Transfer Round Up #4

It's another issue of my Transfer Round-up where I take a look at a chosen 5 transfers to have been completed in this Transfer Window ... Feel free to comment your opinions on any of the transfers I have covered.

Nani – Manchester United to Fenerbahce – £4.2m

In a piece I covered for The Big Interest, I branded Nani as one of the most inconsistent players I have ever witnessed, however I do think Manchester United got the bad end of the stick with this deal. For the Turks, it is a tremendous signing. He has the ability to beat any defender on his day and the Portuguese international created more chances than any other Sporting player in the Champions League last season. He is inside the top 20 all-time Premier League assists with 49 and is also prone to scoring the odd screamer. Despite the all the inconsistencies, Fenerbahce will be glad to have purchased the player.

Robin Van Persie – Manchester United to Fenerbahce - £3.85m

Following in the footsteps of Nani, Robin Van Persie has also joined Fenerbahce. 10^th on the all-time Premier League scorers, he has more goals in the canister for the Turkish side. In the 27 appearances he made last season RVP scored 10 goals and completed 85% of his passes. Since his move from Arsenal, the Dutchman’s statistics have been in a steady decline. In 2012/2013 he scored 0.68 goals per game and created 1.87 chances per game. Compare that to this season, he scored 0.37 goals per game and created 0.97 chances. While he may be in decline, he definitely knows where the goal is and will excel in Turkey.

Toby Alderweireld – Atletico Madrid to Tottenham - £11.2m

The deal to take Toby Alderweireld to Tottenham has largely gone under the radar this summer. Joining the Spanish side in 2013, he made 22 appearances, including in the Champions League Final where he came on as a substitute for Filipe Luis. Falling out of favour with Simeone, he was loaned to Southampton where he made 27 appearances last season. Failing to exercise their right to buy clause, Atletico cancelled the option in order to sell to the highest bidder. For Southampton last season, the 26 year old won 37/70 headers and didn’t make a single defensive error, which probably explains the Saints’ tremendous defensive effort. The Belgian is a good signing for Spurs, and will hope to rectify a leaky defence which conceded more goals than any other top 10 team last season.

Morgan Schneiderlin – Southampton to Manchester United - £24.5m

Manchester United fans where calling for Louis Van Gaal to sign another centre defensive midfielder to aid Michael Carrick and he has answered that call with aplomb. Like Alderweireld, the Frenchman made no defensive errors last season. In addition he had an 89% pass accuracy and averaged 3.04 successful tackles better than Carrick, Blind, Fellaini and Herrera. With United criticised for being too slow in their build-up play, 67.7% of his passes last season were forward. At 25 years of age, Schneiderlin has another 6/7 years at the top and he has the makings of an excellent signing. Last season United averaged 57% possession a match and Louis Van Gaal’s idea of playing passing football will continue with the signing of Morgan Schneiderlin.

Yohan Cabaye – PSG to Crystal Palace - £9.73m

After a despondent season and a half at PSG, Yohan Cabaye has made the trip back to England under the stewardship of former manager, Alan Pardew. Making 57 appearance largely from the bench at PSG, Cabaye will be glad to get back to England in order to have first team football. Even though he recorded an 89% pass accuracy, Cabaye only created 9 chances compared to the 33 chances he created in his time at Newcastle during the 2013/2014 season. Even though Cabaye left the Tyneside club in January, only Moussa Sissoko and Vernon Anita created more chances for Newcastle in that season. Although he hasn’t had the greatest of pre seasons, I expect Cabaye to play a massive role under Pardew at Crystal Palace and he will return to the heights of his days at Newcastle United.

The signings of both Nani and Robin Van Persie represent big positives for both clubs. Manchester United will be able to free up some more money for new players while the big signings will help Fenerbahce try and regain their Turkish league title. Both Morgan Schneiderlin and Yohan Cabaye will play massive parts in the coming season for their respective clubs while Toby Alderweireld will be looking to replicate his fine defensive performance that he put in last season.

All statistics taken from Squawka or Transfermarkt.