In order to determine the winners and losers in the transfer market, I will be marking each team's dealings out of 10 on five different topics: big name (relative to the club), value for money, team balance, player retention and absence of panic buying. From these rankings, I will be able to determine a league table of their transfer dealings. These will almost certainly not be indicative of how the league will go, but do give some indication of how well the clubs, and more importantly, their finances, are run.
Team
|
Big Name
|
Value
|
Team Balance
|
Player Retention
|
No Panic-buys
|
Total
|
Chelsea
|
9
|
6
|
8
|
7
|
8
|
38
|
Hull City
|
8
|
6
|
7
|
7
|
6
|
34
|
Stoke City
|
7
|
8
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
33
|
Manchester City
|
6
|
5
|
7
|
7
|
8
|
33
|
Newcastle United
|
6
|
7
|
6
|
6
|
8
|
33
|
Arsenal
|
8
|
6
|
5
|
8
|
5
|
32
|
Everton
|
7
|
6
|
6
|
8
|
5
|
32
|
Swansea City
|
6
|
6
|
7
|
6
|
6
|
31
|
Liverpool
|
7
|
6
|
7
|
5
|
5
|
30
|
Sunderland
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
5
|
7
|
30
|
Tottenham Hotspur
|
5
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
7
|
30
|
Queens Park Rangers
|
7
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
5
|
30
|
West Ham United
|
7
|
5
|
5
|
7
|
6
|
30
|
Leicester City
|
5
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
6
|
29
|
Aston Villa
|
2
|
7
|
7
|
7
|
6
|
29
|
Manchester United
|
9
|
4
|
6
|
4
|
5
|
28
|
Crystal Palace
|
4
|
6
|
6
|
7
|
7
|
28
|
West Bromwich Albion
|
5
|
6
|
5
|
5
|
7
|
28
|
Burnley
|
1
|
6
|
6
|
7
|
6
|
26
|
Southampton
|
5
|
5
|
6
|
2
|
4
|
22
|
Winners
Chelsea - Jose Mourinho knew his transfer targets at the start of the window, and he got his men. Though he may have had to pay a little over the odds for the likes of Fabregas and Diego Costa, the early £30m fees they had to stump up pale in comparison to the ridiculous figures seen out of Manchester United. Calm on deadline day, Chelsea's new recruits balance their team excellently, and they will be a force to be reckoned with come May.
Hull City - Perhaps surprising considering the deadline day chaos to come out of the club, Hull have also had a successful window. Their late signings of Hatem Ben Arfa, Gaston Ramirez and Abel Hernandez add significant strength in depth and could yet prove to be the key in their fight to reach the top half of the table.
Stoke City - Based mostly on the value for money aspect of the test, Stoke's signings up front of Mame Biram Diouf and Bojan will complement the creative talents of Marko Arnautovic behind. Mark Hughes went into the window knowing he needed goals, and if Diouf's stunner against Man City is anything to go by, they now have plenty of those in their front line.
Manchester City - Unlike their city neighbours and rivals, City got their transfer dealings well and truly done with before the final days of the window. With a mixture of bargain deals for Bacary Sagna and Frank Lampard, and big ticket transactions like Fernando and Eliaquim Mangala, City's squad is probably the strongest in depth in the league. The prices may have been slightly steep, but there was not a moment of panic from Manuel Pellegrini. But would you ever expect it?!
Newcastle United - Rounding off the top five is the Toon. Despite constant complaints (and in many regards, completely justified) towards owner Mike Ashley, the fact remains that Newcastle have continued to bring in new (albeit consistently French) talent. Remy Cabella and Emanuele Rivière look like excellent acquisitions, and I feel they could be challenging the European places come May.
Losers
Southampton - I don't care what anyone says, you lose five of your biggest assets from the previous season, you're going to struggle. Though the Saints have seemed to dip into the market with some success, it will take time for those players to gel. The panic buying in the final hours only caps a remarkably busy, if a little traumatic, window for Southampton.
Burnley - It's a great shame, but Burnley simply don't have the funds to attract the calibre of players brought in by sides around them. If your biggest signing of the window is George Boyd, a benchwarmers at Hull the previous season, it's less of a marquee and more of a tiny gazebo. That they held onto Danny Ings is somewhat of a success, but I fear the Championship beckons for the ginger Mourinho.
West Bromwich Albion - This was fairly simple. Overpaying on your big name signing, whose name isn't very large anyway? Check. The exit of a number of your key defenders, leaving you threadbare at the back? Check. Bringing in a manager who, though well respected in the game, has little experience of Premier League management? Check. And the prognosis? A season of struggle awaits.
Crystal Palace - Though I can't be too critical of the final days of the transfer window at Selhurst Park, as the upheaval off the field will have affected transfers, the fact remains that the window was a shambles for the Eagles. Bringing Wilfried Zaha in may prove to be an excellent bit of business, but he is a risk. As for the rest, slim pickings. Though they held onto the majority of their key men from last campaign, I'm expecting them to slide slowly down the table.
Manchester United - Controversial? Perhaps, but hear me out. Though they have undoubtedly brought in the biggest names of the window, the expense to which they had to go to get them was absurd. Being a lifelong blue, I have had to put up with many a United fan argue that City have bought their league titles with their huge spending in recent windows, and I have always come back with the same argument. £5 is £5, whether you spend it in 10 minutes or 10 years. United have consistently spent medium amounts on players, and their historical total far exceeds the amount City have spent. The fact that City have spent it in five years is irrelevant - they have used what they have to the best of their ability.
It will be interesting to see if the same hypocrite United fans later their opinions now they are the ones spending. My earlier argument means I cannot be upset at United's spending without being a hypocrite myself, and I have no problem with them flexing their financial muscle. I simply find it amusing that they are spending that amount to buy 4th, rather than the titles that City are accused of buying.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that we have witnessed a multi-record breaking transfer window. Some clubs have made wise calls, others not so much, but it will be interesting to see whether my transfer table gives any indication of the trajectory of the clubs involved.
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