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A football fan’s version of the popular song, ‘Eat, sleep, rave, repeat’ during the months July-September would be something on the lines of: Eat, sleep, check transfer news, repeat. Exaggeration much? Not really.The transfer activity of the different football clubs that you follow is a grey hair-inducing, traumatic affair not just for the owners and managers of the various clubs, but for the fans of these teams as well.From spending hours on the internet scouting the players your favourite club must buy to agonising over lost deals and offering prayers for deals to go through on Deadline Day – whoever said it is easy being a football club’s fan?The summer transfer window of 2015 has been every bit as dramatic as it was hyped to be; why, according to the BBC, the Premier League clubs are believed to have spent £870 million ($1.33 billion) in entirety, which is more than the GDP of 18 countries according to 2014 figures from the World Bank!From Pedro’s move to Chelsea, the bank-breaking buying of Raheem Sterling by Manchester City, Atlético Madrid losing much of its sheen with some big name departures and the De Gea saga keeping the entire football fraternity on their toes – this transfer window had quite a few bizarre transfer deals that went through as well.We look at six such deals of the summer transfer window 2015 that have left fans all over the world bamboozled.
#6 Adnan Januzaj - Manchester United to Borussia Dortmund (Loan)
Was this a ploy to gain advantage in Marco Reus transfer?
The first surprising news came in the form of Belgian No. 9 Adnan Januzaj being loaned to Borussia Dortmund. Manchester United’s start to the current Premier League season could at the least be described as ‘sluggish’; Rooney’s dismal form and the lack of attacking options meant that the Red Devils have only scored three goals in their four league games.
Januzaj scored the team’s lone goal against Aston Villa a few weeks ago and his creativity and dynamism are qualities Manchester United could have banked on. However, if only goal scoring was enough! Van Gaal was quoted to have said, “There is more than scoring a goal. There were a lot of unnecessary ball losses (from Januzaj. Also from Memphis (Depay), a lot of ball losses and that’s why there were not a lot of chances.”
Would be too harsh to believe that was the only reason why Van Gaal deemed it necessary to loan off Januzaj, but if not this, then why exactly is Januzaj not part of the United squad this season? Using this loan deal to secure Marco Reus’ transfer to Manchester United is one answer to this question.
PS: Depay should be just a little worried.
#5 Michael Hector- Reading to Chelsea (4m)
Hector joined Chelsea from Reading for a fee of £4m
Chelsea has had a rollercoaster ride for a transfer window this season, with their form on pitch carried off it, as well. Unable to secure the players they were truly pursuing; the John Stones story and the moral victory gained by Everton in refusing to sell the player to Chelsea after four bids leaving the Blues licking their wounds.
A defence that looked impenetrable until last season, now has many a loophole to fix, conceding approximately 47% goals they did in Mourinho's first season in 2004-05. Bringing in reinforcements to strengthen their defence seems like the correct step forward. The Stones debacle saw the Blues make a panic buy for Senegalese defender Papy Djiolbodji and surprise, surprise, Reading's Michael Hector.
For a manager who does not prefer a very big squad, the glut of options in the back seems a disconcerting and surprising move. And a further baffling move was buying Hector from Reading and loaning him back to the Royals.
Chelsea are already being accused of hoarding players, with Hector being the 33rd Chelsea player out on loan - a humongous number by any comparison. Their defence looks far from settled and such deals are definitely not helping their cause.
#4 Mateo Kovacic - Inter Milan to Real Madrid (32m)
How can Kovacic make it into the midfield of a star studded starting XI of Real?
The star-studded La Liga team Real Madrid has been relatively quiet this transfer window. And among their few signings for the season, the buying of Inter Milan’s wonder-kid midfielder, Mateo Kovacic, has been a surprise and slightly baffling purchase.
The Croatian midfielder who moved to Inter in 2013 had slowly but surely begun to make a name for himself in the Serie A circles, technical prowess having evidently caught the eye of those who run the show at Real Madrid. Kovacic ticks many boxes when it comes to being a midfielder who could stamp his authority on the game.
His dribbling skills, in particular – 2.6 dribbles per game at 65 per cent success rate in comparison with Real Madrid’s current midfield genius Isco who has the same amount of dribbles per game at 57 per cent success rate – belying his age of 21 years. A mixed bag of performances coupled with Inter’s Mancini’s lack of direction to the player meant that Inter Milan weren’t too sad to part away with Kovacic.
However, where would the Croat fit in an already packed-to-the-rafters midfield at Real Madrid? Names such as Kroos, Modric, James Rodriguez, Bale, Isco don’t provide much room for a talent like Kovacic to start; warming the bench could be Kovacic’s contribution to the Madrid team this season, providing cover for Kroos and Modric alike.
The only explanation could be that Real look at Kovacic as a natural heir to fellow countryman Modric. Even so, this is one signing that may not reap benefits for some time to come.
#3 No striker from any club to Arsenal
Arsenal were the only club not to sign an outfield player in this window
Arsenal’s striker woes could fill pages, or so any fan of the Gunners would agree. Yet, another transfer window closes with the sign ‘No Striker Signed’ hanging just a little miserably now at Arsenal.
Many – fans and experts alike – believed that Arsenal could truly challenge for the title this season, the signing of Petr Cech and their Community Shield victory against Chelsea further bolstering this belief. And then the season began. A opening game loss to West Ham and a goalless draw against Liverpool have once again exposed Arsenal’s biggest shortcoming – an attacking finisher.
Yes, Giroud has improved tremendously, his 14 goals last season probably an indication for bigger and better things this season. However, with Giroud as the only true attacking option along with Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez, both of whom aren’t out-and-out strikers, a title challenge could be a distant reality.
The Karim Benzema saga lasted the entire transfer window (ending on a bitter note for Gooners); Edison Cavani and Gonzalo Higuain made appearances, too, in the possible list of strikers Arsenal could have signed. The could-have-signed list remained just that, much to the fans’ dismay and frustration.
The strikers Arsene Wenger looked to sign were difficult to prise away from their respective clubs, but were they no options closer home? A Charlie Austin, maybe? As of now, the ‘Wenger Out’ boards have resurfaced as Arsenal’s fans spend yet another exasperating transfer window session.
#2 Javier Hernandez - Manchester United to Bayer Leverkusen (7.3m)
Hernandez was loaned to Real Madrid last season
It has been one tumultuous summer transfer window for Manchester United. After reaffirming as to how Adnan Januzaj and Javier Hernández could play vital roles for the team in the coming season, both the players found themselves headed to Germany in the last week of August.
Blossoming under Sir Alex Ferguson’s management, Hernández or Chicharito never found favour with current manager Louis Van Gaal – another candidate who failed the Van Gaal philosophy test.
Quotes such as “What enriches you is the game, not the result,” as told to Sid Lowe in Issue One of The Blizzard, “The result is a piece of data. The birth rate goes up. Is that enriching? No. But the process that led to that? Now that’s enriching. Fulfilment comes from the process.” – these don’t exactly reassure a Manchester United fan and Hernández’ poaching style of game never fit Van Gaal’s possession-dominance play.
Having loaned him off to Real Madrid last season and a horrendous game against Club Brugge in the Champions League playoffs meant that striker worries hitting levels of desperation or not, Hernández was told that he was free to leave and he looks set to kick-off his new journey in the Bundesliga.
#1 Anthony Martial - AS Monaco to Manchester United (36m)
Is Martial the next Henry? Time can only tell.
It wouldn’t be too far off the mark to presume that many a football fan, especially among the Red Devils, went ‘Who Anthony Martial’, just as their captain Wayne Rooney did when rumours of Manchester United signing the 19-year-old French forward first surfaced.
Manchester United’s aim to placate their offensive worries took many a bizarre twist and turn some days prior to and on Deadline Day. On August 22, 2015, Louis Van Gaal came out with the statement, “I can choose better because I know my players, and that’s why I have chosen Chicharito (Hernández), because he is another type from Rooney, and we have also Fellaini, who is another type. So I have different types, then I have Wilson and Januzaj, so I don’t think we need a striker.”
Fast forward to a week later and you have Januzaj loaned out to Borussia Dortmund and Javier Hernández sold to Bayer Leverkusen for £730k (more on this later) and the panic button truly got pressed with the purchase of Martial for £36m.
Yes, while it seemed impossible to get certain star strikers on board, such as Neymar Jr. and Gareth Bale, the huge sum of money paid for a relatively unknown French talent was quite an unlike-United move, one that caused many former players to raise their eyebrows and question Van Gaal’s tactics. Yet to play his first international and having played a total of 72 games for Lyon and Monaco and scoring just 11 career league goals, the price tag seems to sit quite uncomfortably on Martial.
Comparisons to Thierry Henry and the fact that he does seem to possess pace as a natural gift notwithstanding, is Martial truly the answer to Manchester United’s striker woes? Experts certainly seem sceptical about it and only Martial can provide an answer to this question in the coming days. But will he be able to survive Van Gaal’s philosophy test?
