After a ridiculous day of huge money splurging by the Premier League's most desperate clubs, the transfer window is finally shut. Liverpool's new owners delivered their promise and opened their wallets. £35 million for Andy Carroll and £22.9 million for Luis Suarez brought happiness back to Anfield. Fernando Torres left for Chelsea for £50 million but Liverpool fans will be glad to see the back of him because he's had the look of a man who didn't want to be there since the World Cup.
£35 million seems like a ridiculous price for Andy Carroll. There is no doubt that he's had a wonderful season, banging in 11 goals in 19 games for Newcastle. Also, he's only 22 years of age which means he has an incredible amount of potential. However, Carroll is also a player whose private life tends to spiral out of control. He was forced by a judge to live with his captain Kevin Nolan after being charged with assaulting an ex girlfriend. He's also been involved in numerous training ground bust-ups with team mates. The fact that he's basically had a good four months in the top league and only scored 17 goals in 39 Championship appearances last season does not point to this as being a great value deal for Liverpool. I think it's a huge risk for Liverpool to bring in Carroll. He has become the most expensive British player ever and that will put huge pressure on very inexperienced shoulders. £22.9 million for Luis Suarez also seems like a lot of money but is probably the better value. Suarez has an unbelievable goals to game ratio with 81 goals in 110 appearances for Ajax. However, the Dutch league is very poor. Suarez only has 17 goals in 37 European games and 16 goals in 38 appearances for Uruguay. Liverpool fans should remember Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. He scored 135 goals in 183 Dutch league appearances. He managed 15 in 45 matches for Real Madrid and AC Milan. Don't get too excited yet. I have to feel sorry for Roy Hodgson too. I'm sure he'd have loved Carroll and Suarez and that if he'd had those two players in his team he'd have guided Liverpool up the table like i'm sure Dalglish will. Dalglish though will be the one hailed as the genius when the stats are rolled out at the end of the season.
Newcastle have made a huge mistake selling Andy Carroll on deadline day. Yes, they got far too much money for him but what good is that when they couldn't bring anyone in? A desperate last second bid for Charles Nzogbia of £13 million was rejected by Wigan and Newcastle are now in desperate trouble without their top striker. To make matters worse, Carroll has told the papers that he was forced out of Newcastle which will certainly hit the morale of the players and the Toon fans. It certainly wouldn't shock me if that was the case. They have played well without him in recent games but i'm not sure if Nolan can continue to score regularly and after him with 10 goals, it's a long way back to Ameobi who has 4 goals. It will surely throw their decent season into chaos and Pardew certainly has his work cut out for him now.
Roman Abramovich also felt the need to splash the cash. Well, he really needed to with certain members of the media questioning his loyalty to the club, and with a huge battle on for a Champion’s League place. £50 million is far too much money for Fernando Torres. He is a proven goal scorer but he seems to be incredibly injury prone. I don’t blame the player for leaving Anfield. He was promised League titles and European glory with Liverpool and they haven’t delivered. Torres is too good to be playing in the Europa League and it looks as though if he had stayed he would be playing in it again next season. Also “El Nino” is hardly a kid anymore. At 26 he has spent ten years at clubs that have won no trophies, while at international level he has won the World Cup and European Cup. I think he deserves more at club level, although I’m not sure Chelsea's aging squad can provide the glory he craves. Abramovich also splashed £23.5 million on Brazilian centre back David Luiz. With Chelsea’s persistent injury problems in this area, this seems a good acquisition. It may not be enough to save their league title though with the age of the squad a genuine concern.
Out of the other clubs, I think Aston Villa bought very well. Darren Bent, John Makoun and Michael Bradley were all brought in to bolster the squad. With them, I don’t think Villa will be around the relegation places for too much longer. It was also important to get rid of Stephen Ireland (Newcastle) and Curtis Davies (Birmingham) as neither player had anything to contribute.
It was imperative that Blackpool kept Charlie Adam and they managed to do that. The fees being bandied about for him were outrageous and he’s more important to Blackpool than he would be for any other team.
Harry Redknapp admitted that Spurs offered £35 million for Villareal’s Giuseppe Rossi on deadline day. He needs to get real. 45 goals in 111 La Liga appearances is not £35 million striker material. Anyway, it’s Tottenham’s defense that will let them down this season. They’ve had no problem scoring but they leak goals at a worrying rate. They will be found out and I think they may have to settle for a Europa League place.
Robbie Keane went to West Ham and he needs to find his scoring touch quickly if he’s to keep the Hammers up. They are 2 points from safety but the gap between them and 16th is 5 points so they are beginning to be left behind.
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