13 September 2013

Transfer analysis: Summer window 2013-2014 part 2


Premiership

 
  As every year the latest days of the transfer window were most active in Premiership. A lot of clubs made interesting transfers and it is difficult to us to chose only five, so we decided to present you all of the interesting transfers of Premier league in sorted way.


  Of course the first place is for the amazing move of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid to Arsenal. The Gunners signed the German player for 50 million euro and showed a finance power, which happens for the first time in years. It is a complete turnout for Wenger’s and respectively Arsenal’s transfer policy. Ozil is great talent who will bring a lot to the English football. His play seems a little bit slow, but in fact he made the amazing 72 assist for three years in Real Madrid. Ozil is very creative midfielder who with the help of Cazorla, Podolski, Walcott and Wilshire will bring the offensive power of Arsenal to the star level. The 25 year old German midfielder is the most discussed name in the day after the end of the window and we think that he will shine bright with the shirt of Arsenal from the very first day, which may be this weekend.

  The second place is for the addition of Stevan Jovetic (23) and Alvaro Negredo(28) by Manchester City. The ex-champions done their business early in the window and by signing the Montenegro national and the Spanish national they have bring a lot fresh power to their attack. Obviously their style of play will be changed, because of the appoint of Pellegrini, but the new faces Jovetic and Negredo will help him to develop his ideas. Jovetic was signed for 26 million euro and his talent deserves every cent. He is very explosive and creative, but the only concerning point is his injury status. Despite being so young he has already had problems with his knee and the speed and the hard tackles of English football may ruin his career. City paid 25 million to Sevilla for the services of Alvaro Negredo. This is the first big club for the 28 year old strikere and if he wants to achieve something this is the right moment for him. He had already scored twice with the sky blue shirt and starting to prove that he deserved the risk.

  One of the expected transfers happened in the last day of the window. David Moyes bring his ex-player Marouane Fellaini to his new club Manchester United for the price of 32.4 million euro. United had problems in the center of their midfield for years and they even had to call Paul Scholes to fix the problem. Now, with the signing of Fellaini, the future seems a little bit brighter. The Belgian national is very strong and proved himself with the shirt of Everton. He will bring something different to The Red Devils’s midfield. Another good thing for United and Moyes is that there will be a competition for the starting place in the face of Carrick, Fellaini and Cleverly. The 25 year old Belgian central midfielder will have the possibility to prove himself in the high level and will have the possibility to play in Champions league, so it is now or never for him.

  One of the most active teams in the window was Tottenham. With the money from the transfer of their star Gareth Bale, they bring a couple of very interesting signings to London. Without doubts the most interesting is the signing of Bale’s replacement – Eric Lamela. The Argentinean winger was signed for 30 million euro from AS Roma. He is very skillful and is definitely the future star of Tottenham and Argentina. Being only 21, the future is ahead of Lamela and if he stays fit and work hard we think that he will be a hit. Other interesting and young players who came to White Hart Lane are Romanian defender Vlad Chiriches (23), French holding midfielder Etienne Capoue(25) and Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen(21).  All of them are talented and will add extra options to Villas Boas’ selection. Definitely Tottenham made great moves and they have managed to buy super talents. So now their season depends on the managerial abilities of Andre Villas Boas.

  It was strange and much discussed transfer, but Willian moved to Chelsea. Firstly he was connected with a move to Liverpool, then he almost put a pen on a contract with Tottenham, but after all he finished in Chelsea’s shirt. Willian is one of the talented Brazilian midfielders. He has already made a big money move, but it was to the Russian side Anzhi. So after their financial problems, now he made another move, for 35.5 million, to London blues. It is very strange that Mourinho bring so many midfield players to Stamford Bridge. It will be very difficult fight for a starting place, but maybe this will be the thing that will drive Chelsea to the title. Another interesting transfer made in the latest days, by Chelsea, is the signing of the 32 year old striker Samuel Eto’o with a free transfer from Anzhi.  It was obvious that Torres and Ba could not give the proper offensive power to Chelsea and with the sent on loan Lukaku, Mourinho needed another addition in his front lines. So he went for his fellow ex-player Eto’o, who despite being 32, still has the abilities to play on high level. We think that he will be the surprise of Chelsea’s transfers.

  There are some other moves that are notable to mention. Liverpool started the season in a great form. The Merseyside reds are the leaders of the standings and in the final day of the transfer window they have managed to sign the ex-captain of PSG Mamadou Sakho for 19 million euro and Victor Moses on one year loan deal from Chelsea.  Sakho is very strong and wise defender and he is still young. We think that both of them could have a very positive effect on Liverpool’s performance through the year. Southampton made a super trio move with the signing of Croatian defender Dejan Lovren from Lyon, the Kenyan defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama from Celtic and the Italian striker Pablo Osvaldo from AS Roma. All of them are young and talented player and if they are managed on the right direction we think that Southampton will be the positive surprise of the Premiership season.

Seria A


The transfer activity in Seria A was far from normal. A lot of moves were made including some changes in the manager positions.

  AC Milan once again managed to qualify to Champions League, this time after won against PSV in the play off phase. After securing a place in the top football competition the Italian giants made their most impressive transfer for the summer window, they have bring the Brazilian magician Kaka back to the club with a free transfer from Real Madrid. Kaka is the fans favorite and if he stays fit he could become a leader for the club once again.  Other notable mention is the signing of Matri from Juventus for 10 million euro.

  It was difficult to make a decision between the transfer of Kaka and the signing of Gonzalo Higuain by Napoli for the amount of 37 million euro. The Argentinean striker was the most expensive player signed by Italian club this summer and this comes with big expectations. He already scored with Napoli’s shirt and it seems that he will be the leading striker of Benitez’ selection. Higuain has a lot of abilities and we think that he will help his Spanish manager in the fight for the title and European glory. Other notable transfers made by Napoli are the signing of the Spanish central defender Raul Albiol, from Real Madrid for 12 million euro, and the signed on loan goalkeeper of Liverpool, Pepe Reina. Both of them will be the leading players of the defensive part of the game, so it’s up on them to prove that Benitez was right by signing them.

  Fiorentina managed to earn a place in Europa league and they have decided to sign some interesting names in order to strengthen their squad. The most interesting name signed by the club is the top German striker Mario Gomez, for 15.5 million euro. The 28 year old forward is a proven name and by signing him La Viola side showed ambition. Gomez was searching for a place where he will be a starter and where he can earn a place in German squad for the upcoming World Cup. We think that he will definitely bring the attack of Fiorentina to other level and the purple team will be a lot more interesting to watch. Gomez already scored twice for his new team. Other notable mention is the signing of Josep Ilicic from Palermo. The Slovenian midfielder could be very useful addition in the search of consistency.

  AS Roma sold their top rising stars to Tottenham and PSG, but they have signed one top central midfielder in the face of Kevin Strootman. The Dutch player came to Seria A team from PSV for 16.5 million euro. Strootman was the leader of his ex-team’s midfield and we think that he will bring something needed to AS Roma side. A central pair of Strootman and De Rosi will be very interesting, combative and creative. Roma made two more notable moves. They have signed Serbian winger Adem Ljajic from Fiorentina for 11 million euro and the central defender of Udinese Mehdi Benatia for 13.5 million euro. Ljajic is a very interesting player who already scored a goal in his debut game. 

  Other notable transfers are the singing of the central defender Angelo Ogbonna from Torino to Juventus for the price of 13 million euro. Ogbonna will have a very hard competition for a place in the team, but he is one of the interesting central defenders in the world market. The latest transfer that we will discuss is the signing of Lucas Biglia by Lazio for 7 million euro from Anderlecht. The Argentinean central midfielder was a leading player for the Belgian champions and will be a very good addition to his new team.

  We want to discuss one more interesting thing from Seria A in the current transfer window – the situation in Inter Milan. The Nerazzurri appoint Valter Mazari as their manager and normally he changed the tactic of the team. So Inter made a lot of transfer, but without spending much. We don’t think that they have made very interesting transfers, but there will be a big change, so it is worth to watch the evolution of the team.

La Liga

  When we are talking about La Liga and summer transfer window there is only one name that every football fan will tell you immediately – Gareth Bale. After a tiresome transfer saga the Welsh national moved from Tottenham to Real Madrid for the incredible 100 000 000 euro and became the most expensive football player in the world. Without doubt Bale is one of the top wingers in our time. In the last season he impressed the specialist with his complete skills and drove the Spurs selection to new level. We do not think that it is needed to be specialist or especially perspicacious to evaluate his transfer as an interesting one, but it is completely normal to put him in this article. Bale could help Real Madrid in the searching of dominance. Imagine what power will they have with a wingers like him and Cristiano Ronaldo, it is scary. Now it is all about hard work and adaptation. For the first time since he became a star, Bale will have to compete for his starting place with players of his caliber – Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria. Everything is in Ancelotti’s hand. He has to find a way to satisfy all of his stars.

  We have already discussed the other interesting transfers in our previous article, but there are some other names which deserve to be mentioned. Atletico Madrid signed the captain of Ajax, Toby Alderweireld, for 7 million euro. The Belgian defender will help in the searching of defensive stability. Sevilla lost their top shots, Navas and Negredo, but they have signed two interesting strikers – Carlos Bacca and Kevin Gameiro. The Columbian was the goal scorer of Club Brugge and was signed for 7 million euro. He has already scored 3 goals for his new club in Europa League. Sevilla paid 7.5 million euro for the unnecessary striker of PSG. Gameiro was one of the most interesting players when he signed for the French giants but the financial metamorphosis of the club and the signing of Ibrahimovic and Cavani, drove him to the Spanish La Liga. Gameiro managed to score twice in the latest Sevilla game, the 2:2 draw against Malaga.

Ligue 1

  It is completely logical that our second part of the most interesting transfers made in the French Ligue 1 are made by PSG and Monaco. This time there is one other club joining the French giants and it is Olympique Marseille.

  AS Monaco used the finances of their chairman Dmitry Rybolovlev in order to change almost all of their team in the summer transfer window, after earning a promotion to Ligue 1. We already discussed the most interesting moves of the Red and Whites, but there are still some other which deserve to be mentioned. Monaco signed the ex-barcelona player Eric Abidal for free after the contract of the defender has expired. Abidal currently became the captain of the squad and we evaluate him as an integral part of their selection. Other proven name that came back to Ligue 1 is the 30 year old holding midfielder Jeremy Toulalan. He was signed from Spanish side Malaga for 5 milion euro. Toulalan earn the reputation of one of the top defensive midfielders and we think that he will be a very useful addition to Monaco squad. The latest transfer of the newborn French moneybags is the rising star Geoffrey Kondogbia. The 19 year old midfielder was signed from Sevilla for the price of the amazing 20 million euro. Kondogbia was one of the interesting names in the summer transfer market. There was a rumor that he will join the Premiership giant Manchester United but after all he moved to Monaco.

  One of the most proven names in the French football, Olympique Marseille, made two interesting transfer in the summer window. Marseille managed to qualify for Champions League and they have put some finances on the table. The French team signed the star of Lille, the 26 year old winger Dimitri Payet, for the amount of 8.7 million euro. Payet already impressed the football specialist with the amazing 3 goals in 4 appearances. The other interesting move was the signing of the young player of the last year Florian Thauvin. Thauvin was signed from Lille for 15 million euro and the interesting point is that he never played with the shirt of Lille, because he was signed in the last winter transfer window and was sent on loan at Bastia. By signing both of them Marseille managed to build an impressive selection and we think that this time they could fight for the first place in Ligue 1 and will impress in the Champions League.

   In the second part of the window PSG showed once again the Arabic finance power. Parisian giants signed the rising Brazilian star Marquinhos for 30 million euro from the Italian AS Roma. The 19 year old defender made a move to Ligue 1 after finishing just one season in Seria A. Marquinhos made some impressive appearances with the Roma shirt and definitely became one of the most interesting names in the football world. We think that he will not be a leading star of the PSG selection this year but in near future he will earn his place and will show once again that he has the needed abilities to become a star defender.

Bundesliga

  It was a little bit quite in the German Bundesliga in the second part of the summer transfer window. After the amazing transfers of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, only one club manage to put an amount over 10 million euro. After all we managed to evaluate five transfers as interesting ones.

  Wolfsburg paid the record transfer fee (for the second part of the transfer window) of 17.500.000 euro for the Brazilian midfielder Luiz Gustavo. The 26 year old defensive midfielder earn a very good reputation in the Bundesliga starting with the shirt of Hoffenheim and making 64 appearances playing for Bayern Munich. With the shirt of the Munich giants Gustavo won some silverware and was an integral part of the team. This summer Bayern appointed Pep Guardiola and the Brazilian became unnecessary, so the transfer to Wolfsburg was a step in the right direction for him. We think that Gustavo will continue to impress the football fans and will be leading star for the Wolfsburg selection this season.

  Schalke 04 is a club that is searching for stability in the latest seasons. They have managed to earn a place in the fight for a Champions league football and after they have won the play off against PAOK they made one impressive transfer. The Royal Blues paid 10 million euro for the Ghanaian star of AC Milan Kevin-Prince Boateng. Boateng started his career in the big football in Hertha Berlin, so he is familiar with the German football. We think that Schalke made a very good move by signing him and he will drive them to the next level. The Miners made one more move in the early stages of the transfer window. They have signed the Hungarian striker Adam Szalai for 8 million euro from Mainz 05. Szalai already made an impressive start with the blue shirt by scoring 4 goals in just 7 games. We think that he will be the other star player of their season.

  The future of the Czech football is lying on the shoulders of Vladimir Darida and Vaclav Kadlec. Both of them were leading stars for their teams, respectively Viktoria Pilzen and Sparta Praha. Now Darida and Kadlec made a move to the German Bundesliga. The 23 year old Darida was signed by Freiburg for the amount of 4 milion euro. The 21 year old striker Vaclav Kadlec was signed by Eintracht Frankfurt for 3.5 million euro. We evaluate both of them as interesting talents and think that they could jump on the next level this season. Of course they should work hard and be careful not to repeat the steps of their fellow countryman Vaclav Pilar.

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