Winners and losers of the summer transfer window
To transfer nerds, it’s the most wonderful day of the year. To fans of teams that either need reinforcements urgently or are in danger of losing key players, it’s a nail biter. To everybody else, it’s an amusing spectacle given more importance than it probably merits. It is, of course, transfer deadline day.
So, with the shenanigans all done with, let’s actually look at the entirety of the summer window — a much more fruitful exercise — and appoint some winners and losers.
THE WINNERS
Manchester United: Yeah, breaking the transfer world record for a player you let go for free just four years prior doesn’t look great. But United could afford Paul Pogba, and in landing him it both reinforced a midfield that badly needed it, instantly remade itself into a contender and sent a message that the club matters again. But that was hardly all. Jose Mourinho’s new employers snapped up Swedish veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer and he has already proved a difference maker. Eric Bailly could anchor the heart of the Red Devils’ defense for a decade to come. And Henrikh Mkhitaryan was one of the best players in the Bundesliga last year, even though he hasn’t yet gotten much of a chance in United’s lineup.
Barcelona: With an aging and shallow squad, Barca had a lot of work to do in its first summer transfer window since its ban. And boy did the Blaugranas deliver. They reinforced their back line with young French studs Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne, brought back Denis Suarez and bagged Andre Gomes to reinforce the midfield, and they finally signed a credible alternative up front in Paco Alcacer. Then, when starting goalkeeper Claudio Bravo left for Manchester City late on, they landed Jasper Cillessen from Ajax to back up promoted starter Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.
Juventus: Yeah, Pogba is gone. And striker Alvaro Morata returned to Real Madrid. But Juve reloaded with a vengeance. The Serie A champs spent their takings from those deals on Gonzalo Higuain and Miralem Pjanic, but in so doing, they also significantly weakened two of their main title rivals by taking Napoli’s star striker and Roma’s playmaker. Then Juve landed highly rated winger Marko Pjaca from Dinamo Zagreb. More impressive still, however, was the cheap business done by The Old Lady in bringing back Juan Cuadrado on loan, nabbing defender Mehdi Benatia (also on loan) and picking up longtime Barca right back Dani Alves on a free transfer.
Inter Milan: The old Italian giants hadn’t stirred much on the market in a few years, but they signaled their intentions under new ownership, picking up Portuguese blue-chipper Joao Mario, Brazilian Next Big Thing Gabigol, Lazio forward Antonio Candreva and a haul of other useful pieces. New manager Frank de Boer hasn’t put it all together yet, but for the first time in a while, Inter has a promising squad.
Leicester City: Sometimes you win by not losing. Leicester managed to hold on to Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, which was rather a coup. For a team that was relegation-threatened not so long ago, to hold onto the players that made it Premier League champions is an accomplishment that merits it a place on this list. But Claudio Ranieri’s team also managed to shore up the thin front line with Ahmed Musa and Islam Slimani and found an apparently capable replacement for the departed N’Golo Kante in Nampalys Mendy.
THE LOSERS
Real Madrid: The 11-time European champions signed Morata and strictly nobody else of any repute. At the other side of the ledger, they balanced the books by offloading Jese and Denys Cheryshev. But all that really accomplished is to provide some cover for Karim Benzema up front. Manager Zinedine Zidane apparently wanted Pogba badly but Real never seemed to be quite in the race for him. And the club remains without reliable cover for Casemiro at holding midfielder and Marcelo and Dani Carvajal at left and right back, respectively.
Valencia: Gone are defensive rock Shkodran Mustafi, Gomes and Alcacer. In their place have arrived Nani, Munir, Ezequiel Garay, Eliaquim Mangala and Martin Montoya. That’s hardly a banner summer.
Sevilla: Grzegorz Krychowiak is off to PSG. Forwards Kevin Gameiro, Fernando Llorente and Ciro Immobile have left for Atletico Madrid, Swansea City and Lazio respectively. The successors brought in by the back-to-back-to-back Europa League champions aren’t enormously convincing. Franco Vazquez, Joaquin Correa, Ganso, Wissam Ben Yedder, Luciano Vietto and Matias Kranevitter all have talent, but can Sevilla rebuild around them? Especially with manager Unai Emery off to Paris as well?
Once-crucial England players: Poor Joe Hart. New manager Pep Guardiola didn’t need more than a few glances at the incumbent goalkeeper at Manchester City to realize that the England No. 1 wasn’t going to be up to snuff. He summarily benched him and poached Bravo from Barca. Hart will man the goalposts for Torino this year. Meanwhile, Jack Wilshere, once the most promising midfielder in all of England,has spent so much time injured that even Arsene Wenger seems to have given up on him at Arsenal. The best he could apparently do was a loan to Bournemouth, since he didn’t fancy AS Roma, for some reason.
Serie A’s competitiveness: The trick Juventus pulled off was really twofold. It replaced Morata and Pogba with Higuain and Pjanic, but it also saw to it that the second- and third-placed teams from last year — Napoli and Roma, the only sides to finish within less than 24 points of Juve as they claimed a fifth straight Scudetto — lost their most important players. In so doing, Juve has all but assured a sixth straight title, barring very strange scenes.
Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.
