The Best Buys In English Football

Deadline day was as hectic as always on Friday, however, it was a very exciting Summer for fans of a number of clubs with the amount of transfers both incoming and outgoing. Here are my 10 top transfers and the 1 that just missed out. So, in no particular order....

Eden Hazard (Lille - Chelsea) 
Chelsea were the real big spenders this Summer with Roman Abramovich seemingly allowing new manager Roberto Di Matteo to splash the cash for the newly crowned Champions League Winners. The long-wrangling saga of where Hazard's destination would be, was all the rage; the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid etc were all rumoured to be interested and I think I even heard that Dave Whelan was trying to entice the Belgian to Wigan Athletic (possibly unfounded). Anyway, Chelsea won the race for the signature of Hazard and he has impressed greatly in the "new Chelsea" system. He has linked up with fellow playmaker Juan Mata excellently and already has 6 assists in just 3 league games so far as well as scoring for Chelsea too. Excellent signing and, at the minute, looks to be worth every penny of the reported £32m transfer fee. Whelan must be looking on enviously - image the goals Franco Di Santo could have scored with that service!

HAZARD: A dangerous player

Clint Dempsey (Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur)
On the topic of transfer sagas, I think it's very appropriate that we now move on to our American cousin, Clint Dempsey. It looked for all the world that Dempsey was heading for Merseyside to join Liverpool when the window opened. For one reason or another, that didn't work out (LFC surely didn't splash their whole transfer budget on Joe Allen?!) In a bid to try and force through a move to Anfield, Clint refused to play for Fulham again, effectively going on strike to get his move. On deadline day, the Texan was still a Fulham "player" (not that he would play). Aston Villa tried an audacious move to bring him to Villa Park, Fulham agreed a fee with Paul Lambert's side however, Dempsey turned it down and, in a remarkable turn, out of the blue came Spurs and snapped up the USA international for a fee believed to be £6m (typical Spurs). Liverpool fans weren't happy. Spurs fans were. Clint... well, he certainly clocked up the mileage!

DEMPSEY: Got his move... in the end!

Steven Naismith (Rangers - Everton)
The Rangers situation wasn't a good one... unless you are managers that are trying to snare their players on free transfers. That's exactly what David Moyes did. The Scotsman (Naismith, not Moyes) decided against transferring his contract from "Rangers" to the "Newco Rangers" in a long wrangling case involving the club. Naismith linked up again, with his old strike partner, Nikica Jelavic. It looks a deserved signing for Moyes, after spending £7m on Jelavic just 6 months before he would have probably been available for nothing. A good signing for Everton, who seem famed for their lack of finances to sign a player. Naismith has already found the net for the Toffees, grabbing a hat-trick in Tony Hibbert's testimonial against AEK Athens... having said that, even Hibbert scored in that game so perhaps it's not that great an achievement. I'm sure he'll do well in blue.

NAISMITH: Back with his old pal Jelavic

Jan Vertonghen (Ajax - Tottenham Hotspur)
It was an interesting Summer for Spurs fans. The makeover took place; AVB (Andre Villas-Boas) came in to replace Harry Redknapp and Andre got straight to work in tearing apart a decent side, replacing a number of high profile names. Luka Modric joined Real Madrid, Rafael Van der Vaart returned to Hamburg are 2 examples. The Vertonghen signing was something that was needed; the centre back positions at Spurs were something that needed sorting out with the likes of Michael Dawson and Ledley King (now retired) being rather injury prone. At 25, he's a good age to develop, as well as having some good experience. He's another Belgian who seems to have a good future and he's not the last in this blog. Good capture for Spurs when you think he was courted by a number of decent sides. A fee of £14m is a reasonable price for a player in this day and age too.

VERTONGHEN: Will be a mainstay in the Spurs side

Julio Cesar (Inter Milan - QPR)
This was another transfer that almost came out of nowhere. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who took this move with a pinch of salt after first hearing about it. Julio Cesar, a goalkeeper, who, a couple of years ago was the best, if not, one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Now, he's turning up at Loftus Road to sign for QPR?! For some reason, Inter got shot of their Brazilian number 1 and it appears Tony Fernandes sold the club to him, especially after hearing this quote from Cesar: "I joined QPR because I feel we can win the Premier League". I'm not saying they won't, but can you imagine, in your head, Mark Hughes lifting the trophy?... No, me neither. Julio also has to realise that there may be times when the likes of Clint Hill and Shaun Derry will be in the same starting XI as him. On a more serious note, it's an excellent signing for QPR and it's a player I've always wanted to see in the Premier League so everyone's a winner, right? Well, unless your name's Robert Green.

CESAR: What is he doing at QPR?!

Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund - Manchester United)
You don't often get many talented Japanese footballers. I think the last half-decent one was Junichi Inamoto, who played for Fulham. However, this one is a very good player! In inaugural part of Borussia Dortmund's recent success, Kagawa was on the radar of a number of clubs for his impressive goals and assists tally during his time in the Bundesliga. United won the race for his signature after agreeing a fee believed to be around £15m... a tidy profit for Dortmund, who signed him from Curezo Osaka in 2010 for just 350,000 Euros. Good business! Kagawa likes to play "inbetween the lines", linking up with the midfield and the impressive strike-force that United now have to choose from. He'll make an impact in the Premier League and still has a long time left in his career. He's already opened his account for the Red Devils. Could be a United great.

KAGAWA: Good addition to United's squad

Santi Cazorla (Malaga - Arsenal)
It appears that Malaga's gamble of signing big names in a bid to shake up La Liga and the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid failed to pay off. The club's financial difficulties meant they had to sell their prized asset just 1 year after signing the talented Spaniard from Villarreal. Arsene Wenger soon swooped to grab the little schemer for a fee of £15m. Wenger spending money I hear you ask!? He's probably been 1 of the stars of the Premier League in these early games and he scored in Arsenal's latest win against Liverpool. Wenger would have been hoping Robin van Persie just ahead to bang the goals in but unfortunately for the Arsenal boss, Olivier Giroud is the man who is meant to score the goals. They've still got Marouanne Chamakh though. Finally, let's be honest, would I put Cazorla in my Fantasy Premier League team if he wasn't a good player?

CAZORLA: Arsenal's Spanish schemer

Andy Carroll (Liverpool - West Ham United)
This may be a little bit of a surprise to a few of you but I think the big man's move to Upton Park is a bit of a master-stroke by Sam Allardyce. Carroll reunites with his old pal and mentor Kevin Nolan in east London and Allardyce will be expecting goals from the Liverpool loanee. On Liverpool, I bet they're kicking themselves after letting the £35m man leave with only Luis Suarez (who's hardly prolific) and a youth team striker as the only recognised centre forwards on their books! Expect to see Carroll, with a run of games, to notch around 15 goals this season, especially from the service out wide from fellow new boy Matt Jarvis. An impressive debut against Fulham showed no signs of needing to gel in his new team in a 3-0 win. The move away from the north-west could just be the kick-start he needs to revitalise his slightly  flailing career.

Carroll (L) and Nolan (R) are back together again!

Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea - West Bromwich Albion)
The move to West Brom for Romelu Lukaku is an ideal opportunity to show everyone at Chelsea just what he can do. Since joining from Anderlecht last Summer, the striker's opportunities at Stamford Bridge were limited. Dubbed "the new Didier Drogba", Lukaku should work well up from with Shane Long in a little 'n large partnership. He caused problems against Spurs the other week as WBA started the season off very well. A shrewd move from Steve Clarke who's negotiations for Lukaku's services may have been helped by being pals with Blues' boss Roberto Di Matteo. Could play a big part in West Brom's season. On the topic of West Brom, for me, they've been a real surprise this season so far.

LUKAKU: Loan star

Pablo Hernandez (Valencia - Swansea)
The signing of Hernandez is another great piece of business by new Swansea boss Michael Laudrup. Laudrup seems to be taking more players from Spain than Rafa Benitez did at Liverpool and it seems to be working. Michu has been a real star for the Swans so far and with Hernandez whipping in the service from the right hand side, he should score goals for fun. A real snip at just £5.5m and at 27, you'd think that Hernandez would be in the prime of his career. A quality player who should set the Premier League alight. For me, a better replacement for Scott Sinclair, at a much cheaper price. If I was Laudrup, I would have tried to tie him down for longer than the three-year-deal he signed.

HERNANDEZ: Great signing

The one who missed out...

Gaston Ramirez (Bologna - Southampton)
The signing of Ramirez was one that sounded a little too good to be true. The negotiations seemed to go on for a lifetime before boss, Nigel Adkins finally tied up the deal. It's strange that Ramirez chose the south coast with (respectfully) bigger clubs chasing his signature. It looks a great piece of business, however, why has he missed out? The fee of £12m could be good for the long term however, it's a little bit of a gamble if the Uruguayan's potential doesn't come off. Added to the fact that he came from Serie A in Italy, and you do wonder whether there is some third party involved. We all know what happened with the Carlos Tevez/West Ham situation a few years back.

RAMIREZ: Hot property this Summer

Photos courtesy of Zimbio, Southampton FC, Swansea City FC, The Telegraph

Separating the men from the boys

It's that time of year again.  The business end of the season or, as some call it, "squeeky bum time".  It won't be long until teams will embrace the joy of a promotion or a league win and those teams not so lucky having the heartbreak of goal difference away from success or relegation.


Here, I am going to do a series of the ups and the downs in the four tiers of the English game.  Who's winning things and who's crying on the pitch at the end of the campaign.

I'll begin with the Premier League.

WINNERS/TOP 4

The big ongoing battle at the top has been, for a long time Manchester United v Manchester City.  Roberto Mancini's side seemed to have had the upper hand for the majority of the season, but, after the away defeat at Swansea, United capitalised and, at this moment in time are 4 points clear of their neighbours.

City's home form was the real catalyst behind their successful campaign (Recently going a whole calendar year winning EVERY home league match they played).  However, away from home they have looked rather shaky with draws against Fulham and West Brom along with defeats at Sunderland and Everton.

United on the other hand seem to have really pushed on since their 6-1 home mauling by City way back in October 2011 and, as the pundits regularly say "get better during the second half of the season".  By the looks of things, the Red Devils have the easier run in too.

Where City really did cock it up was losing Joleon Lescott and the influential skipper Vincent Kompany due to suspensions and injuries and having to call upon the mistake-prone Stefan Savic at the back, a number of his mistakes have led to opposition goals.

Savic has hasn't had the best of times

The early promise shown by Edin Dzeko seemed to have faded away a while ago and for some reason, Mancini decides that his best forward Sergio Aguero is only good enough for the bench some weeks.

United haven't looked brilliant all season but, as you normally see with Fergie's side they win any way they can, even without the presence of Nemanja Vidic for the majority of the season and relying on the not so good Jonny Evans (How he has the audacity to pick up a wage I don't know).

So, prediction time..... For me, United will be the ones celebrating yet another title success - City, and in the words of Anne Robinson on The Weakest Link, will be left with nothing apart from a runners up spot after bowing out of every other competition.

The other two spots for Champions League places next season I believe will fall to Arsenal and Spurs finishing in 3rd and 4th respectively.

The Harry Redknapp saga has come at just the wrong time for Spurs who were going great guns before the court case and the England job talk came around.  They'll still be top 4 but I reckon Arsenal will pip them to third.

Arsenal to finish third... after their dreadful start you would have been joking if you'd said that back in September time.  Their reliant Robin is obviously the main reason for their "decent" season, weighing in with 37 goals in all competitions and being involved in 67% of Arsenal's goals all season.  He seems to have got over his different range of injuries now which begs the question "Just how many goals would he have got in his Gunners career if he had stayed fit the whole time?!"

VAN THE MAN: Has had a memorable season

RELEGATION

It's tight down there! Three of Blackburn, Bolton, QPR, Wigan and Wolves will be Championship sides next season in mine and many's opinion.

Firstly, Blackburn.  They really have come on leaps and bounds recently and, admittedly I was one of the "Kean Out Brigade" despite not even being a Rovers fan!  He's shown he's a tough nut to crack and despite the abuse and hatred coming from the Ewood Park stands he hasn't been broken and has got his team winning now which ultimately stopped the boo boys.  His purchase of 38  28 year old Yakubu in the Summer has been a real masterstroke with the big man weighing in with his fair share of goals helping his side move clear of the bottom 3.  Kean was once an idiot, but now, for me, is an absolute legend!  Blackburn will be SAFE.

Kean has turned Rovers' fortunes around

Next up are Bolton, who similarly to Blackburn began awfully but gradually Owen Coyle has turned their fortunes around.  Due to the events that happened at Whit Hart Lane last week to Fabrice Muamba, Wanderers will be focusing on his health at the moment rather than the next game but I'm sure, with the players they have they will be alright by the end of the season.

Now to who I think will finish in the bottom three; QPR, Wolves and Wigan Athletic.

I'm a huge fan of Roberto Martinez, in fact, many are huge fans of Roberto Martinez; he's just a genuine, nice guy but I feel that the time has come for them to finally, finally get relegated down to the Championship.  Over the last few years they have been very lucky at the tail end of the season - Last season saw Charles N'Zogbia almost single handedly keep them up and if it wasn't for a Hugo Rodallega goal against Stoke on the last day they would have gone down.  Playing well at the moment but I just feel there's not enough in the tank for them.  They'll battle though, that's for sure.

Next is Wolves who, for me made a wrong move in replacing Mick McCarthy as manager.  Plenty of experience in the type of situation they are in at the moment and instead of replacing him with a proven manager they appointed Terry Connor.  They just look like a demoralised team, low on confidence along with having a captain who turns up to training drunk.  Conceding goals for fun and having an in-ability to score goals doesn't bode well for the Molineux club.

Its been that type of season for Wolves under Connor (L) and McCarthy (R)

And, finally, to QPR.  It gets on my nerves when people say that a team is too good to go down... We've seen it in the past with Newcastle and West Ham getting relegated over the last two years and I fear QPR could be that type of club.  Mark Hughes hasn't had the impact that everyone was expecting and, if your team have discipline problems then it isn't the best of starts.

Bottom 3 for me:

18. QPR
19. Wigan Athletic
20. Wolves

Has the tide turned in Manchester?

Sunday 23rd October 2011. This is the date that Manchester City fans will remember for the rest of their lives. The day they mauled their arch rivals Manchester United 6-1, at Old Trafford - United's heaviest defeat since 1955.

Safe trip back to London

As much as the result was impressive, many people were instead asking the question Have the sky blues taken over from their city rivals?


One look at the squads of both sides and you feel that the answer is yes. Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney  Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck are United's four main men in the striking department whereas City have numerous top class strikers to choose from in Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and until January at least, Carlos Tevez.  The City midfield has an array of talent too - Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure, David Silva, Adam Johnson, Nigel De Jong, James Milner and Gareth Barry are the regulars that Italian gaffer Roberto Mancini tinkers with whereas United, under Sir Alex Ferguson seem to have much less of an influence in the middle of the park since the retirement of Paul Scholes.

Scholes was key to the United midfield

The central midfield options of Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Darron Gibson shows you that United certainly lack quality in that department and teams could, similarly like City and David Silva did on Sunday simply play their way through the middle of United's midfield.  There is no ball winner or Roy Keane like hardman in the middle. Anderson always flatters to deceive, Cleverley is an up and coming youngster, Carrick is not worls class, Fletcher... how has he won everything he's won? Should be playing for an average Premier League team such as QPR, Everton or everbody's second favourite team; Fulham.

At the back United, without Nemanja Vidic look extremely vulnerable.  In my view, Rio Ferdinand's best days are behind him. Its alright being rated 86 overall on Fifa 12 but in real life, sadly for Rio he is not up to the standard.  Speaking of not being up to standard I move on to Jonny Evans who seems to have been around for years but a quick look tells me the Northern Irishman is still only 23 years old. Evans always seemed dodgy to me and had another poor game for the Red Devils on Sunday with "Super Mario" Balotelli tormenting him, turning him and then getting Evans to bring him down which ultimately saw the former Sunderland loanee sent off.  As well as Evans you have two youngsters in there in Chris "Did you know he used to play for Maidstone" Smalling and Phil Jones - I do wish the commentators would stop going on about Smalling's past   I must have been told he played for a local Kent side about 2,028 times now. Jones is decent though and I feel he will be a regular England player in a year or two. Patrice Evra has also been a consistent performer over the years.

Smalling played for Maidstone dontchaknow!

Finally, the goalkeeper. David De Gea arrived with most United fans going on about just how great this bearded Spaniard is.  As far as I have seen De Gea flaps at crosses, doesn't save the easier shots and gets nutmegged a lot.  Yes, he maybe decent in the future but at this moment in time isn't that good in my opinion.  Maybe Sir Alex should give Kuszczak a go?

United can't believe their luck... Karma...

City on the other hand have a real leader in the Belgian stopper Vincent Kompany and ex-Everton player Jolean Lescott who I have to admit I have never been a massive fan of but he has had a terrific start to the season it has to be said.  At right back, Micah Richards is the man bombing forward to help City attack.  Richards should be in the England team in my view. Always seems to give his all but for some reason Capello overlooks him... having said that this is Capello we are talking about here... City also have two good left backs to choose from in Aleksander Kolarov and Gael Clichy - Both are very very attacking.

Goalkeeper Joe Hart is a reliable man to have inbetween the posts. 24 years old and still has a lot of time on his side. Excellent keeper who pulls of some top class saves but you do feel he has a mistake in him.

David Silva wheels away in delight after netting

So, on the pitch City have the advantage.

Off the pitch, money helps of course but you also need to buy the correct players. For the first time since the Sheikh factor was introduced, City seemed to play as a real "Team" on Sunday and looked brilliant.  If things aren't going well then I'm sure Mancini can sign a few decent players.  With Tevez probably on his way to the Manchester Airport Departures Lounge in January, City are likely to go out and get another forward when the transfer window re-opend. I know just the player, a young Argentine who plays in La Liga, decent prospect, quick, good brain, scores a few goals and seems to have a good attitude... thats it, Gonzalo Higuain!

United. Well, for starters they do need a central midfield hardman in there, being the Football Manager scout that I am, they could probably get someone like Roma's Danielle De Rossi fairly cheap. Another centre back and maybe another keeper should be top of Fergie's wishlist.

Has the pendulum swung in City's favour?  Yes! 6-1 is a rout no matter what team you are.  Add to the fact its against a team that are top of the league and away to your arch rivals show City mean business!