My Thoughts on Premier League 2016 January Transfers

Football fans all over the world will not stop arguing which European League is the best.

The La Liga fans will say; it is our League, we have the highest number of ballon d’Or winners, presently and in the past we have and had the best players in our league.

Bundesliga fans will also talk of how consistent their clubs have been in recent years in the Champions League and how they’ve beaten the top teams from other Leagues. Serie A fans are not exempted, they all go with the line- we have produced 2nd highest number of world footballer of the year winners.

Wait, did I leave out a league? oh yes the Barclays Premier League. No doubt this is the most watched and followed football league in the world and it is well televised across the globe.

This article is not about the best league but my thoughts on the players signed by Premier League Clubs during the just concluded transfer window.

The Premier League’s staggering TV money means even small clubs have more spending power than European giants and can even compete to an extent with the top Premier League Clubs. The signing over the two transfer windows is an indication of how powerful TV money has made Premier League clubs get ‘who ever’ they want.

Would you have imagined Xherdan Shaqiri at Stoke City? I believe your answer is a No! No!!. The just concluded wasn’t without surprises to as the top five most expensive Premier League signings were not by Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool or big spenders Manchester City.

1. Giannelli Imbula to Stoke City from Porto for £18.3m, 2. Oumar Niasse joined Everton from Lokomotiv Moscow in a £13.5m deal, the pair of Jonjo Shelvey and Andros Townsend joined Newcastle from (Swansea City, £12m) and (Tottenham Hotspur, £12m) respectively, 5. Benik Afobe joined Bournemouth from Wolves in £9m to complete the list of the top 5 expensive transfer signings of the Winter transfer window.

With the quality signings by the so called mid-table clubs, the availability of funds to spend in the coming years and pay wages of their present players, competition in the Premier League will not be less than what it is now. If things continue the way it is Chelsea and Manchester United might not make the Champions League cut. In fact, Chelsea risk not making any European slot if they don’t get back to winning ways and be consistent.

Based on the quality additions by Premier League clubs; expect more drama, more shocking results, more upsets and struggles from the regular top teams because the smaller clubs across the league have ‘potential match winners’ in their ranks.

The relegation battle would be stiff and race for the title and European slots would be keenly contested for. Shocking results in this present campaign are proofs there are no push over any more. Write off any team at your disadvantage.

Leicester City are top of the log we all thought they’ll be fighting to stay in the Premier League.

Check here who your Premier League club signed and sold

Arsenal

Ins Mohamed Elneny (Basel, £7.4m)

Outs Mathieu Debuchy (Bordeaux, loan), Glen Kamara (Southend United, loan), Gedion Zelalem (Rangers, loan extended)

Aston Villa

Ins None

Outs Joe Cole (Coventry City, free), Callum Robinson (Preston North End, loan), Joe Bennett (Sheffield Wednesday, loan), Gary Gardner (Nottm Forest, loan), José Angel Crespo (Rayo Vallecano, loan), Jed Steer (Huddersfield), Tiago Ilori (Liverpool, loan ended), Philippe Senderos (released)

Bournemouth

Ins Lewis Grabban (Norwich City, £7m), Benik Afobe (Wolves, £9m), Juan Iturbe (Roma, loan), Rhoys Wiggins (Sheffield Wednesday, £200,000), Marius Adamonis (FK Atlantas, loan)

Outs Jayden Stockley (Exeter City, loan), Yann Kermorgant (Reading, loan), Lee Tomlin (Bristol City, loan), Elliott Ward (Blackburn, undisc.), Alessandro Cannataro (released), Tomas Andrade (released), Ryan Allsop (Wycombe Wanderers, loan)

Chelsea

Ins Alexandre Pato (Corinthians, loan), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls, undisc.)

Outs Wallace (Grêmio, loan), Papy Djilobodji (Werder Bremen, loan), Alex Kiwomya (Fleetwood, loan), Christian Atsu (Málaga, loan), Ramires (Jiangsu Suning, £24.3m), Patrick Bamford (Norwich City, loan), Charly Musonda (Real Betis, loan), Mitchell Beeney (Newport, loan), Marco van Ginkel (PSV Eindhoven, loan)

Crystal Palace

Ins Emmanuel Adebayor (free)

Outs Jonny Williams (MK Dons, loan), Jack Hunt (Sheffield Wednesday, £1.2m), Jake Gray (Hartlepool, loan), Jerome Binom-Williams (Leyton Orient, loan)

Everton

Ins Oumar Niasse (Lokomotiv Moscow, £13.5m), Shani Tarashaj (Grasshoppers, £3m), Matty Foulds (Bury, undisc.)

Outs Steven Naismith (Norwich City, £8.5m), Aiden McGeady (Sheffield Wednesday, loan) Liam Walsh (Yeovil Town, loan), Shani Tarashaj (Grasshoppers, loan)

Leicester City

Ins Daniel Amartey (FC Copenhagen, £5m), Demarai Gray (Birmingham City, £3m), Daniel Iversen (Esbjerg, undisc.)

Outs Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim, loan), Joe Davies (Fleetwood Town, undisc.), Alie Sesay (Barnet, undisc.), Jak McCourt (Barnsley, undisc.), Simonas Stankevicius (Zalgiris, undisc.), Tom Lawrence (Cardiff City, loan), Yohan Benalouane (Fiorentina, loan), Ritchie de Laet (Middlesbrough, loan)

Liverpool

Ins Marko Grujic (Red Star Belgrade, £5,1m); Steven Caulker (Queens Park Rangers, loan), Kevin Stewart (Swindon, recalled from loan), Tiago Ilori (Aston Villa, recalled from loan)

Outs Marko Grujic (Red Star Belgrade, loan); Ryan Fulton (Portsmouth, loan); Allan Rodrigues de Souza (Sint Truidense, loan)

Manchester City

Ins Anthony Caceres (Central Coast Mariners, undisc.)

Outs Anthony Caceres (Melbourne City, loan), Patrick Roberts (Celtic, loan), George Evans (Reading, undisc.), Shay Facey (Rotherham United, loan), Ian Lawlor (Bury, loan), Patrick Roberts (Celtic, loan), Bruno Zuculini (AEK Athens, loan)

Manchester United

Ins Adnan Januzaj (Borussia Dortmund, recalled from loan)

Outs Victor Valdés (Standard Liège, loan), Ben Pearson (Preston North End, undisc.), Liam Grimshaw (Preston North End, undisc.), Dean Henderson (Stockport County, loan), Kieran O’Hara (Morecambe, loan)

Newcastle United

Ins Seydou Doumbia (Roma, loan), Henri Saivet (Bordeaux, £5m), Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea City, £12m), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur, £12m)

Outs Kyle Cameron (York City, loan), Mike Williamson (Wolves, undisc.), Lubo Satka (York City, loan), Florian Thauvin (Marseille, loan), Gael Bigirimana (Coventry City, loan), Shane Ferguson (Millwall, undisc.)

Norwich City

Ins Patrick Bamford (Chelsea, loan), Steven Naismith (Everton, £8.5m), Timm Klose (Wolfsburg, £8.5m), Ben Godfrey (York City, undisc.), Ivo Pinto (Dinamo Zagreb, £2.2m), Matt Jarvis (West Ham, £2.5m), Ebou Adams (Dartford, undisc.), James Maddison (Coventry, undisc.)

Outs Lewis Grabban (Bournemouth, £7m,), Gary Hooper (Sheff Weds, undisc.), Jamar Loza (Southend, loan), Elliott Bennett (Blackburn, undisc.), Jake Kean (Colchester, loan), James Maddison (Coventry, loan)

Southampton

Ins Charlie Austin (Queens Park Rangers, £4m)

Outs Steven Caulker (QPR, loan ended), Sam McQueen (Southend, loan), Ryan Seager (Crewe Alexandra, loan), Gastón Ramírez (Middesbrough, loan)

Ins Giannelli Imbula (Porto, £18.3m)

Outs Steve Sidwell (Brighton & Hove Albion, loan), Eddy Lecygne (Doncaster Rovers, loan), Marco van Ginkel (Chelsea, loan ended)

Sunderland

Ins Wahbi Khazri (Bordeaux, £9m), Jan Kirchhoff (Bayern Munich, £750,000), Dame N’Doye (Trabzonspor, loan), Steve Harper (free), Lamine Koné (Lorient, £5m)

Outs Costel Pantilimon (Watford, undisc.), Liam Bridcutt (Leeds United, loan), Will Buckley (Birmingham City, loan), Danny Graham (Blackburn, loan), Lynden Gooch (Doncaster, loan), Sebastián Coates (Sporting, loan), Christian Mavrias (Fortuna Düsseldorf, loan), Steven Fletcher (Marseille, loan), Jordi Gómez (Blackburn Rovers, loan)

Swansea City

Ins Alberto Paloschi (Chievo, £8m), Leroy Fer (QPR, loan), Ryan Blair (Falkirk, undisc.)

Outs Gerhard Tremmel (Werder Bremen, loan), Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle United, £12m), Franck Tabanou (St Etienne, loan), Éder (Lille, loan), Daniel Alfei (Mansfield, loan)

Tottenham Hotspur

Ins Shilow Tracey (Ebbsfleet United, undisc.)

Outs Andros Townsend (Newcastle United, £12m, left), Kenny McEvoy (York City, undisc.), Alex Pritchard (West Bromwich Albion, loan), Shaq Coulthirst (Peterborough, undisc.), Federico Fazio (Sevilla, loan), Milos Veljkovic (Werder Bremen, undisc.)

Watford

Ins Nordin Amrabat (Málaga, £6.7m), Abdoulaye Doucouré (Rennes, £8m), Costel Pantilimon (Sunderland, undisc.), Mario Suárez (Fiorentina, £4m), Adalberto Peñaranda (Udinese, undisc.)

Outs Alessandro Diamanti (Atalanta, loan), Uche Ikpeazu (Blackpool, loan), Giedrius Arlauskis (Espanyol, loan), Connor Smith (released), Diego Fabbrini (Birmingham, undisc.), Abdoulaye Doucouré (Granada, loan), Adalberto Peñaranda (Granada, loan)

West Bromwich Albion

Ins Sandro (Queens Park Rangers, loan), Alex Pritchard (Tottenham Hotspur, loan)

Outs Anders Lindegaard (Preston North End, loan), Adil Nabi (Peterborough, undisc.)

West Ham United

Ins Sam Byram (Leeds United, £3.7m), Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce, loan)

Outs Matt Jarvis (Norwich City, £2.5m), Diego Poyet (Charlton, loan), Lewis Page (Cambridge, loan), Elliot Lee (Colchester, loan), Mauro Zárate (Fiorentina, £1.6m), Stephen Hendrie (Southend, loan)