A few** deadline day thoughts - four hours to go * Arsenal: Draxler in January was always a long shot. Another centre-forward would help, but if were talking about calibre of player who might prove difference between winning the league and not, there arent many out there. Kallstrom a pragmatic signing -- precisely the pragmatism that Wenger was accused of lacking three or four years ago. If he was going to be even more pragmatic, he would have signed a striker too. * Liverpool: its Konoplyanka or nothing. Very complicated deal (as is any deal involving Ukrainian club and agent). Can imagine the gnashing of teeth if it doesnt happen, but, as extremely talented as he is, its hard to view it as a deal that emphatically would make the difference between top four and not. He would strengthen where theyre already strong. Midfield and full-back were priorities, but lack of available quality in both areas, which brings us to ... * Man Utd: They got Mata, who should prove to a brilliant signing, even at that price, but left-back and central midfield were Moyess priorities. Their needs in midfield are far greater than Liverpools. Can understand the focus on top-class summer targets -- some encouraging noises re Gundogan -- but theyll struggle to land their top targets in the summer if theyre not in the Champions League. They might make it, but that midfield wont do them any favours. Even a Kallstrom-type short-term signing would have helped, just to make up the numbers in midfield in Carricks absence. Significant that Moyes has sold or loaned out players in order to make the squad more compact. It tells you how little he thought he would get from Fabio, Anderson, Zaha etc. Im sure * Man City: went for Mangala and Fernando at Porto. Both could end up arriving in the summer, but not this window at the prices Porto were demanding. City found Porto very difficult to negotiate with. Neither player would have been available in the Champions League this season. * Chelsea: Still feel theyll miss Mata, still feel they could do with a striker (though they), but Salah could be a excellent buy at that price. Zouma is expensive, but was in huge demand. Interesting to see how he develops when he joins next season. * Fulham: Some interesting deals (Holtby, Dempsey, Kvist, Mitroglou) which should leave them stronger in the short term despite the outgoings. Still going to be tough and go whether they stay up * Cardiff: Intrigued to see how Fabio and Zaha do, having played so little football at United. Jones-Odemwingie swap could go either way. The Norwegian youngsters are reasonably well regarded, Eikrem in particular, but I had a lot more faith in Cardiffs survival hopes before Tan started rocking the boat -- his boat -- in October * West Ham: Not exactly same calibre as Evertons loans, but all good players. Looks a little like the Bolton approach 2004 (biggish-name players whose careers have dipped), but that never did Allardyce any harm in the past. Personally I think theyll stay up. * West Brom: Gardner could be a decent addition, but it all looks very last-minute, desperate and not very well thought-through, which wasnt previously the West Brom way. Surely they have to sign a striker. They havent replaced Lukakus and Odemwingies goals from last season. Long has been sold, Anelka (injured) could be banned and they havent got many goals from Anichebe and the talented Berahino. Of all the Premier League clubs that need a striker before 11pm, their need is arguably greatest. * Newcastle: sell a top player at a profit, go through the motions of trying to replace him, shrug your shoulders knowing youre safe in the Premier League for another reason. It might be good enough for Mike Ashley, but Newcastle have the potential to be so much better than this. * Palace: as decent as Puncheon is, the new arrivals are unlikely to be the difference between staying up and going down. The difference is the impact the manager has made in reversing a downward trend. Same applies to a lot of clubs. So much angst around transfer-window time, but unless the need is desperate or the incoming player of a quality that will bring huge improvement, its not worth losing sleep over. Mid-season window should only be open for a week. As it is, it unsettles clubs for the entire middle period of the season and, FAR more importantly, its wearying for journalists even without them gratuitously posting long rambling comments on Facebook .... (** Disclaimer: This doesnt make me anti-Villa, Everton, Hull, Norwich, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Tottenham. Ok?)
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 19:09:13 +0000
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