Transfer$

Thank God the European transfer windows are closed and we can get back to football. This window was more of the same; inflated prices in England, shrewd buys throughout the rest of Europe. Yet again, the English clubs have flexed their financial muscles and have spent insane amounts of money behind players that, quite frankly, do not deserve such price tags. FFP my ass.

Anthony Martial, Manchester United's new #9

Everyone from West Ham to Manchester United have strengthened their ranks. For the past couple of years we have continued to see English clubs showing off their opulence during the windows and buying sub-par/unproven talent for astronomical figures. Manchester united have just purchased Martial (1 French cap) from Monaco in a deal worth up to £58.7 million. Manchester City has spent £55m and £49m for Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling respectively. The former, apart from a great season in Germany, was seen as not good enough for Chelsea just a year prior. As for Raheem, he still has a lot of convincing to do. In total, the English clubs have spent over £870m during the summer.

In contrast, the Spanish clubs, of which 4 are representing their country in this season’s Champions’ League have spent £410m on players, selling £295m worth. Most notable of these is Athletico Madrid who sold Arda Turan (£30m), Mario Mandzukic (£14m), Toby Alderweireld (£12m), João Miranda (£11m), Mario Suárez (£7.3m), Raúl García (£7.3m) and Raúl Jiménez (£6.6m) but have replaced them with seven players inclusive of Jackson Martínez, Luciano Vietto and Filipe Luis and Oliver Torres. They’ve spent £92m this window, a figure that probably would have gotten them 2 players if they were an English club.

All this spend makes for good banter during the summer months, but the true test will be the performances during the season. With this kind of outlay you would expect English teams to reach the semis consistently, yet the most consistent performer from England has been Arsenal (net totals potentially the least amongst all the major clubs).  Well on to the business on the field, and to the business of players justifying their exorbitant prices. Should be a fun season.