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From the Toon to the Hammers: Who had a good or bad summer in the transfer window?

Newcastle United In: Georginio Wijnaldum, Florian Thauvin, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Chancel Mbemba Ou...



From the Toon to the Hammers:...
Soccer

From the Toon to the Hammers: Who had a good or bad summer in the transfer window?

Newcastle United

In: Georginio Wijnaldum, Florian Thauvin, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Chancel Mbemba

Out: Davide Santon, Mehdi Abeid, Sammy Ameobi, Jonas Gutierrez, Ryan Taylor, Remy Cabella

Rating: 7/10. The Magpies came into this summer on a low ebb after just avoiding relegation. But with Steve McClaren at the helm and owner Mike Ashley loosening the purse strings somewhat, the quarter of new arrivals is a mix of huge potential and burgeoning talent - Mitrovic might want to stop himself picking up needless reds and yellows. Also the depatures will not unduly affect Newcastle.

 

Norwich City

In: Robbie Brady, Graham Dorrans, Youssuf Mulumbu, Andre Wisdom

Out: Cameron McGeehan, Mark Bunn, Carlton Morris, Sam Kelly

Rating: 7/10. Norwich never bought the stand out name that their promotion craved, but have been very lucky not to lose any first choice players to other clubs. Irish fans will be delighted to see Robbie Brady back in the Premier League.

 

Southampton

In: Jordy Clasie, Juanmi, Oriol Romeu, Cedric Soares, Cuco Martina, Maarten Stekelenburg, Steven Caulker

Out: Morgan Schneiderlin, Nathaniel Clyne, Artur Boruc, Jos Hooiveld, Cody Cropper, Dani Osvaldo, Virgil Van Dijk

Rating: 7/10. The losses of Schneiderlin and Clyne have been the story of Southampton’s summer but Ronald Koeman has bought well. The signing of Jordy Clasie may prove to be inspired. After Fraser Forster’s injury the loan signing of Maarten Stekelenburg is excellent business.

 

Mark Hughes and Xherdan Shaqiri (Simon Cooper / PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Stoke City

In: Xherdan Shaqiri, Joselu, Phillipp Wollscheid, Jakob Haugaard, Glen Johnson, Shay Given, Sergio Molina, Marko van Ginkel, Moha El Ouriachi, Ibrahim Afellay

Out: Steven Nzonzi, Asmir Begovic, Robert Huth, Jamie Ness, Thomas Sorensen, Wilson Palacios, Andy Wilkinson

Rating: 8/10. Despite the high profile signing in Shaqiri, Stoke have bolstered their squad with many free signings. Losing Asmir Begovic to Chelsea was undoubtedly a loss, but Mark Hughes feels he has a ready made replacement in Jack Butland.

 

Sunderland

In: Jeremain Lens, Ola Toivonen, Yann M'Vila, Younes Kaboul, Adam Matthews, Sebastian Coates, De Andre Yedlin

Out: Connor Wickham, El-Hadji Ba, Santiago Vergini, Anthony Reveillere

Rating: 6/10. Sunderland still seem defensively weak and Younes Kaboul may not be the man to fix it. Dick Advocaat will be happy to tie Sebastian Coates down to a permanent deal. M’Vila may prove to be a canny signing but the Frenchman can be very temperamental.

 

Swansea

In: Andrew Ayew, Eder, Oliver McBurnie, Frankc Tabanou, Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Josh Vickers

Out: Jazz Richards, David Cornell, Alan Tate, Gerhard Tremmel, Oliver Davies

Rating: 4/10. Before everyone panics about this rating, the main reason they’ve gotten that rating is because they have not done a huge amount of business in the window, their main achievement has been keeping the good players in their squad that got them to where they were last season. Also losing a player named Jazz is surely bad news, but while the signing of Ayew is excellent business, none of the other signings are likely to make a huge impact, except perhaps maybe Eder.

 

Tottenham

In: Kevin Wiimmer, Kieran Trippier, Toby Alderweireld, Clinton N’Jie, Heung-Min Son

Out: Younes Kaboul, Paulinho, Cristian Ceballos, Etienne Capoue, Roberto Soldado, Vlad Chiriches, Brad Friedel, Benjamin Stambouli,

Rating: 5/10. They were slow to get going in the market, and it looks like they have done the same in the league. Son should hopefully bring some creativity where Lamela has failed to do so over the last two seasons, and some support up front for Harry Kane will be vital, but the bulk of their work has been done in clearing out a squad that had a lot of players taking up space on the wage bill. With money being pumped into a stadium redevelopment, this might be a transitional year for Spurs.

 

Watford

In: Valon Behrami, Allan Nyom, Sebastian Prodl, Giedrius Arlauskis, Jose Holebas, Miguel Britos, Jose Manuel Jurado, Steven Berghuis, Nathan Ake, Obbi Oularé, Adlène Guedioura

Out: Jonathan Bond, Uche Ikpeazu, Luke O’Nien

Rating: 6/10 Watford have possibly gone for quantity over quality in this case, but the loan of a highly fancied Nathan Ake is a good signing for both player and club. Behrami is a snip at just £3 million, while Berghuis has been part of Dutch squads in the past, so clearly has some talent. It might be difficult to get a big number of players like that to settle, however.

 

West Brom

In: James McClean, James Chester, Rickie Lambert, Serge Ganbry, Salomon Rondon,

Out: Kemar Roofe, Graham Dorrans, Jason Davidson, Youssouf Mulumbu, Bradley Garmston, Donervon Daniels, Wes Atkinson, Liam O’Neill

Rating: 6/10. The standout signings of the window are Rondon and Lambert, but the likelihood of them both being on the pitch at the same time is pretty slim. Lambert hit the ground running, and Rondon is dangerous, but Pulis is unlikely to be as gung-ho as to give the opposition the problem of dealing with them both. While the McClean move is great for Ireland, he is very predictable and needs to find another dimension to his game to be a real success at this level. A bit of a mixed bag, all told.

 

West Ham

In: Pedro Obiang, Dimitri Payet, Darren Randolph, Stephen Hendrie, Angelo Ogbonna, Carl Jenkinson, Manuel Lanzini, Alex Song, Victor Moses, Nikica Jelavic, Michail Antonio

Out: Stewart Downing, Paul McCallum, Dan Potts, Carlton Cole, Guy Demel, Jussi Jasskeleinen, Sebastian Lletget, Ravel Morrisson, Modibo Maiga

Rating: 7/10. It’s been a strange start to the season for West Ham, who have gone from world beaters to looking clueless, to being world beaters again. With a new manager and some signings in key places, there is still some work to be done to make the team click. Obiang is a solid player who has represented Spain at underage level and just has not fulfilled his potential yet, while Lanzini and Payet look to add a bit of creativity and edge to their attack. The worry is at the back, where they have appeared wanting both in terms of personnel and tactics so far this season. However, Italy defender Angelo Ogbonna looks like a fine addition, while they will be delighted to have brought Alex Song back on another loan deal from Barcelona. 

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