” they signed Arturo Vidal, but instead the Chilean signed for German champions Bayern Munich. If Arsenal signed players that would fill their holes, they would be serious contenders for the title.