The summer transfer window has finally closed. £1.165 billion was spent, but should the likes of Swansea City, Chelsea and Liverpool have made these moves?
England’s Joe Hart
The summer transfer window has officially shut, and this window has officially seen the biggest summer transfer spree. With new managers and owners spending millions on strengthening their squads. But which teams missed out on deals that should have happened?
Joe Hart to Sunderland
When Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola made it clear that Joe Hart wasn’t in his future plans, speculation of where the England international would end up began.
Hart eventually made the loan move to Torino, despite Sunderland reportedly being one of the clubs interested in signing the keeper. The Black Cats were in desperate need of signing someone between the sticks. Number one keeper Vito Mannone is out for three months after damaging elbow ligaments in training.
Hart to Sunderland would have been a great signing for the club.
Yacine Brahimi to Everton
Everton were reportedly close to signing Yacine Brahimi from Porto for £35 million (Mirror) on deadline day, only for the Blues to miss out on the Algerian. Brahimi also attracted interest from Arsenal and Liverpool this summer, but Porto were reluctant to let the winger leave which eventually led to the deal falling through. The signing of Brahimi would have been a massive statement for Everton and the board.
Wilfried Bony to Swansea
Wilfried Bony originally joined Swansea City in 2013, before moving on to Manchester City in January 2015 for £28 million. Bony was impressive during his spell at the Welsh side, scoring 25 goals in 54 appearances for the Swans. However, Bony has failed to do the same at City, where he has struggled for game time and form.
Swansea should have pushed to re-sign the striker, considering he was available to move away from the Ethiad all summer. Instead Bony joined Stoke on a season-long loan.
Kalidou Koulibaly to Chelsea
Chelsea reportedly made a £42 million move for defender Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli (Mirror), but the Serie A club wanted £60m for the Senegal defender, so a deal between the two clubs failed to be met.
The defender seemed to be Conte’s preferred choice at the back, with speculation lasting all summer. However, nothing could be agreed and the Blues ended up re-signing David Luiz from PSG.
Ben Chilwell to Liverpool
In one of the early summer transfer sagas, Liverpool were unable to pry Leicester’s 19-year-old left back prodigy from the King Power Stadium.
Jurgen Klopp had been a keen admirer of the England Under 21 international, however an unwillingness to meet the Champions’ £10 million valuation appeared to be the major stumbling block.
With the Anfield outfit now deploying James Milner at left back, it seems a chance missed by both Liverpool in securing a left sided defender for the future and Chilwell who may have had a better chance at first team football on Merseyside.
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