Dom’s Summer Report
It’s been a busy summer up and down for clubs up and down the country, but after a frantic deadline day it’s now time to assess where each club will finish the 2011/12 season in the Premier League.
Arsenal
In: Carl Jenkinson (Charlton, £1m); Gervinho (Lille, £10.6m); Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Southampton, £12m); Park Chu-Young (AS Monaco, £3m); Andre Santos (Fenerbahce, £6.2m); Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen, £8m); Yossi Benayoun (Chelsea, loan); Mikel Arteta (Everton, £10m)
Out: Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona, £35m); Samir Nasri (Manchester City, £24m); Gael Clichy (Manchester City, £7m); Emmanuel Eboue (Galatasaray, £3m); Armand Traore (QPR, undisclosed); Denilson (Sao Paulo, loan); Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad, loan); Henri Lansbury (West Ham, loan); Nicklas Bendtner (Sunderland, loan)
Summary: The prolonged saga of the sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri hung over the club for most of the summer but after a frenzy of activity on deadline day they can still challenge for a place in the top four.
Grade: C
Aston Villa
In: Charles N’Zogbia (Wigan, £9.5m); Shay Given (Manchester City, £3.5m); Alan Hutton (Tottenham, undisclosed); Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham, loan)
Out: Stewart Downing (Liverpool, £20m); Ashley Young (Manchester United, £16m); Luke Young (QPR, undisclosed); Jonathan Hogg (Watford, undisclosed); Brad Friedel (Tottenham, free); Nigel Reo-Coker (Bolton, free); John Carew (West Ham, free); Robert Pires (released); Jean Makoun (Olympiakos, loan)
Summary: High profile departures have left a question mark hanging over Villa’s squad but they have a top quality goalkeeper in Shay Given and Charles N’Zogbia will be a source of creativity. Need Agbonlahor and Darren Bent to fire.
Grade: C
Scott Dann: Critical to Blackburn
Blackburn Rovers
In: Simon Vukcevic (Sporting Lisbon, £2m); David Goodwillie (Dundee United, £2m); Myles Anderson (Aberdeen, undisclosed); Radosav Petrovic (Partizan Belgrade, undisclosed); Scott Dann (Birmingham, £6m); Yakubu (Everton, undisclosed)
Out: Phil Jones (Manchester United, £16.5m); Frank Fielding (Derby, undisclosed); Nikola Kalinic (Dnipro, undisclosed); Brett Emerton (Sydney FC, free)
Summary: Rovers fans would have been worried up until deadline day but the signing of Scott Dann at least gives them hope of Premier League survival.
Grade: D
Bolton Wanderers
In: Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears (Burnley, joint £3m); David Ngog (Liverpool, £4m); Darren Pratley (Swansea, free); Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa, free); Tuncay (Wolfsburg, loan); Dedryck Boyata (Man City, loan); Gael Kakuta (Chelsea, loan)
Out: Ali Al Habsi (Wigan, £4m); Matt Taylor (West Ham, £2.2m); Johan Elmander (Galatasaray, free); Tamir Cohen (Maccabi Haifa, free); Joey O’Brien (West Ham, free)
Summary: Holding onto Gary Cahill was a huge boost for Owen Coyle and he’s added to his squad with some shrewd signings such as Nigel Reo-Coker and Sanli Tuncay. Bolton should be looking to consolidate on last season’s mid-table finish.
Grade: B
Out: Michael Mancienne (Hamburg, £3m); Slobodan Rajkovic (Hamburg, £1.8m); Yury Zhirkov (Anzhi, undisclosed); Nemanja Matic (Benfica, undisclosed); Fabio Borini (Parma, undisclosed); Thibaud Courtois (Atletico Madrid, loan); Jeffrey Bruma (Hamburg, loan); Ulises Davila (Vitesse Arnhem, loan); Patrick van Aanholt (Wigan, loan); Gael Kakuta (Bolton, loan); Yossi Benayoun (Arsenal, loan)
Grade: B+
Everton
In: Eric Dier (Sporting Lisbon, loan); Denis Stracqualursi (Tigre, loan); Royston Drenthe (Real Madrid, loan)
Out: Mikel Arteta (Arsenal, £10m); Jermaine Beckford (Leicester, £4m); James Vaughan (Norwich, £2.5m); Iain Turner (Preston, free)
Summary: Everton have had a troubled summer and this was compounded by the departure of Mikel Arteta to Arsenal. To add insult to injury they lost two strikers and that was something they could ill afford. Top half would be a massive achievement.
Grade: F
Bryan Ruiz: Exciting signature for Fulham
Fulham
In: Pajtim Kasami (Palermo, £4m); John Arne Riise (Roma, £2.4m); Marcel Gecov (Slovan Liberec, undisclosed); Zdenek Grygera (Juventus, free), Bryan Ruiz (Twente, £10.6m), Orlando Sa (Porto, free)
Out: Jonathan Greening (Nottingham Forest, £670,000); Kagisho Dikgacoi (Crystal Palace, undisclosed); Zoltan Gera (West Brom, free); Diomansy Kamara (Eskisehirspor, free); John Paintsil (Leicester, free); Carlos Salcido (Tigres, loan)
Summary: Fulham can be please with their summers business and if Martin Jol can get the best out of his players then a top half finish isn’t beyond them. Bryan Ruiz looks an exciting acquisition.
Grade: B
Liverpool
In: Stewart Downing (Liverpool, £20m); Jordan Henderson (Sunderland, £16m); Charlie Adam (Blackpool, £9m); Jose Enrique (Newcastle, £6m); Alexander Doni (Roma, free); Sebastian Coates (Nacional, undisclosed); Craig Bellamy (Manchester City, free)
Out: Joe Cole (Lille, loan); Christian Poulsen (Evian, undisclosed); Alberto Aquilani (AC Milan, loan); Paul Konchesky (Leicester, £1.5m); Emiliano Insua (Sporting Lisbon, undisclosed); Daniel Ayala (Norwich, undisclosed); Milan Jovanovic (Anderlecht, free); Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Wolfsburg, free); Raul Meireles (Chelsea, £12m)
Summary: Liverpool have cleared out the dead wood in the squad and replaced it with quality. King Kenny transformed Liverpool’s fortunes last season and a spot in the Champions League is the least Reds’ fans can expect.
Grade: A
Manchester City
In: Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, £38m); Samir Nasri (Arsenal, £24m); Gael Clichy (Arsenal, £7m); Stefan Savic (Partizan Belgrade, £6m); Costel Pantilimon (Poli Timisoara, undisclosed); Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United, free)
Out: erome Boateng (Bayern Munich, £10m); Shay Given (Aston Villa, £3.5m); Felipe Caicedo (Levante, £880,000); Jo (Internacional, undisclosed); Michael Johnson (Leicester, loan); Ryan McGivern (Bristol City, loan); Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham, loan); Dedryck Boyata (Bolton, loan); Roque Santa Cruz (Real Betis, loan); Vladimir Weiss (Espanyol, loan); Shaun Wright-Phillips (QPR, undisclosed); Craig Bellamy (Liverpool, free)
Summary: Similar story to Liverpool, they’ve replaced unwanted players with star names and a real push for the title should be on the cards. Carlos Tevez stays which is a huge boost.
Grade: A
Manchester United
In: David De Gea (Atletico Madrid, £17.8m); Phil Jones (Blackburn, £16.5m); Ashley Young (Aston Villa, £16m)
Out: Gabriel Obertan (Newcastle, £3.25m); Wes Brown (Sunderland, £1m); John O’Shea (Sunderland, undisclosed); Owen Hargreaves (Manchester City, free); Bebe (Besiktas, loan); Ritchie de Laet (Norwich, loan)
Summary: Ferguson knows what he’s doing in the transfer window now and secured his targets early. Ashley Young and Phil Jones have slotted straight in but question marks hang over the keeper. They remain the ones to beat.
Grade: A
Demba Ba: Goal scoring potential
Newcastle Un ited
In: Davide Santon (Inter Milan £5m); Yohan Cabaye (Lille, £4.3m); Gabriel Obertan (Manchester United, £3.25m); Sylvain Marveaux (Rennes, free); Mehdi Abeid (Lens, free); Demba Ba (West Ham, free)
Out: Jose Enrique (Liverpool, £6m); Kevin Nolan (West Ham, £4m); Wayne Routledge (Swansea, undisclosed); Joey Barton (QPR, free); Xisco (Deportivo La Coruna, loan); Fraser Forster (Celtic, loan)
Summary: Another striker would have been a boost for Alan Pardew and the departures are worrying. They’ve made a solid start in the league though and Demba Ba could prove to be one of the deals of the summer.
Grade: C
Norwich City
In: Steve Morison (Millwall, £2.8m); James Vaughan (Everton, £2.5m); Anthony Pilkington (Huddersfield, £2m); Daniel Ayala (Liverpool, undisclosed); Elliott Bennett (Brighton, undisclosed); Bradley Johnson (Leeds, free); Ritchie De Laet (Manchester United, loan); Kyle Naughton (Tottenham, loan)
Out: Owain Tudur Jones (Inverness, undisclosed); Cody McDonald (Coventry, undisclosed)
Summary: Although few have left, a worrying lack of proven Premier League talent has been brought in and Norwich could be in for a long, tough season unless the players who got them promoted make the step up.
Grade: D
Queen’s Park Rangers
In: DJ Campbell (Blackpool, £1.2m) Armand Traore (Arsenal, £1.2m); Danny Gabbidon (West Ham, free); Kieron Dyer (West Ham, free); Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff, free); Brian Murphy (Ipswich, free); Bruno Perone (Tombense, free); Joey Barton (Newcastle United, free); Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City, undisclosed); Anton Ferdinand (Sunderland, £2m)
Summary: It had been a worrying summer for Rangers fans but since the takeover of Tony Fernandes they’ve sprung to action and now have a solid Premier League squad. If Taarabt and Barton hit it off they’ll survive.
Grade: B
Stoke City
In: Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham, free); Matthew Upson (West Ham, free); Cameron Jerome (Birmingham, £4m); Peter Crouch (Tottenham, £10m); Wilson Palacios (Tottenham, £8m)
Out: Carl Dickinson (Watford, undisclosed); Eidur Gudjohnsen (AEK Athens, free); Abdoulaye Faye (West Ham, free); Ibrahima Sonko Ipswich, free)
Summary: Tony Pulis can be very proud of his summer haul and Peter Crouch is capable of getting goals at any level. A top half finish is well within their capabilities.
Grade: A
Nicklas Bendtner: A diamond in the rough?
Sunderland
In: Connor Wickham (Ipswich, £13m); Craig Gardner (Birmingham, £5m); Ahmed Elmohamady (ENPPI, £2m); Ji Dong-won (Chunnam Dragons, £2m); Wes Brown (Man United, £1m); James McClean (Derry City, £350,000); John O’Shea (Man United, undisclosed); Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham, free); David Vaughan (Blackpool, free); Keiren Westwood (Coventry, free); Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal, loan)
Summary: Steve Bruce has boosted the strength in depth of his squad with some astute signings and they will be looking to improve on last season’s finish. Nicklas Bendtner could be a very good bit of business if he gets the games he needs.
Grade: B
Swansea City
In: Michel Vorm (Utrecht, £1.5m), Danny Graham (Watford, £3.5m), Leroy Lita (Middlesbrough, £1.75m), Wayne Routledge (Newcastle, undisclosed), Jose Moreira (Benfica, undisclosed), Steven Caulker (Totteham, loan), Gerhard Tremmel (Red Bull Salzburg, free), Federico Bessone (Leeds, undisclosed), Darnel Situ (Lens, undisclosed)
Out: Shuan MacDonald (Bournemouth, £80,000), Dorus de Vries (Wolves, free), Darren Pratley (Bolton, free), Albert Serran (AEK Larnaca, free)
Summary: If Swansea succeed in playing their usual brand of football and survive it will be a breath of fresh air to The Premier League, however, they may lack the quality to secure enough points to keep them up.
Grade: D
Tottenham Hotspur
In: Brad Friedel (Aston Villa, free), Cristian Ceballos (Barcelona, free), Souleymane Coulibaly (Siena, undisclosed), Emmanuel Adebayor (Man City, loan), Yago Falque (Juventus, loan), Scott Parker (West Ham, £5m)
Out: Peter Crouch (Stoke, £10m), Wilson Palacios, Stoke, £8m), Jamie O’Hara (Wolves, £5m), Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy £1.8m), Alan Hutton (Aston Villa, undisclosed), Jonathan Woodgate (Stoke, free), Kyle Naughton (Norwich, loan), Steven Caulker (Swansea, loan), Bongani Khumalo (Reading, loan), Ryan Mason (Doncaster, loan), Jonathan Obika (Yeovil, loan), David Bentley (West Ham, loan), Jermaine Jenas (Aston Villa, loan)
Summary: More players have left Spurs than come in but Adebayor is good business by Harry Redknapp and they succeded in holding onto Luka Modric. Missed out on Gary Cahill but if they can make themselves more compact they have an outside chance of a Champions League place.
Grade: C-
West Bromwich Albion
In: Shane Long (Reading, £6.5m), Zoltan Gera (Fulham, free), Marton Fulop (Ipswich, free), Gareth McAuley (Ipswich, free), Billy Jones (Preston, free), Ben Foster (Birmingham, loan)
Out: Scott Carson (Bursaspor, £2.1m), Ishmael Miller (Nottingham Forest £1.2m), Borja Valero (Villarreal, undisclosed), Marek Cech (Trabzonspor, undisclosed), Abdoulaye Meite (Dijon, free), Gianni Zuiverloon (Real Mallorca, free), Giles Barnes (Doncaster, free), Dean Kiely (retired), Boaz Myhill (Birmingham, loan), Chris Wood (Birmingham, loan), James Hurst (Blackpool, loan), Marek Cech (Trabzonspor, undisclosed), Pablo Ibanez (Birmingham, undisclosed)
Summary: Roy Hodgson has made some good signings, Ben Foster and Shane Long in particular, and if they can secure enough points at home they should easily be safe.
Grade: B
Charles N'Zogbia: Hasn't been replaced
Wigan Athletic
In: Ali Al Habsi (Bolton, £4m), Shaun Maloney (Celtic, £1m), Albert Crusat (Almeria, undisclosed), David Jones (Wolves, free), Nouha Dicko (released, free), Patrick van Aanholt (Chelsea, loan)
Out: harles N’Zogbia (Aston Villa, £9.5m), Antonio Amaya (Real Betis, undisclosed), Daniel de Ridder (Grasshopper Zurich, free), Mauro Boselli (Estudiantes, loan), Steven Caldwell (Birmingham, free), Jason Koumas (released)
Summary: Wigan have failed to replace Tom Cleverley and Charles N’Zogbia, two key players for them last season, with quality. Hugo Rodallega will be crucial if they have aspirations of beating the drop.
Grade: D
Wolverhampton Wanderers
In: Roger Johnson (Birmingham, £7m), Jamie O’Hara (Tottenham, £5m), Dorus De Vries (Swansea, free)
Out: Greg Halford (Portsmouth, undisclosed), David Jones (Wigan, free), Geoffrey Mujangi Bia (Standard Liege, free), Marcus Hahnemann (released), Steven Mouyokolo (Sochaux, loan)
Summary: Mick McCarthy will be delighted with his summers work. He held onto his key players from last term and improved his squad with the signings of Roger Johnson and Jamie O’Hara. Should easily have enough to stay in the division.
Grade: B
Dom’s Final Premier League Table Prediction
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