Premier League 2023: transfer window losers
The Premier League transfer window has once again closed. We’ve already taken a look at who came out on top, so let’s see who fell on the losers half of the ledger.
Chelsea
Can somebody please buy Todd Boehly a copy of Football Manager?
Arsenal
On paper, Arsenal’s signings look great.
Declan Rice is, despite his massive fee, a shrewd signing. He’s exactly the type of player that the Gunners thought they were getting in Thomas Partey. Or Granit Xhaka. Kai Havertz is remains a tantalising, if frustrating talent. David Raya’s capture was opportunistic but he is a clear upgrade on Aaron Ramsdale, himself a very good keeper. Jurrien Timber was, prior to his injury, a masterstroke.
Yet, one can’t help but feel that this Arsenal squad might actually be weaker than the one which so valiantly pushed Manchester City last campaign. Havertz has so far flattered to deceive and Rice is still finding his feet. Timber’s injury was a body blow (Partey at right back? Please…).
Could the money spent on Raya upgrading a position of strength have been better allocated elsewhere?
Tottenham
The inevitability of losing Harry Kane was always going to put Tottenham on the back foot for this window. As Spurs discovered in their post Gareth Bale haze a decade ago, you can’t instantly replace such a talismanic figure.
Spurs purchases, though, appear to have been well thought out and executed. James Maddison has quickly become a fan favourite; Mickey van de Ven looks a player; Guglielmo Vicario a fine replacement for the faded legend that is Hugo Lloris; Brennan Johnson is a tailor made Postecoglou forward.
So, with all those positives, why are Spurs considered one of the losers of this transfer window? Because of their failure to clear out the many, many layers of deadwood that have come about through a series of failed managerial appointments since Mauricio Pochettino’s firing. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Davinson Sanchez, Tanguy Ndombele Giovanni Lo Celso, Eric Dier and the aforementioned Lloris are all big names and even bigger earners. All are still Spurs, despite the clubs best efforts.
The trickledown effect of this lack of sales is that Spurs squad is now awfully thin. The team desperately needs cover in central defense, where a Christian Romero suspension – always on the cards – would lead to the reintroduction of Dier of Sanchez.
All of that deadwood makes Spurs look awfully like Chelsea. No Spurs fan wants their club to look like Chelsea.
Everton
It’s clear that Everton are working with one arm (possibly two) tied behind their backs financially. That doesn’t excuse them from the losers list, though. The fact that the club couldn’t put any immediate money down for the purchase of Portuguese powerhouse forward Beto for £26 million is a proper demonstration that Everton can find a cloud to fit any silver lining.
You have to ask where the money is at Everton. Just this window they’ve offloaded Moise Kean, Alex Iwobi (not quite the loss that some Evertonians are making him out to be) and a trio of youngsters in Ellis Simms, Niels Nkounkou and Tom Cannon for a cumulative £76 million. Throw in the recent sales of Richarlison and Anthony Gordon for close to £100 million and you’ve got yourself a serious war chest. Yet only youngster Youssef Chermiti, a £12 million purchase from Sporting was brought in for real cash.
The club are hoping that the promising Jarrad Branthwaite can fill the shoes of the departed Yerry Mina, whilst Arnaut Danjuma will hopefully take on Iwobi’s old role. That said, despite filling clear needs up front with Beto and Danjuma, the Toffees have finished this window with less strength in depth than they started with.
Frankly, Bill Kenwright and Farhad Moshiri would find a way to turn a church fete into a financial clusterfuck. After two consecutive near relegation misses, the club ran an internal review into their own uselessness, came up with a ‘roadmap for success’ and are still managing to steer the bus straight into the nearest wall.
Liverpool
It’s not exactly news that Jurgen Klopp’s ageing title winning team was in need of a drastic overhaul. Over the past year or so the Reds have done a mountain of work on their forward line with mixed results.
As far as midfield goes, the team added Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo whilst shedding veterans in Fabinho, inclusiveness’s Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita. That doesn’t seem too bad. Defensively Liverpool remain tissue paper thin, especially after loaning out Nat Phillips.
The primary reason for Liverpool finding themselves in the losers list, though, is because what was once one of the smoothest and most potent transfer machines in the world has degenerated into a ramshackle mob who blindly persist on targeting players that they never had a chance at or coming up with the positively Boehly-esque idea of throwing around obscene amounts of money and hoping that This Means More.
Losing out on Jude Bellingham, Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo isn’t, in a vacuum, a catastrophe. Losing out on them in the way that Liverpool did, though, was embarrassing.
Brentford
When Neal Maupay, ladies and gentleman, is your big deadline day acquisition, you’re cementing your place in our losers column.
