As Big Ben struck the twelfth chime on the 31st January, a trenchant sense of anti-climatism hit me, after a long, almost dullish transfer window closed for the season. Sneijder never went to Man Utd, Kaka never joined Spurs, Samba didn't leave Blackburn and Tevez never swapped with Carroll. The latter would of course have been a humourous one, but with only 55.2 million pounds being spent this time around, in comparison to 218.5 million the year before, the mouth watering expectations of this transfer window quickly dried up. But with the likes of Andy Carroll and Fernando Torres prompting managers to think twice before splashing out in exuberance, the 55.2 million spent this time screams out in modesty (if you excuse the oxymoron there), with a series of frugal signings throughout the Football League. These were my picks of the January 2012 edition-
Gary Cahill- An Arsenal target for a while, but with half a year remaining on his contract, Cahill was finally snapped up by Chelsea at 7 mil. Half a year left or not, for 7 million they have a good old fashioned England international. A strong tackler, commanding in nature and consistent in his style of play, I believe Chelsea may just be the proud new owners of England's starting two at the back.
QPR- Another busy window for QPR, but with money to throw around, it was always going to be. However, they didn't get ahead of themselves when they secured the signings of Nedum Onuoha and Bobby Zamora. Onuoha is highly under-rated due to his starvation of first team action at Man City, and Zamora, although lacking in goals at the highest level, was invaluable for Fulham in his workrate and holding up the ball. They also pulled off a mini coup in securing Djibril Cisse, if a bit erratic in obtaining another striker in Frederico Macheda. The loan signings of Tom Taiwo from AC Milan and Samba Diakite from French outfit Nancy cap a successful business period for the hoops.
David Pizarro- Some may disagree with me over this one, but I think Mancini knew exactly what he was doing when he brought 32 year old Pizarro on loan to Etihad Stadium. With Cote D'ivoire seemingly going far in the AFCON, City will be without Yaya Toure for a short while, and since Owen Hargreaves has (unsurprisingly) impressed so far, it leaves Gareth Barry and an inconsistent Nigel de Jong to fill the defensive plug in midfield. Pizarro will bring experience and depth to the title challengers.
Notable mentions- Sebastian Bassong (Spurs to Wolves- loan), Wayne Bridge (Man City to Sunderland- loan), Darren Gibson (Man Utd to Everton- 4mil), Liam Ridgewell (Birmingham City to West Brom- undisclosed), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls to Arsenal- loan), Johnny Howson (Leeds United to Norwhich City- undisclosed).
This isn't to say that there weren't a few risky signings here and there. Unless you're Andy Carroll, it's too early to say whether or not they will turn out to be money well spent, but its up in the air as to whether these signings will pay off-
Nikica Jelavic- Many Everton fans will be relieved to have finally spent a bit of cash. First Gibson, who has already made an impact, and then on the last day of the window, Jelavic and Steven Pienaar followed for 7million and on loan respectively. Peforming well in Scotland however, doesn't necessarily mean an equally successful career in England. Jelavic has been performing well against clubs that would arguably make League One in England; the Championship if I was being nice. Outside of Scotland, the striker has scored 36 goals in 128 games at club level, and 2 in 17 for Croatia. Nothing special.
Louis Saha- A strange one for Spurs fans. Rumours of signing Guiseppe Rossi and Kaka have been circulating for a while now, but memories of an incredible last minute snatch of Rafael van der Vaart will remain etched in the front of the fans minds with the last minute snatch of 33 year old Louis Saha. Injury prone and years since he was amongst the Premier League's elite top scorers. This could go either way.
Paul Scholes- Surprising, yet in many ways predictable, Scholes appeared amongst the substitutions in United's vital third round FA cup clash with Man City. He is of course a short term fix, papering over the cracks if you like, in helping Man Utd push towards a 20th League title. Rich in experience and still a quality distributor of the ball, but he is a couple yards short of pace, and I can't help but feel that Man Utd's interest in Sneijder wained ever so slightly with the recapturing of Scholes. This delicate lack of interest has let Sneijder slip from their reach for another half year aleast, and Man Utd find themselves with two 37 year olds in their starting midfield.
Notable Mentions- Pavel Pogrebnyak (Stuttgart to Fulham- undisclosed), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls to Bolton- 2.5mil).
In the lower leagues, Premier League hopefuls West Ham United stand out as sapient wheeler dealers, by strengthening their strikeforce. Prolific goalscorer Nicky Maynard, talented youngster Ravel Morrison and the in form Ricardo vaz Te will be playing for the Hammers for the rest of the season.
Among potential world beaters who have been involved in transfer activity, are Kevin de Bruyne, Demba Papiss Cisse and Ryo Miyaichi. De Bruyne will be seen as a long-term investment, after Chelsea loaned him straight back to Genk. Cisse will join fellow Senegalese striker Demba Ba in an impressive looking Newcastle attack pairing. Arsenal youngster 'Ryodinho', will join Bolton Wanderes on loan. Just ask Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge what a loan move to Bolton did for their careers.
Gary Cahill- An Arsenal target for a while, but with half a year remaining on his contract, Cahill was finally snapped up by Chelsea at 7 mil. Half a year left or not, for 7 million they have a good old fashioned England international. A strong tackler, commanding in nature and consistent in his style of play, I believe Chelsea may just be the proud new owners of England's starting two at the back.
QPR- Another busy window for QPR, but with money to throw around, it was always going to be. However, they didn't get ahead of themselves when they secured the signings of Nedum Onuoha and Bobby Zamora. Onuoha is highly under-rated due to his starvation of first team action at Man City, and Zamora, although lacking in goals at the highest level, was invaluable for Fulham in his workrate and holding up the ball. They also pulled off a mini coup in securing Djibril Cisse, if a bit erratic in obtaining another striker in Frederico Macheda. The loan signings of Tom Taiwo from AC Milan and Samba Diakite from French outfit Nancy cap a successful business period for the hoops.
David Pizarro- Some may disagree with me over this one, but I think Mancini knew exactly what he was doing when he brought 32 year old Pizarro on loan to Etihad Stadium. With Cote D'ivoire seemingly going far in the AFCON, City will be without Yaya Toure for a short while, and since Owen Hargreaves has (unsurprisingly) impressed so far, it leaves Gareth Barry and an inconsistent Nigel de Jong to fill the defensive plug in midfield. Pizarro will bring experience and depth to the title challengers.
Notable mentions- Sebastian Bassong (Spurs to Wolves- loan), Wayne Bridge (Man City to Sunderland- loan), Darren Gibson (Man Utd to Everton- 4mil), Liam Ridgewell (Birmingham City to West Brom- undisclosed), Thierry Henry (New York Red Bulls to Arsenal- loan), Johnny Howson (Leeds United to Norwhich City- undisclosed).
This isn't to say that there weren't a few risky signings here and there. Unless you're Andy Carroll, it's too early to say whether or not they will turn out to be money well spent, but its up in the air as to whether these signings will pay off-
Nikica Jelavic- Many Everton fans will be relieved to have finally spent a bit of cash. First Gibson, who has already made an impact, and then on the last day of the window, Jelavic and Steven Pienaar followed for 7million and on loan respectively. Peforming well in Scotland however, doesn't necessarily mean an equally successful career in England. Jelavic has been performing well against clubs that would arguably make League One in England; the Championship if I was being nice. Outside of Scotland, the striker has scored 36 goals in 128 games at club level, and 2 in 17 for Croatia. Nothing special.
Louis Saha- A strange one for Spurs fans. Rumours of signing Guiseppe Rossi and Kaka have been circulating for a while now, but memories of an incredible last minute snatch of Rafael van der Vaart will remain etched in the front of the fans minds with the last minute snatch of 33 year old Louis Saha. Injury prone and years since he was amongst the Premier League's elite top scorers. This could go either way.
Paul Scholes- Surprising, yet in many ways predictable, Scholes appeared amongst the substitutions in United's vital third round FA cup clash with Man City. He is of course a short term fix, papering over the cracks if you like, in helping Man Utd push towards a 20th League title. Rich in experience and still a quality distributor of the ball, but he is a couple yards short of pace, and I can't help but feel that Man Utd's interest in Sneijder wained ever so slightly with the recapturing of Scholes. This delicate lack of interest has let Sneijder slip from their reach for another half year aleast, and Man Utd find themselves with two 37 year olds in their starting midfield.
Notable Mentions- Pavel Pogrebnyak (Stuttgart to Fulham- undisclosed), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls to Bolton- 2.5mil).
In the lower leagues, Premier League hopefuls West Ham United stand out as sapient wheeler dealers, by strengthening their strikeforce. Prolific goalscorer Nicky Maynard, talented youngster Ravel Morrison and the in form Ricardo vaz Te will be playing for the Hammers for the rest of the season.
Among potential world beaters who have been involved in transfer activity, are Kevin de Bruyne, Demba Papiss Cisse and Ryo Miyaichi. De Bruyne will be seen as a long-term investment, after Chelsea loaned him straight back to Genk. Cisse will join fellow Senegalese striker Demba Ba in an impressive looking Newcastle attack pairing. Arsenal youngster 'Ryodinho', will join Bolton Wanderes on loan. Just ask Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge what a loan move to Bolton did for their careers.
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