The 2015 Summer Transfer window closes in just over two weeks. Every Premier League team has completed the signing of at least one new player with some teams signing more players in comparison to others.
The new additions to the Premier League have made the league even more challenging in comparison to last seasons league. The following article will explore different clubs who could be argued to have had the best transfer window so far and have made the best signings possible for their club.
*Note – the following clubs have not be ranked in order.
West Ham:
First and foremost, the Hammers have completed 7 signings so far in the transfer window to help strengthen their team. West Ham have pulled off arguably the signing of the summer so far following Dimitri Payet moving from Marseille to the London club. Payet had a very successful season last year in Marseille as he scored 7 goals and made 17 assists in 35 appearances for the French side.
In addition to the transfer of Payet, West Ham have also completed the signings of Angelo Ogbonna (from Juventus) and Carl Jenkinson (on loan for another year from Arsenal). They’ve also signed Nene, Darren Randolph, Pedro Obiang and Stephen Hendrie this window.
In terms of departures at the London club, they have released a total of 7 players and allowed four other players to leave for free. Their only major departure would have to be Stewart Downing leaving the club for Middlesbrough for an estimated £5.5 million.
At the weekend, West Ham got to see the debuts of two of their signings in Dimitri Payet and Angelo Ogbonna after they beat Arsenal 2-0. Payet got his first assist of the season and was hailed by pundits due to his performance whilst Ogbonna played his part for his new team and helped to keep a clean sheet.
West Ham’s new signings so far have proved to be a success for their team, this will help in the league to finish off in the strongest position possible.
Manchester United:
Following their 20th Premier League trophy, Manchester United have some-what struggled to finish the league in a strong position following their two previous campaigns in finishing 7th and 4th. However, the Manchester club have pulled off some big signings this window to help them in the league this season and to help aid their challenge to win their 21st league title.
Former PSV Eindhoven player Memphis Depay (known as Memphis) has been hailed as United’s signing of the season. The 21 year old is a very strong dribbler and also has a strong passing ability. Memphis will be looking to help bring even more goals to the United side this season like he did for PSV last season with 22 goals and 5 assists in 30 league appearances.
Manchester United have spent over £80 million on new players so far this window including the likes of: Matteo Darmian, Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastien Schweinsteiger. A total of 12 players have departed United so far including Darren Fletcher, Rafael and their top scorer in their 2012/13 Premier League winning season Robin van Persie.
All of United’s brand new signings featured in their first match of the season against Tottenham Hotspur in a 1-0 win. The two best debuts came from Darmian and Schneiderlin. Matteo Darmian looked comfortable going forward as he put in a solid performance at right back. Morgan Schneiderlin looked very energetic as he lined up alongside Michael Carrick and helped to control possession.
Stoke City:
After finishing 9th in the most recent Premier League season, Stoke City will aim to finish higher in the Premier League this season and potentially earn themselves a place in European competition.
To help aid this challenge, they have completed the signings of 8 top players to help strengthen their overall squad and achieve their goal. Two major shock signings that Stoke have completed are two former Champions League winners in Ibrahim Afellay from Barcelona and Xherdan Shaqiri from Inter Milan. These two will be looking to bring more goals to the Potters this season as well as applying even more competition to the Premier League.
Marco van Ginkel, goalkeeper Shay Given, Joselu, Phillipp Wollscheid and Jakob Haugaard and former Liverpool right back Glen Johnson have all also signed for Stoke City, giving their team more depth.
Three big departures from Stoke include: Asmir Begovic (to Chelsea for £8 million), Steven N’Zonzi (to Sevilla for £7 million) and Robert Huth (to Leicester City for £3 million). As a result of these departures, Stoke have a net spend of -£8.8 million; another reason why they have had a successful transfer window.
Crystal Palace:
Many teams in the Premier League have pulled off big signings this summer and Palace are no different following the transfer of Yohan Cabaye from Paris Saint Germain to the London club. Cabaye to Crystal Palace is another contender for the signing of the summer.
Cabaye has excellent ball control and is also a very strong passer – averaging a 90% pass completion in his previous two league seasons at former clubs Paris Saint Germain and Newcastle United.
Along with Yohan Cabaye, Palace have signed 4 other players. Patrick Bamford (on loan), Lee Chung-Yong, Alex McCarthy and Connor Wickham are all players that Palace have signed this window. Palace have also had 9 players leave the club in the summer. 8 were released whilst Jack Hunt went to Sheffield Wednesday on loan.
At the week-end, Palace got to see the debuts of two of their new signings. Alex McCarthy and Yohan Cabaye both made their first appearances for Palace in a 3-1 win versus newly promoted side Norwich City. Both fitted well into their new side with Cabaye scoring his first of the season in the last few minutes.
The players that Alan Pardew has signed for Crystal Palace during the summer will add even more competition to the Premier League overall and to the teams challenging for a Top 7 finish.
Liverpool:
Finally, Liverpool are the final team to be considered at the team that has done the best transfer business so far due to the talent that has been brought to their club.
Former Liverpool player Raheem Sterling departed the club this window for Manchester City for just under £50 million in the biggest deal of the summer in terms of money received. The money from the transfer has helped Liverpool to adding 4 new players to their squad. (3 players signed on free contracts).
The likes of Christian Benteke, Roberto Firmino and Nathaniel Clyne have all joined the Merseyside Club this summer. In addition to this, Adam Bogdan, Joe Gomez, Danny Ings and James Milner have all joined Liverpool.
Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino are being looked at as Liverpool’s biggest signings this summer. Benteke will be looking to bring even more goals to Liverpool and improve on his 13 goals in 28 appearances this season. Firmino is a very strong dribbler and passer of the ball who scored 7 goals and made 11 assists last season.
With the Transfer Window closing in just over two weeks, it will be interesting to see which clubs complete the best business for their respective team. Also, which teams make the business by the end of the window will be interesting to see.
Thank you for reading my new article, I hope you enjoyed reading it.
John Smith 