An Unpopular but Effective Choice for Arsene Wenger

When Tony Pulis slapped a £25m price tag on the head of Jonny Evans, Arsenal fans on social media went into meltdown. Gooners have been crying out for Arsene Wenger to spend money and are expecting a 'household' name to strengthen the defence and add more dynamism to their hit and miss attack. When supporters cry for an expensive 'household' name they generally mean someone from mainland Europe. 

Evans is important to West Brom, featuring in 30 games last season under the guidance of Tony Pulis as the Baggies survived relegation by finishing 14th in the table. In a team that averaged just 45% possession last season, Evans only committed one error that led to an effort on goal according to Squawka. Making over 500 appearances for the Baggies, Ally Robertson penned a piece for Midlands news site Express and Star where he states, "It'll be nigh-on impossible to find a defender that stacks up to Evans."

Furthermore, Evans made the majority of his appearances last season at his undesired position of left back where Robertson believes he excelled. The former Scottish central defender would not begrudge the Northern Irish player of a move to Emirates where he would likely play in is preferred position of centre-back in the Champions League while collecting a fruitful pay-packet each week. 

Robertson isn't the only player singing the praises of Evans. Arsenal Invincible, Lauren told the London Evening Standard, "We need someone with determination and someone who is commanding and Jonny could fit the bill." Evans made almost 200 league appearances in 9 years for Manchester United having graduated from the fabled academy under the stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson. Not bad for a player who is allegedly mediocre at best.

Looking at the style of play of the 28 year old, he ticks a lot of the boxes that Wenger wants to see in a central defender. At 6ft 2in, he is a presence in both defence and attack. Evans is an intelligent player and excels at man marking the opposition's forwards, just look at his performance against Robert Lewandowski in Northern Ireland's Euro 2016 opener. Not the quickest of defenders, his wily nature means that he doesn't get caught out of position too often.

Against West Ham last season, Andy Carroll netted an 8 minute hat trick which left Arsenal's title challenge in ruins. Despite rescuing a draw, all of Carroll's goals originated from crosses with Gabriel Paulista being at fault for two of the goals. Throughout the Euros, and the rest of Jonny's career, dealing with crosses has been a major strength and have saved a countless number of points for his teams.

Rather surprisingly for a Northern Irish defender, he is adept at taking the ball out of defence almost acting as another creative player. For the national side, Evans has been known to embark on adventurous runs from his position which can leave his side short at the back but can also give the side another passing option. During the Euros he recorded a 77% pass completion rate and averaged 33 passes in each of the matches.

With Per Mertesacker ruled out for the foreseeable future with a knee injury and Shkodran Mustafi unlikely to cost less than €40m, defensive options are limited for Wenger and with the transfer window closing in one week, the Arsenal hierarchy could do no worse than purchase the 28 year old Northern Ireland international. 

John Stones - A Perfect fit for Manchester City?

"Money can't buy you Stones" were the words Evertonians chanted against Chelsea last season and while Roberto Martinez managed to fend off the interest of Jose Mourinho, a £47.5m bid from Manchester City proved too tempting for the new Everton boss, Ronald Koeman to decline.

City acquire the former Barnsley player in an attempt to provide a partner for Vincent Kompany at the sixth time of asking, taking their spending on centre backs to over £122m. City's attempt to find a cultured partner for their captain, has largely been a disaster. Nicolas Otamendi was recruited last summer, and Eliaqium Mangala the season before, but neither have been the solution to the problem.

Otamendi can be chaotic at times, often favouring to go to ground leading to opposition forwards hurdling the challenge and skipping past the Argentine defender. When on form, the former Valencia man is physical, imposing and an aggressive defender but is too inconsistent to leave a glowing impression on the Etihad. Playing alongside Kompany obviously inspires Otamendi, delivering probably his finest performances of last season against Manchester United and Norwich City in October. At 30 years of age and injury prone, Nicolas Otamendi will need to adapt to playing without the Belgian captain in the near future.

The Citizens threw £42m at Porto for their French centre half Eliaquim Mangala in August 2014 and two years later, looks likely to be leaving Manchester having been omitted from City's Champions League roster. The 25 year old, never cemented a first team space at City and the tone was set in his second game where he scored a lamentable own goal against Hull City. Often the scapegoat for City fans, Mangala appears uninspiring and to lack a lot of confidence. With Shkrodan Mustafi appearing to be on the way to Arsenal, Valencia boss, Pako Ayesteran has earmarked the French international as a possible replacement. 

Martin Demichelis was another purchase for £4.2m, but was never a long term signing. Regardless of a rocky start to his City career - conceding a penalty and getting sent off in 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League - Pellegrini persisted with his fellow Latin American and he helped City lift the title with terrific form in the closing months of 2013/2014 season. Demichelis' contract was not renewed at the end of the last season and is now at Espanyol.

Pep Guardiola shelled out £47.5m for Everton's John Stones to make the 22 year old the second most expensive defender in history. Guardiola is looking to build his side around players who are very comfortable on the ball having done so at Barcelona and Bayern Munich previously. Favouring to play the ball out of defence instead of launching it up field, John Stones fits the bill perfectly. His ball playing style will thrive under Guardiola, but how will his defending?

While Stones shows all the traits of an accomplished ball playing defender, he is still earning his trade, and regularly makes naive mistakes. In the closing stages against Stoke over the Christmas period, Stoke converted a penalty to defeat Everton 4-3 after a desperate challenge from Stones grounded Marko Arnautovic. Similarly, a week later against Spurs, the young centre half opted to perform several Cruyff-turns in his own six yard box with Son Heung-min breathing down his neck despite the animosity from the Park End faithful. To have the audacity to attempt this extravagant move a week after making a mistake shows the composed and nonchalant traits that will have attracted Guardiola to the defender. 

While Stones could be infuriating to watch at times, he did deliver some exceptional performances displaying the essence of a seasoned international defender. In the Capital One Cup first leg against Manchester City in January of this year, Stones kept the one-time Premier League Golden Boot winner and four-time player of the month, Sergio Aguero on a tight leash as Everton won the game 2-1, however succumbed to a 3-1 defeat in the second leg. Against Chelsea in September last year, amid succession of bids from the club, Stones delivered a cool performance that thwarted Diego Costa on many occasions as Everton recorded a 3-1 victory.

Comfortable on the ball, Pep Guardiola will hone is skills with the ball at his new club. His decision-making deficiencies may not improve, particularly if Guardiola's possession based game is executed appropriately but it is likely that Stones will find that he is under less pressure when in the blue of Manchester City. When City face quality opposition in the Champions League and the higher ranked sides in the Premier League, Stones' defensive capabilities will be carefully scrutinised. Stones will be an asset in the league, but is likely to encounter difficulties in the Champions League at first.

At City he will likely play a rotational role at first with Mangala and Otamendi, however he will quickly cement the spot beside Vincent Kompany when the Belgian returns from injury. He will definitely justify the price-tag, probably not with an immediate impact but as he progresses under the guidance of the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss. 

Pogba to United and Lukaku to Chelsea - has the world gone mad?

Paul Pogba has been linked with a return to Manchester United for the past three transfer windows, however it is only now that the rumours have gathered serious traction and a transfer bid of €100m looks imminent. Likewise Chelsea have been reported to have submitted a bid of around £60m to lure Romelu Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge. Obscene amounts of money for two players who were formerly of their respective bidding clubs.

At 23 years of age the Red Devils are paying for potential, a risky strategy that more often than not fails to bring the expected return. Manchester United have invested in potential before, Anthony Martial for £36m and in Cristiano Ronaldo for £12.24m which at the time was the most expensive teenager in English football history. Martial has shown glimpses of why United paid so much money for him while we already know the journey that Ronaldo went on. For other players it hasn't worked out, Bebe was signed for £7m despite Sir Alex Ferguson admitting that he had never seen the player play.

Not only are United embarking on a very ballsy plan, but is Pogba himself even committed to a return to Old Trafford? Earlier in the summer reports surfaced that the young French midfielder preferred a move to Champions League winners Real Madrid over a return to his old stomping ground. This jeopardised any move that Jose Mourinho wanted to make for the player, even after Zinedine Zidane cooled his interest in the player due to price tag yet the Manchester club seem undeterred.

With Pogba leaving United 4 years ago for less than £1m, the hit on Chelsea's bank balance will not be as great. Lukaku joined Everton permanently in Jose Mourinho's first season back in the English capital for a fee believed to be under £30m, now with a price tag of £60m, the sum of money does not look as bad.

Despite being labelled inconsistent, the Belgian striker has an impressive scoring record at such a young age, 119 club goals at just 23 years of age. Before their 23rd birthday, Thierry Henry had 57, Alan Shearer had 65, Luis Suarez had 77 and Cristiano Ronaldo had 97. It's very easy to see why Antonio Conte would be willing to pay such a high fee. A powerful and athletic player, it was rumoured that Lukaku would replace Diego Costa until the Spanish international's refuted those claims. No matter what team Lukaku plays in, he will score goals. 

Juventus splashed out €90m on Gonzalo Higuain to make him the most expensive South American footballer of all time while the transfer fee was the highest ever paid by an Italian team and also the highest of a player transferring within any domestic league. At 28 years of age, Juventus have got a player who is in his prime and will be likely to get at least 4 years out of the Argentine. Higuain seems a less risky piece of business and than the Pogba debacle, however transfer fees do not take a crippling injury into consideration.

Last season, Higuain fired Napoli to second position in the league, scoring 38 goals in the process. His goal record is incredible, scoring 121 goals in 264 matches for Real Madrid and 91 goals in 146 appearances for Napoli, whom he joined from the former in 2013. This transfer further strengthens the stronghold that the Old Lady has over her competition and the Scudetto title looks likely to be remaining in Turin for the foreseeable future.

I'm not the first person and certainly won't be the last to question whether clubs should be allowed to spend these sums of money. It creates a clear gap between the sides that can afford to splash the cash and those that don't have as much money in the bank, however Leicester proved that money was not everything last year. For me it strains the link between the supporters and the players and as a fan, I can find it hard to relate to any of the players on show.

Despite the Premier League becoming out of touch, transfer fees shouldn't necessarily be capped. Manchester United brought in £27.8m in broadcasting revenue, £65.8m in commercial revenue and also £29.8m in match-day revenue in the third quarter and nine months ended 31 March, equating to £123.4m. With the signing of Ibrahimovic ringing in £76m in shirt sales there is no doubt that United can afford to spend their cash lavishly.

The Paul Pogba deal has dragged on too long and most people are looking the saga to come to a swift end. Even if Pogba remains a Juve player, it is only a matter of time when the €100m mark will be broken.