It has been a month since the transfer window closed shut. The English Premier League has been progressing for five games while the teams get their chances to show off their new signings. All eyes are on the Premier League’s ‘Big Five’, namely Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. Which team has succeeded in signing the right players for their ‘perfect squad’?
Let’s start with Manchester United, the club that set a British transfer record fee at £60 million for Argentinian ace Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid. The former Real Madrid star has scored two goals and two assists for United. Despite the fact that Manchester United signed playmaker Juan Mata last year, the squad still lacked the sharpness and speed to kill off games when needed. Taking into consideration that this is still the early stages of the competition, Di Maria’s signing has proved to be a decent one at best.
To every soccer fans’ surprise, Manchester City did not sign any big names over the summer. However, City did shock fans and pundits alike when they signed former Chelsea legend Frank Lampard on loan. The commotion in West London did not settle, especially after Lampard scored his first goal for City against his former club to equalise the scoreline. To be fair, City did not need to sign anymore players after last season’s performance. The signing of Frank Lampard is just a deal they could not refuse.
Liverpool lost a valuable talisman in Luis Suarez when the Uruguayan transferred to Spanish giants Barcelona. Taking his place is Mario Balotelli, who signed for a mere £16 million from AC Milan. Liverpool has lost three games so far with their new signing yet to score a single goal. Fans can only hope that the clubs’ new signings would bring in the success that Suarez was able to bring.
Having a reputation of not spending much in transfer windows, Arsenal managed to surprise their fans by signing Barcelona star Alexis Sanchez for £30 million. The Chilean forward has scored two goals and an assist. The club has won only two of their games and drew the other three. Despite Sanchez’s heroics, Arsenal still needs to fill the gaping hole which is their striking options.
Finally, there is Chelsea. No fans or pundits would argue when stating that Chelsea made the best signings of the transfer window. In the previous season, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho made several references to the lack of clinical strikers at the club. The West London club has managed to fill that role with the signing of Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid. The new striker now has seven goals to his name having scored a hat-trick in the game against Everton. In addition to this, Chelsea replaced Frank Lampard with Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona. The Spanish midfielder has six assists, the highest in the league. The combined price tag of £59 million for Costa and Fabregas seems like a bargain, considering the inflated prices of world-class players today. Well done, Chelsea, you have won the Premier League transfer window.
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