Nobody signed this man in the end
BOLTON WANDERERS
Ins: Chris Eagles (Burnley – £2.5m), Tyrone Mears (Burnley – £1m), David Ngog (Liverpool – £4m), Darren Pratley (Swansea City – free), Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa – free), Dedryck Boyata (Manchester City, season-long loan), Gael Kakuta (Chelsea, six-month loan), Tuncay Sanli (Wolfsburg, season-long loan)
Outs: Tamir Cohen (Maccabi Haifa – released), Johan Elmander (Galatasary SK – released), Ali Al-Habsi (Wigan Athletic – undisclosed), Joey O’Brien (West Ham United – released), Jlloyd Samuel (released), Sam Sheridan (Stockport County – free), Matt Taylor (West Ham United – undisclosed)
Bolton’s big business of the summer might arguably have been holding onto Gary Cahill, but I think they were preparing to sell and could be kicking themselves come next summer if he walks for free. Cahill is a good defender but worth nowhere near the £14m Bolton reportedly demanded from Spurs for him on deadline day, and especially not with less than twelve months left on his contract. Chairman Phil Gartside was trying to play hardball, but he didn’t seem to acknowledge that the contract situation weakened his hand immeasurably. He may come to regret the way he played this one; Johan Elmander, who cost the club almost £10m, went for free this summer. It seemed clear the club were preparing for the defender’s departure as they also captured Dedryck Boyata on loan from Manchester City, a strong young defender in whom Roberto Mancini showed faith in on more than one occasion last season. Boyata strengthens Bolton’s options at the back, and the bargain-bucket signings from Burnley of Tyrone Mears (who unfortunately broke his leg during pre-season) and Chris Eagles should prove more than adequate replacements for the outgoing Joey O’Brien and Tamir Cohen. Loan deals for Gael Kakuta, who was promising if patchy at Fulham last season, and the experienced Turkish forward Tuncay Sanli, could prove to be good business. I was a little surprised by the permanent departures of Matt Taylor, a dead-ball specialist and something of a talisman for some years, and Ali Al-Habsi, who was excellent on loan at Wigan last season and surely superior to the fading Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Transfer business mark: 6/10
CHELSEA
Ins: Thibaut Courtois (Racing Genk – £7.9m), Ulises Davila (Chivas – undisclosed), Romelu Lukaku (Anderlecht – £14m), Juan Mata (Valencia – £23.5m), Raul Meireles (Liverpool – £16m), Oriol Romeu (Barcalona – £4.35m)
Outs: Fabio Borini (Parma – free), Jack Cork (Southampton – £750k), Michael Mancienne (Hamburger SV – £3m), Slobodan Rajkovic (Hamburger SV – £2.3m), Yuri Zhirkov (Anzhi Makhachkala – £13m), Yossi Benayoun (Arsenal, season-long loan), Jeffrey Bruma (Hamburger SV, season-long loan), Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid, season-long loan), Gael Kakuta (Bolton Wanderers, six-month loan), Patrick Van Aanholt (Wigan Athletic, season-long loan)
Chelsea’s customary marquee signing was the excellent Juan Mata, for whom they trumped Arsenal, but the signings of Belgian phenomenon Romelu Lukaku and Liverpool’s Raul Meireles weren’t exactly for small change either. Andres Villas-Boas has clearly identified the midfield area as being in need of strengthening, also bringing in Oriol Romeu from Barcelona (who inserted a naughty buy-back clause to avoid any repeat of their Cesc problem) as Yossi Benayoun and Yuri Zhirkov left the club. It’s also clear that Chelsea have identified a successor for Petr Cech early on in the young Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, although why they’re not keeping him at the club to learn from the Czech and provide better backup than poor Hilario is beyond me. The man who will provide the most excitement is Mata, a compact, skillful and at times explosive support player. With Frank Lampard’s most recent birthday his 33rd, the time has come to prepare for his phasing out of the team and I can’t think of many better available players to replace him than Mata. I think he’ll prove to be an excellent signing and well worth the money. Meireles has Premier League experience and a few more years to go than Benayoun so I think that will work out too, and while Lukaku at 18 might seem to be one for the future, his height and strength mean he can probably make an impact straight away, much in the way Wayne Rooney was ready seemingly before his time. All in all the problem area was addressed and Chelsea will go into the new season stronger than the last.
Transfer business mark: 8/10
EVERTON
Ins: Eric Dier (Sporting Lisbon, season-long loan), Royston Drenthe (Real Madrid, season-long loan), Denis Stracqualursi (Tigres, season-long loan)
Outs: Kieran Agard (Yeovil Town – released), Hope Akpan (Crawley Town – released), Mikel Arteta (Arsenal – £10m), Jermaine Beckford (Leicester City – £4m), Iain Turner (Preston North End – released), James Vaughan (Norwich City – £1.5m), Yakubu (Blackburn Rovers – £1.5m), Shane Duffy (Scunthorpe United, one-month loan), Joao Silva (Vitoria FC, season-long loan)
Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. For a long time this summer, much to their fans’ frustration, Everton were the only club among the Football League’s 92 to have failed to bring in a player on a permanent deal. That remains the case, except on deadline day it got a good deal worse. First, playmaker Mikel Arteta was sold to Arsenal for £10m and then, more puzzlingly, Everton sold last season’s joint-top scorer Jermaine Beckford to Leicester for £4m. The Arteta deal I can understand. The player wanted to play in the Champions League and I can understand the financially troubled club letting Arteta have his move. Beckford’s departure is baffling, though. The former Leeds striker may have earned a bit of criticism last season, but he had leaped from League One to the Premier League and it seemed to me that he’d adapted pretty well. Everton lacked goals last season and Beckford, who was in and out of the side, weighed in with eight in the league. David Moyes was happy to let go of James Vaughan, a once-promising player whose career has been ruined up to this point by injury, and Yakubu who has suffered similar problems in recent years, but I just don’t see the logic of letting Beckford go. Replacing him up front will be the Argentine loanee Denis Stracqualursi, a 6’3″ bruiser who hit 20 goals in the Apertura and Clausura combined last term. You can’t deny that the club have made a ballsy gamble, but if Stracqualursi doesn’t prove adequate to replace the glass Louis Saha then they could be in real trouble with a dearth of striking options. Elsewhere on the pitch, the signing of 17-year-old Eric Dier on loan from Sporting Lisbon will probably make no impact, but Royston Drenthe’s loan signing from Real Madrid could work out. Moyes will have to curb the Dutchman’s playboy tendencies, however, or he could be left with another Andy Van Der Meyde on his hands. And no-one wants that.
Transfer business mark: 2/10
I came, I read this article, I cnouqeerd.