I made the background yellow so Arsenal.com wouldn't know I stole the photo
ARSENAL
In: Mikel Arteta (Everton – £10m), Joel Campbell (Deportivo Saprissa – £1m), Park Chu-Young (Monaco – £3.5m), Gervinho (Lille – £10.1m), Carl Jenkinson (Charlton Athletic – £1m), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen – £8m), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Southampton – £12m), Andre Santos (Fenerbahce – £6.2m), Yossi Benayoun (Chelsea – season-long loan)
Out: Gael Clichy (Manchester City – undisclosed), Emmanuel Eboué (Galatasary – £3m), Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (Ipswich Town – £1m), Francesc Fabregas (Barcelona – £35m), Jens Lehmann (retired), Samir Nasri (Manchester City – £25m), Gilles Sunu (Lorient – undisclosed), Armand Traoré (Queens Park Rangers – £1.2m), Nicklas Bendtner (Sunderland, season-long loan), Joel Campbell (Lorient, season-long loan), Denílson (Sao Paulo, season-long loan), Henri Lansbury (West Ham United, season-long loan), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad, season-long loan)
Never has there been a deadline day like it for Arsenal under Arsene Wenger. The clamouring for signings among the Gunners faithful was familiar – if heightened and slightly hysterical this time – but there was no precedent for five late signings. After the unavoidable departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, the emphasis was on removing those who weren’t good enough (Eboué, Denílson, Traoré, Bendtner and more) and replacing them with experienced players. Arsenal’s squad’s average age is now older than Manchester United’s; unthinkable even last summer. The midfield pair Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun are known, proven Premier League players, while Per Mertesacker with 73 caps for Germany surely represents far greater value than Gary Cahill, just one year his junior and worth £9m more according to Bolton. Time will tell whether or not Park Chu-Young and Andre Santos will prove capable in the Premier League, but both are experienced and between them have nearly 100 international caps. Gervinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Carl Jenkinson were the other major additions, and while much criticism can be levelled at Arsene Wenger, his judgement has to be trusted on these three – Ligue Un or League One, he knows how to turn a good young player into something special.
All in all, the first eleven may have taken a hit from the loss of two world class players, but the squad is now deeper and stronger than last season. The main source of frustration, of course, is that they left it so late. If Udinese had been slightly more clinical in the Champions League play-off, the disastrous summer could have been the most costly error in Wenger’s Arsenal career. As it is, Arsenal already face a battle to revive their league campaign, and we’re only three games in.
Transfer business mark: 5/10
ASTON VILLA
In: Shay Given (Manchester City – £3.5m), Charles N’Zogbia (Wigan Athletic – £9.5m), Alan Hutton (Tottenham Hotspur – £3.5m), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham Hotspur, season-long loan)
Out: John Carew (West Ham United, free), Stewart Downing (Liverpool – £20m), Brad Friedel (Tottenham Hotspur, free), Nigel Reo-Coker (Bolton Wanderers – free), Robert Pires (released), Mustapha Salifou (released), Luke Young (Queens Park Rangers – £2.5m), Ashley Young (Manchester United – £16m), Jean Makoun (Olympiakos, season-long loan)
Most of the interest in Aston Villa’s changes this summer has been in their managerial change. After the resignation of Gerard Houllier, supporter intervention stopped Steve McClaren taking charge, only for Roberto Martínez to turn them down and for owner Randy Lerner to ignore an even more vocal protest to appoint former Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish. It was a remarkable appointment as McLeish had just taken Villa’s rivals down into the Championship, but the Scot has made a little headway into making the team his own. Out have gone wingers Stewart Downing and Ashley Young, for a combined fee of almost £40m, and the modest talents of Jermaine Jenas and Alan Hutton have joined from Tottenham. The fact that only Charles N’Zogbia, a £9.5m capture from Martínez’s club Wigan Athletic, can play out wide suggests the major outgoing players aren’t being directly replaced, and Villa can expect a more compact and narrow approach to games this season. The fading star of Brad Friedel was picked up by Tottenham, and the exalted Irishman Shay Given joined up for a modest £3.5m to replace him. I don’t think Given’s as good as his reputation, but Friedel was poor last season and clearly on the wane, so this one’s a good move. In general, with their income so significantly higher than money spent on players, I wonder if Villa are aiming to hold what they have rather than aim high. It makes the appointment of the twice-relegated McLeish an even more puzzling one. They are no stronger than last season, but in keeping Darren Bent they’ve probably done what they most needed to do.
Transfer business mark: 6/10
BLACKBURN ROVERS
In: Myles Anderson (Aberdeen – free), Scott Dann (Birmingham City – £5m), David Goodwillie (Dundee United – £2m), Radosav Petrovic (Partizan Belgrade – £3m), Bruno Ribeiro (free), Simon Vukcevic (Sporting Lisbon – £2m), Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton – £1.5m)
Out: Benjani (Portsmouth – released), Jason Brown (Aberdeen – released), Brett Emerton (Sydney FC – free), Frank Fielding (Derby County – undisclosed), Phil Jones (Manchester United – £16m), Nikola Kalinic (Dnipro – £3m), Zurab Khizanishvili (Kayserispor – free), Maceo Rigters (released), Keith Andrews (Ipswich Town, six-month loan), El Hadj Diouf (released)
Steve Kean’s side needed defensive reinforcements after the sadly inevitable transfer of Phil Jones, and they may have done a very good deal in bringing in Scott Dann for a third of the price of the outgoing player. Dann was excellent in his first Premier League season for Birmingham City and blameless in last season’s debacle (as he missed most of the season through injury), and if Blackburn can keep him fit then their defence won’t be much weaker – if at all – than last season. Keeping hold of Christopher Samba was important, and they have also brought in another defender in the free transfer of Myles Anderson. The latter signing was a controversial one – Anderson, 20, had made just one substitute appearance for Aberdeen before Rovers moved to offer him a contract, and the surprise nearly turned into a scandal when it emerged he is the son of Jerome Anderson, an agent who had a role in Venky’s takeover of the Lancashire club last year. Kean rejected charges of nepotism from the club, comparing him to Chris Smalling as a ‘late bloomer’. Anderson isn’t the only gamble, as Blackburn have also looked to Eastern Europe in signing rangy Serbia midfielder Radosav Petrovic from Partizan for £3m, and Montenegrin wide man Simon Vukcevic for £2m from Sporting Lisbon. Neither have Premier League experience, but both arrive on small fees and have yet to reach their 25th birthdays. They’re the kind of signings that work out or are quickly forgotten. One further gamble is the £1.5m signing of Yakubu, a player who has looked badly out of sorts since he snapped his achilles tendon in 2008. The Nigerian is, however, a proven goalscorer, and if he can relocate that lost yard of pace then he will be a very shrewd signing. With finances tight, the club have also removed a lot of players from the wage bill, with Brett Emerton, Nikola Kalinic, Zurab Khizanishvili, Maceo Rigters and the vile El Hadji Diouf all leaving the club, along with Keith Andrews on loan.
Which reminds me. What the hell happened to Maceo Rigters? I remember him ripping teams apart at the under-21 European Championship in 2007, but since signing for Blackburn he’s made it onto the pitch twice in the league, and has now signed for Australian side Gold Coast Mariners. Amazingly, he’s 27. Blackburn had better hope none of their gambles this summer end up like that, or they are in for a hard season.
Transfer business mark: 6/10
