It's fate, it's ✨ Destiny (Udogie) ✨
Dissecting the Premier League's summer transfers
An eye-watering £2.6bn was spent by Premier League clubs in the summer transfer window, far exceeding the amount spent by the Saudi Pro League. In fact British top flight clubs accounted for 48% of spending across the top five European leagues.
Like the entirety of Twitter (sorry, X), I’ve cooked up some wildly uninformed opinions about the summer’s moves. But unlike those social media users, I’ve taken some time to elaborate. Thanks as ever for reading, and subscribe to get weekly content straight to your inbox.
Most Promising Moves 🤑
To proclaim the ‘best transfer’ is far too definitive after only 4 matches of a long season, but so far these new names have impressed me.
Dominik Szoboszlai
One of Europe’s hottest young prospects has so far lived up to the hype around him. A glorious strike against Villa last weekend highlights Szoboszlai’s attacking capability, and I think he offers a nice balance to that Liverpool midfield. If a more traditional defensive midfielder can be carved into the squad, to free up the Hungarian further in attack and rely less on him defensively when in transition, I would expect him to play even better – maybe a role for Ryan Gravenberch?
Destiny Udogie
A new look left side of defence for Spurs partners full back Destiny Udogie with Micky Van de Ven. While there have been fragilities at the back in their opening fixtures, keeping just the singular clean sheet, the 20-year-old has looked mightily impressive going forward. I expect Udogie to form a big part of Postecoglou’s plans to play possession based football deep in their own half, before acting as that outlet on the left - his speed and lungs are going to wreak havoc.
Eyebrow Raisers 🤨
Clearly, not all transfers end up being positive for the destination club, and in most cases only time will tell. But, even with leniency, some moves seem downright bizarre. Mason Mount and Kai Havertz are for me two of the strangest deals from the summer window, and I spoke about them in tactics corner of my last blog. In the meantime, let’s consider:
Matheus Nunes
A poor record (one goal in 35 league matches for Wolves), a poor disciplinary record and a price tag in excess of £50m does not feel like a good combination. Nunes proved he’s more than capable of running strongly with the ball at midfielders, but at face value I can’t see why Guardiola (with his incredibly complex systems and ‘indirect’ style) wants to take such a risk. I’m counting down the days until I’m proven wrong – Pep clearly knows more about football than I do – but this strikes me as a move certain to disappoint given his explosive attitude and Pep’s inflexible ‘the club is greater than the player’ mentality (I’m looking at you Joao Cancelo).
Cole Palmer
Everything about this move confused me. Palmer’s form has been very good – scoring in the Community Shield and Supercup is no mean feat – and he looked set to finally start making meaningful contributions to a City team that is noticeably lacking in first team experience. That’s no sleight against James McAtee and Oscar Bobb (great name), I think that’s just a fact.
And so for Palmer to join an unsettled Chelsea squad, with no a guaranteed position for him and a host of other signings jostling for starting places, feels like an error on his part. I understand leaving Manchester to fight it out for a starting role, but considering everything around the Chelsea project at its current stage, it feels like the wrong decision.
Winners and Losers 📈
If your team is slated as part of this section, it can only be because I am intrinsically biased against your club - not because we may have a difference of opinion.
Aston Villa ✅
The window winners I feel are Aston Villa, who quietly have strengthened across the pitch and added needed rotation options to cope with the fixture demands of European games. Youri Tielemans on a free and Pau Torres are cracking deals, while underlining the pull of Unai Emery.
Chelsea ❌
Despite high profile departures across the board, Chelsea still had an estimated net spend of over £200m, including a British record fee for ex-Seagull Moises Caicedo. I’m clearly not the only one to scrutinise the dealings of their free-spending owner, but casting an eye down Chelsea’s bench I’m not wowed by their prospects. In all honesty, I would’ve thought £1bn spend would get you better players.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and don’t miss out on FPL Corner, this week featuring insight into my recently assembled draft team. Hint - I didn’t get Haaland.
See you next week, and thanks for supporting my Substack. 😎
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