Losers
Liverpool – Some at Anfield might try to dress this up as Liverpool being smart and cautious, rather than over-spending on whichever flavour of the month player is out there, but it’s hard to see this transfer window as a success for the Reds. Mohamed Salah remains one of the finest attacking players in the world, but Saido Mane and Roberto Firmino’s dip in form means that front three is not what it was – Man Utd scored more goals than Liverpool last season but have strengthened with Sancho and Ronaldo; Jurgen Klopp, meanwhile, will have to hope that Diogo Jota can stay injury free this term and fulfil the early promise he showed when he joined from Wolves last year. Ibrahima Konate was a necessary signing in defence, but he remains young, inexperienced and a little injury-prone, so there’s no guarantee he’ll live up to expectations. In midfield, Georginio Wijnaldum’s loss on a free is a huge blow, and it seems a big gamble not to replace him after a lack of impact made by Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in recent times, while even Thiago Alcantara has been slow to get going in English football.
Manchester City – When you have the best squad in the Premier League, it can be hard to know how to improve it, though this wasn’t quite the case with Manchester City this summer. Sergio Aguero’s departure left a very obvious hole in Pep Guardiola’s squad, and it’s been widely reported by the Telegraph and others that they missed out on signing Tottenham front-man Harry Kane to replace him. Jack Grealish is a world class player who could be useful, though it really only strengthens a position City already had plenty of options in, while that lack of a goal-scorer remains an issue.
Jury’s out
Arsenal – This is one of those ‘wait and see’ transfer windows: if Arsenal have a good season, it’s likely we’ll look back and think £50million for Ben White (fee via BBC Sport) was great business; if not, it’ll be another summer of expensive flops to follow on from recent surprisingly poor purchases like Nicolas Pepe and Thomas Partey. Elsewhere, promising young players like Takehiro Tomiyasu, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares are not necessarily players who’ll make a huge impact straight away, but might end up being sound investments for the future. Aaron Ramsdale is a puzzling one, given that it seems Bernd Leno is going to remain number one in goal, but some competition might be good for the inconsistent German shot-stopper. Martin Odegaard had a decent but unspectacular loan at Arsenal last season and is now back permanently, but it’s widely known that Emi Buendia was the club’s priority before they were beaten to him by Aston Villa earlier in the summer…
Official. Emiliano Buendia joins Aston Villa on a permanent deal from Norwich, confirmed. Contract until June 2026. €34m + add ons as final fee. ?? #AVFC
Arsenal are already looking for different targets. ? #AFC https://t.co/xsW8ygKUEM
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 7, 2021
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