I'm back with another five transfers for you to take a look at. This one may be slightly tilted towards Liverpool, but I'd like to hear your opinions irrespective of your allegiance.
Petr Cech - Chelsea to Arsenal - £9.8m
Petr Cech - Chelsea to Arsenal - £9.8m
I would say this deal is a massive step
made by Arsene Wenger in restoring Arsenal to the heights of the early noughties. We all know of Cech’s capabilities
and even at the age of 33, £9.8m is a steal. Cech has another 2-3 years at the
top, but was never going to oust Thibaut Courtois of the Chelsea number 1
jersey. Edwin Van Der Sar signed for Manchester United at 34 years of age, and
was able to muster 4 Premier League titles, 2 League Cups and a Champions
League before retiring at the ripe old age of 40. There is gas left in the legs
of Petr Cech yet, and don’t expect the trophies to dry up either.
Memphis Depay - PSV Eindhoven to Manchester United - £19.25m
The signature of Memphis Depay signals Louis Van Gaal’s first foray
into the transfer market. At the fee of just under £20m, he is not coming
cheap, but he will offer another creative outlet for United, who have been criticised
in the past for not fashioning enough chances in recent times. Creating 60 chances in total
last season, this was more than any other Manchester United player. Not only
can he create, he can score also. With 22 league goals last campaign, he was
the Eredivisie’s top goal scorer. United fans will be hoping that he can
continue his tremendous form in Manchester.
Roberto Firmino - Hoffenheim to Liverpool - £28.7m
Over on Merseyside, Brendan Rodgers pipped United to the signature
of Roberto Firmino. Almost £10m dearer than Depay, these pair will be
constantly correlated to each other throughout the season and the first derby will be an interesting
affair. The Brazilian will be a key player to Brendan Rodgers, as it looks as
if Raheem Sterling will be on his way out of Anfield. Forgetting some
horrendous misses recently, Firmino completed more take ons than Neymar, Isco and Arjen
Robben and also completed the second most duels in the Bundesliga behind Stefan
Kießling. Similarly, he created 9 more chances than Depay last season.
Liverpool have acquired an extremely good player.
James Milner - Manchester City to Liverpool - free transfer
Sticking with the Liverpool theme, I view James Milner as one of
the signings of the season. It was always going to be difficult to replace
Steven Gerrard, and while James Milner may not, it is a good start. While Liverpool
were making defensive errors left, right and centre last season, Milner didn’t
record a single mishap last season. Milner publicly announced that we wanted to
play in a central role, despite playing most of his football on the flanks for
Manchester City as well as filling in a full back and making a very occasional
appearance up front. This is an excellent signing, but it will be interesting
to see if he plays in the deeper role that was vacated by Steven Gerrard in the
summer.
Danny Ings - Burnley FC to Liverpool - free transfer
Last but definitely not least, Danny Ings completed his free
transfer to Liverpool at the end of the season. It was no surprise that he was
leaving for Liverpool and he will undoubtedly add a bit of competition to a front
line that was misfiring last season. The Balotelli experiment has backfired,
Lambert has not been given a chance and Sturridge has been injured, it’s
another attempt to replace Sturridge. It’s not a marquee signing and it’s difficult
to predict how well Ings will do when he is not the number one player in the
side. A real ‘fox in the box’ so to speak, Ings scored all of his league goals
inside the box but only won 22% of his headed duels. I’m not too sure how the
former Burnley man will get on in Liverpool.
I've given you another five deals that have crossed the line this summer, please share your opinions with me or even suggest deals that I could look at.
All statistics taken from Squawka or Transfermarkt.
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