The Transfer Window: Graded
The transfer market is a time for all football teams to improve their squad and get rid of players who may be seen as surplus to requirements. Every year, an incredible amount of money is spent across the world to bring in the players that clubs feel will take them to the next level. The thing is, some clubs do this better than others. In this article, I will be grading the transfer performance of every single Premier League team from F to A+, based on how their club has strengthened, as well as the overall spending from each club. Let’s get to it!
Arsenal: B
Arsenal have had a pretty average transfer market in all honesty. The late addition of Thomas Partey is big, considering Özil isn‘t playing and Arsenal lack a big presence in central midfield. That was an area they really needed to strengthen, and they have. Gabriel is also a big signing, trying to strengthen a very leaky defence from last season, which he no doubt will. Willian on a free could go either way at the moment, and Premier League fans will know that if he is having a good game, he is a complete game-changer.
Aston Villa: D+
Have Aston Villa strengthened in this window? They didn’t have a Premier League level striker in their ranks, so they spent £27.72m on an unproven championship striker. Emiliano Martinez between the sticks looks to be a safe pair of hands and Bertrand Traoré could come into his own after he has some time to settle with the team, but definitely a headscratcher. Villa needed to do more for me and spend a little smarter than they did, which is why I’ve had to give them a low grade.
Brighton and Hove Albion: C-
Brighton’s incoming list looks quite the sight until you realise that it‘s all loaned players who are coming back in. As for new starting players, the reading is a little grim. Lallana on a free provides experience and Veltman for only £900,000 is a steal from Ajax. But losing the creativity of Mooy in midfield for half his market value, along with selling Anthony Knockaert to Premier League rivals Fulham is really quite bad. Not the worst window but showed no ambition for me.
Burnley: F
Well, this is easy. Hendrick and Hart out on frees is atrocious, and they thought the answer was Dale Stephens?! Bad. I understand that the pandemic has affected the window but it seems to have affected Burnley the worst. 0 points in 3 games. No backing from management. Absolute Fail.
Chelsea: A-
Now you might think that this grade is controversial but just think about it for a second. The only player Chelsea have brought in with Premier League experience is Ben Chilwell, who had an outstanding debut performance in a Chelsea shirt. There are some incredibly talented players, all of which have been bought for a pretty fair price, but they will take a while to gel which I think hurts Chelsea in the short term. I expect them to be hitting peak form after Christmas, but will they be in the position they want to be in by that point?
Crystal Palace: C+
Palace to me have done sensible business. Getting Eberechi Eze comes with similar problems as Ollie Watkins for Aston Villa, but with a smaller transfer fee and therefore less weight on his shoulders. They also sold centre-forward Alexander Sörloth who was on loan at Trabzonspor last season for £18m, which is the dream for a player surplus to requirements. Getting Batshuayi back on loan was key for Palace this season so they’ve done decent work. If they look to be bolder in January, they could be on for another mid-table season.
Everton: A+
Can you give them anything else? James Rodriguez on a free, Doucouré for £19.89m, Allan for £22.50m and the biggest player they have lost is Morgan Schneiderlin! Great business from Ancelotti and co! When you talk about which team currently looks better than they did last year, I don’t think another team has improved in quality more than Everton. I’m looking forward to seeing how Everton perform this season, perhaps a new goalkeeper in January is needed (sorry Pickford) and Everton will look like a very scary prospect indeed.
Fulham: C-
Antonee Robinson is highly tipped from Wigan and is creative. While it’s a big jump from League One to the prem, he looks ready and raring to go - along with a potentially exciting young winger from Leipzig, Ademola Lookman. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is very shrewd business on loan and could run things in midfield, and Areola in goal has already started proving his worth on loan. I think they will upset some big teams, but there are still question marks in defence for me, so I gave them a pass.
Leeds United: B+
Let me throw some names at you. Rodrigo. Raphinha. Hélder Costa. Robin Koch. Diego Llorente. All first-team players and already showing their worth in the Premier League, other than maybe Raphinha right now. The scary thing here is all of these are permanent transfers! They may have spent close to £100m, but they have shown the most desire from any of the promoted teams to stay up. Don’t be surprised if Leeds start upsetting some of the big boys.
Leicester City: C+
I don’t know if Leicester look any better this season than they did last. Castagne has been very impressive in the games I’ve seen and looks like a great player. Hovever, Fofana was their biggest signing though and he hasn’t started a game yet. His performances when he comes into the side will be the make or break of Leicester’s transfer window for me. Selling Chilwell to Chelsea for a great price does help, especially with Justin coming in and showing that he has some real potential. Lacking some desire for me this window though.
Liverpool: B-
The issue I have with Liverpool’s transfer window is they didn’t really need to improve much. Their front three will not be changed realistically, even having brought in Diogo Jota from Wolves for a pretty penny, their midfield looked solid with Henderson, Fabinho, Keita, Wijnaldum etc. But what they have brought in is experience in Thiago, shown by his accomplished performances in the league so far. Selling Brewster for £23.40m is crazy, and getting rid of Dejan Lovren was probably necessary. I would‘ve liked them to have bought a new centre-back but I think Liverpool have done what they wanted to do.
Manchester City: B-
Man City needed to address their leaky defence from last year, so what do they do? Buy one of the highest tipped young centre backs in Portugal for double his market value, and pick up Nathan Aké from Bournemouth. They have made some other transfers in, the only first team player realistically is Ferran Torres at right-wing. They needed a centre back badly, and they’ve got their man. Sané to Bayern was almost inevitable, even if it‘s for a smaller fee than they maybe could have got for him, but I think they have had a fine window.
Manchester United: C
This is a modern Man United transfer window if I’ve ever seen it. Van de Beek and Telles are the big names coming in, which are genuinely good buys, but then they went and pressed the Edinson Cavani panic button. Now he is on a free, which makes it a little better, but this is a man who could only manage four goals in Ligue 1 last season in 14 games. No huge outgoings that affect the first team too much, so there is a lot to be said for that. As Man United though, I expect more from a transfer window than this.
Newcastle United: C+
Newcastle have done some very good business this window. Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser in from Bournemouth jump out as class signings if they can get some game time to gel with the rest of the team and Jeff Hendrick on a free, as I mentioned, is a steal. Jamal Lewis is also a promising left-back who will get good game time at Newcastle. No big outgoings really and they look a better team than they did three months ago.
Sheffield United: C-
Losing one of the best goalkeepers last season due to the end of his loan is really tough to take for Sheffield United. They would have loved to have kept Dean Henderson but getting Ramsdale in as a replacement is not a bad bit of business at all. Rhian Brewster on his day can do a lot for a Sheffield side who, it has to be said, lack firepower. I do expect them to suffer from some second season syndrome this year as I’m just not sure they look much better than they did at the end of last season.
Southampton: C
I can’t in good faith say that Southampton have had a good transfer window. Walker-Peters is a good attacking right-back and Theo Walcott on a free provides great Premier League experience. Losing Höjbjerg is probably the most notable outgoing along with Boufal. I’m trying to find things to say about this window for Southampton and I can’t which shows how average it really is.
Tottenham Hotspur: B
This transfer window for Spurs could either be genius or disastrous. Sergio Reguilón looks like great business as they needed someone to challenge Ben Davies at that left-back position. Matt Doherty on the right is also a good purchase, except he‘s not used to a back four and may get exploited in defence. The big purchase is obviously Gareth Bale back in North London, which should be a boost for the team and Vinícius should be a good understudy to Harry Kane. A good window, but was Bale just a nostalgia buy?
West Bromwich Albion: B-
Ahh, the Diangana saga. West Ham fans are very upset that he has been sold, which can only be a good thing for West Brom. A young winger with massive potential, he looks like a really good purchase. Matheus Pereira has also been playing pretty well in the early games of the season. Of the promoted teams I would say this window is right down the middle. They haven’t spent the big bucks like Leeds or Fulham but what they have bought is quality, plus Branislav Ivanovic in on a free has potential to be a stroke of genius.
West Ham United: C-
Now on the flip side of that, clearly there is unrest at West Ham. Having said that, the fans do love to get on the club’s back but looking at their window it’s pretty clear to see why. Soucek is a big signing and Coufal looks like a decent right-back to help the hammers avoid relegation. With the board showing no faith in the manager, loan signing Said Benrahma needs to be their saving grace. He showed last season he was one of the best in the championship, but can he make the step up to be a Premier League performer?
Wolverhampton Wanderers: C
Wolves‘ transfer window is pretty difficult to place for me. On one hand, they have signed a man dubbed “the next Ronaldo“, as well as an experienced, pacey right-back and a tenured safe pair of hands at left-back. Wolves look like they are working with one eye to the future in this window which is classic Wolves. On the other hand, losing Diogo Jota to Liverpool is a huge blow, and Matt Doherty to Spurs is also a disappointment for Wolves fans. They need their new boys to get up and running quickly, otherwise this could be looked back on as a huge flop of a transfer window for the old gold.
Written by Ryan Sheff
My name is Ryan and I am a software engineer. I have a lot of hobbies, most of which include watching some kind of sport, so I look forward to bringing all sorts of sports articles to The Everyday!