The football transfer window always has winners and losers; some teams come out the other side with a lesser squad than when they went in, some overspend on questionable talent, and some fail to spend at all. This season Man United and Chelsea seem to be the big winners with Arsenal possibly squandering their chances of progression by selling Van Persie.
When Man United secured the signing of Van Persie, they not only got one of the Premier League’s best players, they deprived one of their nearest rivals of his services.
Arsenal would have been looking like worthy Premier League challengers had they held on to Van Persie. He would have augmented their newly acquired array of talent headed up by Corzola and Podolski. Now though Arsenal look a tad short of goals to sustain a season long challenge. They have a multitude of ‘floating number nine’ type players but no real cutting edge.
Man United on the other hand, look to have secured the final piece of the jigsaw. They appeared two players short in the centre and Van Persie and Kagawa have duly filled that gap. Ferguson seems to recognise footballing priorities and rather than splash out on prospective talent – he’s used the window to buy a proven goal scorer.
Chelsea have propelled themselves to Championship contender status with the acquisition of Eden Hazard – potentially the signing of the summer. His impact has been immediate and he has given Chelsea the added edge to initiate a three horse race at the top. If anyone will break the Mancunian monopoly at the top it looks like being Chelsea. They stand at around 7/2 with the bookies and online casino UK.
Lower down the league, Swansea’s signing of Michu could be the capture of the summer. £2million for La Liga’s top scoring midfielder seems like incredible business for a player who already has 4 goals to his name.
As ever the summer has seen more transactions than an online casino, and at the moment, Chelsea and Man United seem to be the biggest winners.