Wednesday 5 September 2012

Deadline Day: A Summer of Transfer Madness

We saw a huge amount of activity last week as the transfer window came to an end on Friday. We look at the winners and losers of the window and round up which players made the biggest moves to and from England on the final day.

Deadline Day Winners:
picture: Manchester City
Unlike their rivals, Manchester City left it to the final day to make any moves. Roberto Mancini had only brought in Jack Rodwell in the window before the last day, with the former Everton youngster moving for £12million. The midfielder was joined by a number of players on the final day, as Mancini left it late to improve his squad. Brazilian full back Maicon made the move to the Etihad from Inter Milan for around £3million. The new arrival was joined by another defender with Fiorentina centre back Matija Nastasic moving to Manchester in a part exchange deal which saw Stefan Savic go in the opposite direction. Other arrivals brought in by Mancini included winger Scott Sinclair moving from Swansea, and Benfica midfielder Javi Martinez who cost the club £16million. Moving out of Manchester, winger Adam Johnson went to Sunderland, midfielder Nigel De Jong went to AC Milan whilst striker Roque Santa Cruz went to Malaga on a season long loan.

picture: dailymail.co.uk
As well as City, Tottenham Hotspur had a successful last day as new manager Andre Villas Boas took advantage of the window. AVB had previously completed the permanent signing of Emmanuel Adebayor who had spent the previous season on loan at White Hart Lane. The Portuguese manager had already captured Gylfi Sigurdsson and defender Jan Vertonghen earlier on in the summer. The surprise move of the summer was American Clint Dempsey who had looked set to move to Liverpool. Spurs had taken advantage of the Merseyside club's inability to match the asking fee for Dempsey who made the move across London for £6million. Dempsey joins his former Fulham team mate Moussa Dembele who also joined Spurs the previous day for a fee of £15million. Moving out of Spurs, Luka Modric made the expected move to Real Madrid for £30million which also saw Rafa Van Der Vaart return to Hamburg where he played before moving to Spurs.

Deadline Day Losers: 
picture: liverpoolfc.com
It was a deadline day to forget for Liverpool and Brendan Rogers. Despite managing to bring in Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini earlier on in the window, Rogers was unable to strengthen the squad much to many fans annoyance. Having let £35million man Andy Carroll leave on loan to West Ham the previous day, Liverpool were expected to replace the striker. American Clint Dempsey had been linked with the reds all summer but having fallen short of the valuation of the midfielder, Liverpool missed out meaning he made a last gasp move to Spurs. Having failed to sign another striker during the window, it leaves Rogers with only Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini as options in attack. Deadline day at Anfield saw midfielders Charlie Adam and Jay Spearing leave, with the latter on a loan deal to Bolton Wanderers. Adam, who had only spent a year at Liverpool, made a £4million move to Stoke City where he signed a four year deal.

No-one may have been as unlucky or as unfortunate as Liverpool in the window, but Arsenal may feel they could have done slightly better over the summer. Having already brought in Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski, Arsene Wenger was keen to bring in an additional midfielder. Having lost Alex Song to Barcelona, and with Jack Wilshere still injured, Arsenal had been close to capturing playmaker Nuri Sahin on loan. But having failed to come to an agreement, Sahin moved to Liverpool leaving Arsenal finding themselves one Abou Diaby injury away from having to play youngster Francis Coquelin.

Premier League round up:
picture: stokecityfc.com
Fulham were heavily involved in transfer activity this summer seeing players come in and out of Craven Cottage. Bulgarian front man Dimitar Berbatov made the switch on deadline day making the move from Manchester United for a fee in the region of £4million. He was joined by Kieran Richardson who moved from Sunderland for £3million. Stoke City were also busy in the window and captured the services of free agent Michael Owen. The 32 year old had been released from Manchester United in June and signed a one year deal with The Potters. Tony Pulis had looked set to bring in Spurs midfielder Tom Huddlestone on loan but having failed to reach an agreement, Pulis brought in Blackburn man Steven N'Zonzi, paying £3million for his services.

Other Deadline Day movers:

Yossi Benayoun: Chelsea - West Ham (season long loan)
Danny Rose: Tottenham - Sunderland (season long loan)
Gaston Ramirez: Bologna - Southampton (£12million)
Hugo Lloris: Lyon - Tottenham (£11.8million)
Stephane Mbia: Marseille - QPR (£4.5million)
Bryan Oviedo: FC Copenhagen - Everton (£5million)
Christian Benteke: Genk - Aston Villa (£7million)
Pablo Hernandez: Valencia - Swansea (£5.5million)

Football League round up:
picture: examiner.co.uk
Blackburn Rovers sealed one of the biggest deals of the window by capturing Jordan Rhodes who moved from Huddersfield Town for £8million. It looked likely that Rhodes would stay with the Terriers, but with Leon Best out through injury, Steve Kean needed a replacement. Fellow forward David Goodwillie moved out of Ewood Park though going to Crystal Palace on a season long loan. Palace were again involved on deadline day as they captured defender Damien Delaney who moved on a free transfer from Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys were the talk of the Championship on deadline day as they were in talks with Peterborough United duo George Boyd and Paul Taylor. Both were transfer listed at London Road and it was the latter of the two that made a permanent move. Despite on going talks, Boyd rejected the chance and remains at Peterborough for the forthcoming months.

picture: pnefc.net
In League One, Sheffield United were involved in transfer activity on deadline day as they brought in Dave Kitson from Portsmouth and saw midfielder Stephen Quinn move out as he went to Hull City. Promoted from League Two last year, Paolo Di Canio's Swindon saw many comings and goings during the window. The Italian brought in striker Adam Rooney from Birmingham City, with Paul Caddis moving in the opposite direction. Despite financial worry, Portsmouth were able to make deadline day moves as they saw Darel Russell, Josh Thompson and Johnny Ertle all make their move to Fratton Park on free transfers.

In League Two, Southend striker Kane Ferdinand made the step up to the Championship as he went to Peterborough United for £200,000. Another mover out of League Two was Wycombe forward Stuart Beavon who moved to Preston North End for an undisclosed fee. Beavon had scored 25 times for Wycombe last season. Despite losing Beavon, Wycombe had previously brought in striker Jo Kuffour who moved from fellow League Two side Gillingham on a free transfer.

Other Deadline Day movers:

Jay Bothroyd: QPR - Sheffield Wednesday (season long loan)
Craig Noone: Brighton - Cardiff (£1million)
Billy Sharp: Southampton - Notts Forest (season long loan)
Andrea Orlandi: Swansea - Brighton (undisclosed fee)
Nicky Maynard: West Ham - Cardiff (£2.5million)
Iain Hume: Preston - Doncaster (season long loan)
Martin Taylor: Watford - Sheffield Wednesday (undisclosed fee)
David Stephens: Hibernian - Barnet (Free transfer)

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