Premier League: The ups and downs after the transfer window shuts
Denmark players react after the collapse of their teammate Christian Eriksen during the Euro 2020 soccer championship match in Copenhagen, Few if any would believe that Eriksen would be back playing within six months. Picture: Wolfgang Rattay, Reuters
THE winter transfer window has shut, and unlike many other years, there were a few notable moves and some cash spent too.
Despite not playing this week, we will look at some of the Premier League's winners and losers in the cut and thrust of the transfer market. Firstly, the ups and downs for individual players before taking an overview of clubs' performances.
Probably the best news to come out of this transfer window was the welcome return of Christian Eriksen to play. His coronary incident at Euro 2020('21), was one of the most disturbing incidents we have witnessed in live sports coverage, and for a while, we all feared the worst for the former Spurs star. Thankfully, due to the swift actions of the medics, Eriksen survived. However, few of us would have ever believed that the Dane would return to top-level football. Certainly not within a year.
News that he will line out with Brentford on a six-month contract is truly one of the most moving tales in sport. Eriksen's move from Inter Milan was not down to the Italian club thinking his career was over but rather down to Serie A rules stating that a player fitted with a pacemaker could not play in their league. That led him to look elsewhere. Brentford stepped up and gave Eriksen the chance to restart his career with an option to extend his stay if all goes well.
Word that you are staying at Man United would generally be seen as good news to most players, but Jesse Lingard is desperate to get into England's World Cup squad. And frankly, the game-time he is getting at Old Trafford will probably deny him a three lions' shirt come November.
There were strong rumours that the 29-year-old was going to go to Newcastle, who were splashing the cash, but that move was blocked by Man United on deadline day.
Lingard had rejuvenated his profile during a fruitful loan period at West Ham at the end of last season but was not used by Ole or Ralf Rangnick since his return. It's not clear why United have held on to Lingard when he's clearly eager to go. They've let Anthony Martial (Sevilla, loan), and Amad Diallo (Rangers, loan), among others, go. Why not Lingard? One wonders if the ongoing Mason Greenwood controversy played a part in them keeping Lingard as an attacking option or was it simply bad blood between the club and the player?
Happier news for another Man United player is the loan move of Donny van de Beek to Everton. After no luck and limited game-time at Old Trafford, he will be looking to make a big impact at an Everton side desperate for someone to come in and save the day. If Frank Lampard can get the most out of van de Beek it will also give the Dutchman's international profile a major boost.
Everton bagging van de Beek was one of many arrivals on the blue side of Merseyside as they splashed the cash to get Vitaliy Mykolenko from Dynamo Kyiv for £21.15m, Nathan Patterson arrived from Rangers on a £12.6m price tag, while Anwar El Ghazi from Aston Villa ed van de Beek on loan deals. Dele Alli also ed for free from Spurs but that might rise to £40m should Everton choose to keep him, come the end of the season.
Also on Merseyside came the exciting news that Liverpool had splurged £40m plus on Colombian winger Luis Diaz from Porto. And while the club did miss out on a deadline day move on Fabio Carvalho from Fulham, confidence is high that they will complete the deal for the young midfielder come summer.
Things were not so rosy for Arsenal, who like Man United used the window to offload several players. Yet manager Mikel Arteta would have hoped for at least one major g in the window.
What he got was Auston Trusty of the Colorado Rapids for £1.64m. But he will stay on loan with the American side until the end of the 2022 season.
Instead, Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Roma, loan) Sead Kolasinac (Marseille, free), Calum Chambers (Aston Villa, free), Pablo Mari (Udinese, loan), Dejan Iliev (released), and most notable of all, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Barcelona, free) all departed. Some might say they are better off without many of them, but there is a big unfilled gap now in an Arsenal squad that was already struggling to maintain their competitiveness.
We also got a glimpse of what a big-cash Newcastle will look like. They had a net spend of £91m in this window, bringing in Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon for £37.89m, Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid, £13.5m), Dan Burn (Brighton, £12.5m). And Chris Wood from Burnley for £27m. Wood is the struggling Claret's top striker and a talismanic character. The £27m triggered his sales clause, so the club had little choice but to part company with him. The cash talks, and sadly, Burnley look even more likely to be doomed to relegation.
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