Stoke City brought in Wilfried Bony. Pep Guardiola trimmed his Manchester City squad. But for some Premier League clubs, Deadline Day did not go to plan.
“Is that…is that guy looking for a club?”
As the dust settles on a chaotic 24 hours of transfer deals, we take a look at the clubs who didn’t get what they wanted on Deadline Day.
Sunderland
David Moyes went into Deadline Day with the aim of acquiring several new names to revitalise his squad which currently lies in 16th place.
The Black Cats were said to be in various stages of discussions and interest with Florentin Pogba, James McCarthy, Steven Naismith, Wayne Hennessey, Cedric Carrasso, Leonardo Ulloa, John Ruddy and Diego Lopez. None of these men ended up in the North East.
Moyes was able to complete deals with midfielder Didier Ndong and defender Jason Denayer, but the saga involving Yann M’Vila sums up Sunderland’s day more than any other.
The French midfielder flew to England yesterday and it seemed all day as if he would be on his way to Sunderland, but alas it did not happen, and M’Vila said that he was “heartbroken” the move fell through.
Moyes has form in the Deadline Day panic stakes. During his short spell at Old Trafford, Moyes was unable to seal transfers for a number of players and eventually only brought in Marouane Fellaini for a price many deemed to be too high.
Sunderland desperately needed a striker and a goalkeeper. They got neither.
Suffice to say the fans aren’t happy.
Everton
Ronald Koeman went after Lamina Kone, Manolo Gabbiadini, Yacine Brahimi and Moussa Sissoko on deadline day. None of them is an Everton player today.
Missing out on Sissoko is a real hammer blow for Everton, with his electing to sign for Tottenham instead.
19-year-old striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Enner Valencia were the only signings the club made yesterday.
Valencia arrives on a loan deal from West Ham with the option of a permanent switch at the end of the season for a fee in the region of £15 million.
Fans would have hoped that with new owners, and with a huge cash influx from the sale of John Stones to Manchester City, the club could have drastically improved the squad for the new season.
Tottenham
Some will view their acquisition of Moussa Sissoko from under the noses of Everton as a triumphant victory. But many will view the price tag of £30 million as an abomination – a waste of money on an inconsistent player who cost Newcastle £2 million.
Sissoko had a good Euros, but an awful Premier League campaign
The move will be a success if they have bought the Sissoko who performed so well at Euro 2016, but if it is the Sissoko who played in the black and white of Newcastle last year, Spurs fans won’t be happy.
The saga was high on drama – the kind of deal that Deadline Day aficionados love – but was it a smart move?
Chelsea
CHELSEA LEGEND RETURNS TO STAMFORD BRIDGE FOR £20 MILLION LESS THAN HE WAS SOLD FOR.
Sounds good, no? But is signing David Luiz – for any amount of money – a good deal?
He scores the odd 30-yard screamer, but is he really worth it? Football fans seem to have a form of amnesia towards Luiz – remembering his outstanding free-kick for Brazil during the World Cup and forgetting all the times he was in complete disarray in defence.
Luiz doing some defending for PSG
He returns from PSG, but we can’t really judge his form in France too easily because the Paris side had it ridiculously easy last year. It looked like they were playing FIFA 99 in the mode where the opposition essentially become invisible and you can run through them.
Antonio Conte also sealed the signing of Fiorentina left-back Marcos Alonso for £23 million, but Luiz puts Chelsea on this list by himself.
Manchester United
Jose Mourinho didn’t sign anyone on Deadline Day. What is he playing at?
If Jose had waited until Deadline Day, he could have got Pogba for £189 million
I mean…sure, he said he wanted four players and he signed them all well in advance thanks to proper planning, but no last-minute panic buys? Nothing? Where’s the fun in that?
It’s just not cricket to plan your transfer dealings well in advance of Deadline Day. Shame on you, Mr Mourinho.
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