Now that the transfer window has been officially open for a month now, the top six clubs in the English Premier League have been splashing the cash. I welcome you to follow along as I offer timely updates and analysis on the window as it relates to England’s top clubs and their “ins and outs”.
Outside of the top four, Liverpool have been making real statements of intent with their business in the transfer window so far. They have brought in high-profile names such as Kolo Toure and Simon Mignolet. However, they have released five players whilst letting another two go out on loan, as well as letting Andy Carroll move to West Ham and Jonjo Shelvey to Swansea City.
Liverpool’s first signing of the window was Spanish striker Iago Aspas from La Liga club Celta de Vigo. The 25-year old moved to Anfield on 23rd June for a fee of around £6 million. The Spaniard scored 46 goals in 136 games for Celta, which is very impressive for a relatively unknown young striker who was played out of position. Aspas has been loyal to Celta having been in Vigo, Galicia since 2006. He had worked his way through the reserves in north-west spain scoring 11 goals in 86 appearances for Celta B between 2006 and 2009 and made his first-team debut in August last year. He prefers to play as the second striker but last season was played out of position. Therefore, his stats seem impressive for a striker played on the wings. For Fantasy Football managers, Aspas will be likely to start most matches and if Liverpool can hold onto Suarez, he’ll be sure to create many assists and score quite a few himself. However, Spanish media dubbed him as ‘Suarez lite’. This was because he caused trouble at Celta and was subject to a hefty amount of controversy. Fans will see Aspas’s good, bad and ugly sides for sure.
In late June, Sevilla announced they had accepted a bid from a Premier League club for Luis Alberto Romero. Liverpool, two days later, confirmed they had signed the forward/winger for a fee of around £6.8 million. A product of Sevilla’s youth academy, in 2012, Alberto moved to Barcelona’s reserve team FC Barcelona B on a one-year loan deal. The Catalans had the option to sign him permanently. They didn’t sign him. The reason, we can only assume, is that Barca already have too many attacking midfielders. During his spell in Barcelona, the 20-year old played 36 times scoring an impressive eleven goals. Since 2009, he’d represented Sevilla B 77 times scoring 25 goals. These starts will surely tempt Fantasy Football managers as they are quite an achievement for a young attacking midfielder. Do expect to pay around £6m but he is well worth the risk as from reports we can assume that he’ll be starting alongside Coutinho on Merseyside.
Liverpool also brought in centre-back Kolo Toure on a free transfer. The ex-Man City captain signed two-year contract on the 2nd July. Liverpool needed to sign a reliable defender as both Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel have been linked with moves away from the club. If these two left, it would leave the Merseyside team with only Sebastián Coates as a proven natural centre-back.
Also coming to Liverpool was Sunderland’s Simon Mignolet. The Belgian goalkeeper joined on 25th June for £9 million. The 25-year old signed a five-year contract which suggests he will very much be in manager Brendan Rodgers’s plans. This would be bad news for current no.1 Pepe Reina. Although, Reina, who’s first name is actually José, has been linked with moves to Napoli and as a replacement for Victor Valdes at Barcelona. However, if Reina were to stay, they’d be a real battle and an interesting one at that for the metaphorical no.1 jersey. For the Fantasy Football managers out there, Mignolet should be a goalkeeper to consider. If he starts he’ll be sure to score you loads of points. Why not sign Reina and Mignolet for your team? They’re both definitely worth a look.
Leaving Liverpool were three youngsters on free transfers and two loan deals. Also departing were Andy Carroll and Jonjo Shelvey. The latter went to Swansea for £5 million with Carroll going to West Ham for a reported £15 million.
Andy Carroll’s £15 million move to West Ham was confirmed on 19 June 2013. The English striker signed a massive six-year contract with the Hammers after spending a season on loan in London. The ex-Newcastle man signed for £35 million at Liverpool on January 2011 transfer deadline day. The fee made Carroll the most expensive British footballer of all time. The transfer was shortly after Chelsea signed Fernando Torres from Liverpool for £50 million. This led to Liverpool desperately searching for a striker which worked in Newcastle’s favour.Chelsea’s big-money-move for Spanish striker Fernando Torres helped increase Andy Carroll’s transfer fee. This was because Liverpool were left with limited attacking options and as it was deadline day, they panicked and when a very high bid of £30 million was rejected on Tyneside, they put in a bid of £35 million which was quickly accepted. Many people say that if the move was a week earlier, the fee would have been much, much less, which is understandable.
However, what’s done is done and Andy Carroll signed a long-term deal. He was injured whilst playing for Newcastle before the transfer so he had to wait until 6th March of that year to make his debut. Liverpool won 3-1 against Manchester United. On 30th August 2012 Carroll accepted a contract to play for West Ham on a season-long loan. Liverpool wanted to put a £17 million clause as an option for a permanent transfer but decided against doing so to get the deal to go through. The Hammers paid £2 million in loan fees and also paid £80,000 a week in wages. The 6ft 3in played 24 times on loan in London scoring seven goals in the process. Carroll has also been capped nine times by the England national side. He’ll be an expensive signing for your Fantasy Football team but it could be a risk worth taking as he showed a lot of potential in his loan spell and he also has decent service from the likes of Kevin Nolan and Matt Jarvis.
Jonjo Shelvey’s £5 million move to Welsh side Swansea was confirmed on 3rd July when he signed a four-year contract with the Swans. The 21-year old has only played 29 times for Liverpool since 2010 so a move to Swansea, where he is more likely to get first-team football looked attractive to him. The centre-midfielder has impressed in Swansea’s pre-season friendlies picking up two assists. For Fantasy Football managers, he isn’t all that attractive as he is only 21 so he’s inexperienced and is not yet guaranteed a start at Swansea. I’d give him a few games and then see what happens.
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