SUMMER TRANSFER WINDOW 2022 WINNERS AND LOSERS.

RATING THE SUMMER TRANSFER WINDOW

 

The Summer Transfer window has officially ended. Approx. 3.6 billion Pounds and over 1400 transfer deals later, the squads of Europe's elite are set to contest against each other once again in their respective leagues on their quest for glory.

 

Let us take a look at potential winners and losers of the summer window:

 

WINNER: NOTTINGHAM FOREST

 

Forest have had themselves a remarkable rise with the newly promoted Premier League side bringing in no less than 21 signings (yep, you read it correctly, TWENTY-ONE). What’s more astonishing is that they have spent a net total of 175m Euros for a window which saw them bring in record signing Morgan Gibbs-white, Goalkeeper Dean Henderson, England star Jesse Lingard and most notably the loan deal of Renan Lodi from Atletico Madrid.

 

Steve Cooper better have his squad plans ready because this is going to be a headache to handle.

 

 

LOSER: SERIE A

 

One of the best title races last season that went down the wire, Serie A has been affected by a massive exodus of quality players. Chellini, Kessie, De Ligt, Mertens, Kulusevski, Romero, Bentancur, Scammaca, Ruiz, Koulibaly, and Sanchez are a few names that no longer ply their trade in Italy.

 

While names like Lukaku, Dest, and Di Maria have now landed in the Serie A, it looks increasingly unlikely that an Italian outfit might be a genuine contender for the UCL. 

 

 

WINNER: FC BARCELONA

 

Every person associated with football knows the dire straits that FC Barcelona is currently in. However, the Barca board did not hesitate to make moves during this window as they managed to orchestrate a mass exodus of 20 players, renew two players and add another eight players to their roster. No one in their mind would imagine that the club would get Bellerin, Alonso, Raphinha, Kounde, Kessie, Christensen and to top all of this, a proven goal machine in Robert Lewandowski.

 

Sure, there were losses in this Lever-strengthened heist and while some signings and departures are questionable but truly from a sporting perspective, it could not get any better for the Catalan team as they look to challenge their rivals on Domestic and International levels.

 

 

 

  

 

LOSER: LEICESTER CITY

 

A team that was so close to clinching the top four spots on two separate occasions, Brandon Roger's side has been a complete let down in the transfer market not only because they are the same under-whelming side that finished eighth last season, its because they now have lost both Kasper Schmeichel and Wesley Fofana in the same window. They failed to capitalize on the 70Mil pocketed from the Fofana deal. While they depend heavily on Youri Tielemans, James Maddison, and Jaime Vardy, they have various suitors from the rest of the Premier League and Vardy is going to turn 36 come January. The heat is on at the King Power and it will be a miracle if Rogers manages to stay on post-Christmas.

WINNER: NORTH LONDON

 

Mikael Arteta and Antonio Conte went shopping and hit it home where the transfers are concerned. 

 

Arsenal who finished in an agonizing 5th place behind their bitter rivals Tottenham have managed to rope in Gabriel Jesus and Oleksander Zinchenko from City, the talented Fabio Viera from Porto, and William Saliba, who has now fit into the Gunners squad after his loan spells. 

 

Spurs managed to refresh the squad with seven star-powered signings including Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski, and Rodrigo Bentancur, with the captures of Ivan Perisic, Richarlison, Clement Lenglet, Yves Bissouma, and Djed Spence. Spurs look to make a serious statement in the Premier League this season.

 

Expecting fireworks in North London this season. 

 

 

 

LOSERS: CHELSEA 

 

While they managed to sign Aubameyang on deadline day, it seems more of a loss than a gain for Chelsea this summer as the Todd Boehly management appears to have overspent this summer on signings that don’t seem to fill in the vacant places. They roped in Raheem Sterling from City who, let’s face it, has made a name for himself at missing open chances spectacularly. Gave Brighton a whooping 50Mil for Marc Cucurella (money that ManCity was not ready to pay),

paid Napoli 33Mil for a 31-year-old Kalidou Koulibaly, and 70Mil for Fofana who shows talent but could be a significant hit or miss with this Chelsea side. They also missed on many key targets like Raphinha, De Ligt, Kounde, Jesus, and Ake. Unfortunate as it seems, it doesn’t look like Werner, Lukaku, Christensen, and Rudiger are properly replaced.

 

(Update: And now with Thomas Tuchel shown the door, Chelsea are in deep, deep trouble.)

 

WINNERS: MANCHESTER CITY

 

How do you improve on a Title-winning side like Pep Guardiola's Manchester City? Simple, you add Alvarez, Philips, Akanji, Gomez, Ortega, and Erling Braut Haaland to the mix. Already a side considered favorites to lift the English crown, ManCity boasts a serious depth and this could spell bad news for their rivals. Haaland looks like he is ready to break each and every goalscoring record and backed by this Mancity squad led by the ginger wizard Kevin De Bryune,  you can expect Pep Guardiola to lift multiple silverware by the end of the season.

 

 

LOSERS: MANCHESTER UNITED

 

The sun doesn’t seem to be shining that brightly on the red side of Manchester. For United and their new manager Erik Ten Hag it has been a rollercoaster of a ride with a few quality players like Antony, Casemiro, Eriksen, and Malacia.

 

However, it does not change the fact that they managed to lose Pogba and Lingard on a free. While Cristiano Ronaldo unwillingly managed to remain with the united squad, it will be a challenge for ETH to get this club to function as a unit and to get the silverware flowing into the club.

WINNERS: PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN

 

It would be an uphill task to replicate the previous transfer window that saw the likes of Hakimi, Donnarumma, Ramos, and Messi come into the Stade de France.

However, after a disappointing run under former manager Mauricio Pochettino, the Parisian outfit under Christophe Galtier decided to cash on quality talent like Vitinha, Carlos Soler, Mendes, Renato Sanchez, Ekitike, and Ruiz while renewing the contract of the French superstar, Kylian Mbappe.  

 

Le beau jeu.

 

LOSERS: REST OF THE WORLD

It should come as no surprise that the Premier League managed to shatter its own spending record and go above the 2 Billion mark. The PL has managed to spend more than the Spanish, German, Italian and French leagues combined.

Many top clubs in the other major leagues were dropped by players in order to play in the cash-rich league. Major clubs were even beaten by teams that are currently battling relegation in the PL. For ex: Alexander Isak went from scoring against Barcelona for Sociedad to signing for Newcastle United.

The definitive proof that the English league has become too rich to compete with and it looks like it will only get worse for the others in the near future.

 

 - ASHER COLLIN ALEX DIAS