'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The 2013 European football summer transfer window hasn’t yet lived up to its billed expectations. Have the FFP (financial fair play rules) and global economic crisis started to worry the fat purses and lofty ambitions of club owners?
There are new managers at the helm for each of the domestic champions of France, Spain, England and Germany – the previous regime bowing out for an array of reasons which didn’t involve the word ‘sacking’.
A new manager brings the desire to incorporate freshness and the need to renew confidence in fans and players. Yet, barring Neymar Jr to Barcelona and Edinson Cavani to PSG, there has been no notable transfer coup achieved by any of the aforementioned clubs – Bayern Munich and Manchester United being the other two.
Pep Guardiola signed Mario Goetze before the previous season ended, much to the tears of Borussia Dortmund fans, players and Jurgen Klopp – one of the rare top tier managers into his fifth year. Pep also signed Thiago Alcantara more as a future prospect than a blockbuster, to the muted disappointment of Manchester United fans, players and David Moyes.
United soon turned their sights on Cesc Fabregas, and at the time of writing, are ready with a third renewed bid. It’s a case of three champion teams getting into a skirmish while trying to solve their respective midfield puzzles.
United have a weak middle of the park and need to ramp it up. With Sir Alex gone, so too has gone the authority to get Wayne Rooney to play in the middle. Barcelona are unsure – while they have legendary names in their midfield, last season did ask questions of Xavi, Cesc and Iniesta. Contrastingly, Munich have so many riches in that zone – Ribery, Robben, Martinez, Shaqiri, Gustavo, Schweinsteiger – you wonder if the purchases of Thiago and Goetze were necessary.
But even while leading a season with little to gain and much to lose, Pep has remained Pep. He has already won a pre-season event where Thiago scored, the world’s best right back Philipp Lahm played in midfield (!), and Frank Ribery strutted upfront as Bayern bullied and brushed aside every opponent. You underestimate Pep at your own risk.
There are new managers at the helm for each of the domestic runners up of Spain, Italy and England. Yet, the best out of this lot has been Stevan Jovetic and a couple of Spanish studs – Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas – going to Manchester City; while the sale of Carlos Tevez evened out their balance sheet.
Manuel Pellegrini
You can see where Manuel Pellegrini is coming from. City scored 66 goals last season in the league – that’s less than four other teams each in England, Italy and Spain! Yes, even Fiorentina, Liverpool, Roma, Valencia, Real Sociedad scored more than City. The Sky Blues are aiming to get more scorers around the park to launch the league season, where they will start outright favourites.
Real Madrid have had a transfer window defying their historical trends. They have sold regular big names Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho and Raul Albiol. On a parallel note, they splashed the cash for world football’s next big names – Isco and Illarramendi – very highly rated and you can say, the Goetze and Kroos equivalents of Espana.
The cost prices were far higher than the sale items and yet Carlo Ancelloti and Real Madrid are likely not done yet. They are due a signing aimed at jersey sales, more so now that FC Barcelona has Neymar.
Real Madrid may have been outwitted by the wily Rafael Benitez. The Napoli coach signed on Raul Albiol and Jose Callejon – both class players. He further added Spanish flavour with Pepe Reina, and all three signings came at a fraction of selling Edinson Cavani Ligue 1 champions PSG. Napoli fans will miss Cavani, but reasonable ones can see Benitez doing a fine balancing act. And like Manchester City, he moved in early.
Juventus trumped Serie A on the back of one of the best defences in the world – conceding just 24 goals. Only Jupp Heynckes’s Bayern Munich and Carlo Ancelloti’s PSG conceded fewer domestically.
Antonio Conte realised, though, that the strike force lacked an edge in their Champions League humiliation to Bayern Munich. He quickly shopped for Carlos Tevez and a wild card in (yet another Spanish player) Fernando Llorente. Llorente was as big a name 365 days ago as forgotten he is now, just like his namesake Torres. But Conte may have pulled a rabbit out of the hat.
A summary of transfer season will be incomplete without two big names - Radamel Falcao and Jose Mourinho.
Radamel Falcao
Falcao has been a summer blockbuster signing for AS Monaco FC. Claudio Ranieri also drafted in a mix of experienced big names (Eric Abidal, Ricardo Carvalho) and exciting prospects (James Rodriguez, Joao Moutinho).
How the team will gel, only time will tell, but you can trust Monaco with two things – Ranieri is a top notch manager and jersey sales are guaranteed. PSG won the Ligue 1 after 19 years and will need some serious defending this season.
Hence, with five more weeks of the transfer window remaining, as fans, we can rightfully expect a few big movements as a number of questions remain unanswered.
Mourinho’s Chelsea has offloaded 19 players and drafted in 11 more, but will the summer be lit up with a Mou-Rooney style signing? If yes, where does Torres go?
Or is the Mou-Rooney saga a cunning mind game being played over David Moyes?
Andre Villas Boas has already signed a goal scorer and is also approaching (yet another Spaniard!) Roberto Soldado; is he preparing to bail Bale out soon?
Does Christiano Ronaldo love United more, or Mourinho more, or money more?
Will Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino opt for Thiago Silva to ramp up Barcelona’s creaky makeshift defence?
Or pick little heard talents from the leagues where he has been a smash hit – Paraguay and Argentina?
Does Gonzalo Higuain have the arsenal to join Arsene Wenger’s team?
Is Luiz Suarez staying put with a sixth placed team in a country where he feels hounded by the press? If Suarez leaves, who fills his place?
Have the Milanese teams done enough to fight for the top rung?
Who fills up the gaps in Manchester United’s title defence?
Here’s awaiting more blockbuster transfers and an exciting season ahead.
