We already know who the most expensive new signing was – and no, he’s not on this list. Neither is the £50m clumsy central defender. After all the buzz surrounding the most expensive transfer window in football is gone, and 10 rounds of Premier League have been played, we can take a look at all the transfers and see which players and teams are the real winners.
#5 N’GOLO KANTE
A bit pricey at £30m, but Kante proved he’s worth it. He’s winning possession back for Chelsea just like he did for Leicester, and he is indeed a great football player. He blended in with the squad as if he’s playing for them for years. Antonio Conte has a lot to do with this but Kante’s quality is key.
#4 EVERYONE WHO LEFT LIVERPOOL
Jurgen Klopp brought in Sadio Mane, and the Senegalese winger could easily be on this list, but the real winning move here were all the players Klopp released or sold as they were just dead weight. £70m worth of dead weight. And it included players such as Mario Balotelli and Christian Benteke. Some more have to leave, but by liberating the team from 10+ unneeded players Jurgen Klopp got a winning team that’s tied with Man City and Arsenal after 10 rounds played. They were 9th with 3-5-2 and 9:11 goal difference this time last year.
#3 ASHLEY WILLIAMS
The former Swansea man is a better defender than John Stones. So it made a lot of sense for Everton to cash in on the young star with lapses in concentration and bring in a proven defender who can actually defend. If Everton didn’t have problems in other areas of the pitch this signing would be worth even more. But still, Everton made money and got a better defence than they’ve had last year. This time last year Everton had conceded 13 goals, and this season so far they’ve conceded 8. By the way, Yannick Bolasie, Idrissa Gueye and Maarten Stekelenburg were all good signings as well.
#2 ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC
OK, not only that Zlatan isn’t scoring in every game but is having a goal draught for a while now, but it’s not because of him but because Jose Mourinho can’t seem to put this squad together. Zlatan is still one of two best strikers in the league and is singlehandedly keeping United offense going. He signed on a free and millions of shirts have been sold already. That’s a quality business move. If United finally get going, we should see Zlatan score many more goals before the end of the season, winning at least something, also giving this move that’s good for business and good for fans some quality in competitive football terms as well.
#1 JOE ALLEN
Joe Allen was rescued after his career took a serious downturn in Liverpool, where he didn’t fit in with the way the team plays. For merely £13m he was bought by Stoke City, a team with lots of talent but no game, and Allen and the team blended together perfectly. Suddenly Stoke’s game started making sense and suddenly Allen looks like a Luka Modric. Perfect signing – this is what you expect when you bring in a new player.
Notable mentions: Wilfried Bony, Shkodran Mustafi, Granit Xhaka, Luke Wilshere, David Luiz, Andros Townsend, Ilkay Gundogan, Nolito, Charlie Austin (despite signing in January 2016), Roberto Pereyra, Nacer Chadli, Victor Wanyama.
