We
enter January's transfer deadline day where clubs around Europe will
scramble to put together last minute deals, whether it be that star
player to bring your team to the next level or just recruiting a
useful player to bolster one's squad for the second half of the
season. No doubt Jim White will be busy but let's now look at some of
January's better (and worse) deals.
The Good
In
January 2010, Liverpool made arguably their greatest signing of a
generation in bringing in Luis
Suarez
for a fee of £23m. At the time however, not many expected Suarez to
reach the dizzying heights he has done. Coming from Ajax where he had
scored a decent amount of goals, many had suspected he could struggle
in the Premier League against tougher defences. Flash forward to 2014
and Suarez is now one of the hottest properties in world football.
Liverpool have had to restructure their wage budget and offer him a
bumper contract in order to fight off interest from Real Madrid.
During
the same window, Stoke City acquired an obscure Portsmouth goalkeeper
by the name of Asmir
Begovic
for just over £3m. A relative unknown at the time, due to being
loaned out over several seasons by his parent club, Begovic's impact
at Stoke has been a revelation leading him to be linked to bigger
clubs in recent times - Manchester United until David De Gea refound
his form and more recently, Manchester City due to Joe Hart's shaky
performances between the sticks this season.
The
Bad
An
obvious frontrunner in this category is poor old Fernando
Torres.
In January 2011, Chelsea splashed out an incredible £50m on the
Spanish international who had taken the Premier League by storm in
his years at Liverpool. Needless to say to anyone who has watched
Chelsea in the past two and a half years, Torres has been little more
than a classic, expensive flop. Having lost a yard of pace, the goals
never really came apart from a few fits here and there. Unless his
form drastically changes, the deal might go down as one of the worst
in EPL history. Torres would need a miracle to get into the Spanish
World Cup squad, let alone establish himself as a world class striker
in England's top flight again.
A
deal which took place in the same window, off-shot by the Torres
deal, was Andy
Carroll's
move from Newcastle United to Liverpool for an absolutely
mind-boggling £35m. Manager Kenny Dalglish felt the fee was
justified by the money they got for Torres and like the Spaniard,
Carroll flopped like a fish out of water. As soon as Brendan Rodgers
took over at Anfield, big Andy was quickly shipped off to West Ham,
the new gaffer sensing that the immobile target man had no place in
his vision for a fluid, possession-based style of play.
 |
| A perfect example of why clubs should buy with caution in January |
The
Ugly
The
ugly side of the January transfer window deadline day is not
necessarily the desperate hunt for last minute deals which clubs find
themselves in. This is understandable, as many teams get ravaged with
injuries over the busy Christmas period but the out-and-out media
circus that comes with it is probably most annoying. Harry Redknapp's
head sticking out of a car window, Peter Odemwingie turning up at
clubs that don't want to sign him and all those flashy countdowns and
bright gold splashed over Sky Sports News can drive any football fan
mad. Do yourself a favour - leave the telly off and read about the
done deals tomorrow!
D.
Ray Morton, 31 January 2014.
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