With just over a month to go until the close of
business, which clubs are shaping up nicely for
the new season and who still have plenty of
work to do?
The summer transfer window will often make
or break a team's season before it has even
begun. Failure to improve your squad can have
a devastating impact and once the market
closes on September 2 there is no going back.
With Europe's top leagues kicking off in
August, the majority of business is usually
conducted in June and July. If you wait too
long, you risk missing out on your primary
targets and being left on the shelf. However,
some transfer directors, such as AC Milan's
Adriano Galliani, will often play the waiting
game in the hope of picking up a last-minute
bargain to transform their squads.
There is still over a month to go for clubs to
enhance their rosters, but who have been the
winners and losers of the window so far?
Below we take a look.
WINNERS
NAPOLI
In 2001, Juventus invested the money from
Zinedine Zidane’s sale to Real Madrid to
construct a new cycle with Gianluigi Buffon,
Lilian Thuram and Pavel Nedved. Napoli look
set to do something similar this summer after
trading Edinson Cavani to Paris Saint-Germain
for a mammoth €64 million.
While the Partenopei may have paid over the
odds on some of their new-boys, there can be
no doubt that they are a much stronger and
deeper squad than last season after the
captures of Gonzalo Higuain (to be confirmed
on Friday), Jose Callejon, Dries Mertens, Raul
Albiol, Pepe Reina, Rafael and young Croatian
starlet Josip Radosevic. And Napoli’s spending
spree is far from finished, with president
Aurelio De Laurentiis confirming a budget of
€124.5m. Porto goal machine Jackson Martinez
could be the next addition to the San Paolo
revolution.
FIORENTINA
Fiorentina are fast becoming everyone’s
favourite second team – and with the
irrepressible David Pizarro, Borja Valero and
Juan Cuadrado pulling the strings the Viola
played arguably the most entertaining football
in Europe in 2012-13. The uninitiated may
have written off Vincenzo Montella’s men
following the sale of top-scorer Stevan Jovetic
to Manchester City, but the truth is that the
Montenegrin has not progressed since his
cruciate ligament injury in 2010 and he will
not be missed.
Indeed, Fiorentina have bagged one of the
continent’s most prolific goalscorers in Bayern
Munich’s Mario Gomez for almost half the fee
received for Jovetic. Add Giuseppe Rossi and
Adem Ljajic into the mix and Fiorentina boast
real offensive firepower. The signing of
Palermo’s Josip Ilicic – one of Serie A’s most
exciting and creative midfielders last term –
for just €9m is another impressive transaction
for a team that will be a dark horse for the
Scudetto and, if they take it seriously, a
potential winner of the Europa League.
REAL MADRID
Barcelona may have made the headline signing
of the summer in Brazilian superstar Neymar,
but it is Real Madrid who have executed the
smarter transfer strategy thus far. To receive
almost €60m from Napoli for the expendable
Gonzalo Higuain and two fringe players in Jose
Callejon and Raul Albiol is fantastic business.
These funds will now be used to sign at least
one world-class player, with Tottenham’s
Gareth Bale and Liverpool’s Luis Suarez at the
top of Carlo Ancelotti’s shortlist.
The Blancos have already snapped up Malaga
wonderkid Isco, who could potentially develop
into the best player in the world, and one of
the stars of the Euro Under-21 Championship
in Real Sociedad midfielder Asier Illarramendi.
Madrid’s full-back problem position could also
be solved by the return of Dani Carvajal, who
was arguably the best right-back in the
Bundesliga for Leverkusen last season. Should
things go to plan between now and the end of
the window on September 2, Real Madrid will
be favourites for La Liga and Bayern Munich’s
most realistic challengers for the Champions
League.
DORTMUND
Borussia Dortmund captured the hearts and
minds of the neutrals last season en route to
the Champions League final and were
subsequently expected to be raided by Europe’s
richest clubs. However, BVB have done
outstandingly well to only lose one first team
player – Mario Gotze, who joined bitter rivals
Bayern Munich after they triggered his €37m
release clause.
Gotze has been replaced by an attacking
midfielder almost equally as effective in
Shakhtar’s Henrik Mkhitaryan, who scored 32
goals last term for club and country.
Dortmund have also added depth in defence
and attack with the respectable signings of
Werder Bremen’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos
and Ligue 1’s second top-scorer Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang from Saint-Etienne. The Germans
have made a profit of €5m and have plenty of
money to spend should they wish to further
delve into the market.
LIGUE 1
Monaco have joined Paris Saint-Germain as a
European superpower this summer having
already splashed €144m on new players – most
of it on Porto stars James Rodriguez and Joao
Moutinho, and Atletico Madrid striker Falcao.
PSG themselves have opened their chequebook
to the tune of €110.9m. Having signed Edinson
Cavani from Napoli for €64m, Ligue 1 now
boasts Europe’s two deadliest penalty box
strikers.
The Parisians also snared the world’s most
impressive teenage defender in Marquinhos
from Roma and Lille’s promising young left-
back Lucas Digne. Monaco and PSG have well
and truly put Ligue 1 back on the map, and
the pair brag the financial power to blow away
almost any European rival. It’s an ominous
sign for the rest of the continent.
LOSERS
PREMIER LEAGUE
The Premier League was expected to be the big
winner of the summer transfer window as a
result of its astronomical new television deal,
which will supply a total of around £5.5 billion
[€6.4bn] in broadcasting rights over the next
three seasons. With the league champions set
to earn around £100m [€116m] in 2013-14
just from broadcasting, England seemed a
certain destination for many of the globe’s top
stars.
But while the increased revenue has led to
lesser lights such as Norwich and Swansea
capturing the likes of Ricky van Wolfswinkel,
Leroy Fer and Wilfried Bony, the big guns in
the EPL have been painfully frustrated.
Virtually every established, top-class target –
for one reason or another - has evaded last
season’s top four. Mario Gotze, Thiago
Alcantara, Isco, Edinson Cavani, Radamel
Falcao, Robert Lewandowski and Gonzalo
Higuain – to name just a selection. Arsenal are
yet to spend a penny, Manchester United are
destined to endure an unfulfilled window,
while the league’s two best talents – Gareth
Bale and Luis Suarez – are not guaranteed to
remain on British shores.
MANCHESTER CITY
Manchester City were always going to loosen
their belts after last season’s trophyless
campaign led to the departure of manager
Roberto Mancini. But the Italian’s successor
Manuel Pellegrini has been hung out to dry by
a reckless spending spree. Having already
disposed with €111m, only Monaco have spent
more this window. Yet City’s current squad is
arguably weaker now than it was when it
flopped so horribly in Europe last term.
The signings of Alvaro Negredo and Stevan
Jovetic at a combined cost of over €50m
smacked of desperation following the failure to
capture primary targets. These are forwards
far inferior to their predecessors Mario
Balotelli and Carlos Tevez who departed for
just €28m. Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho, at
€40m, was also horribly overpriced and only
Sevilla winger Jesus Navas at €20m can be
regarded as good business. All of City’s arrivals
will perform adequately, but a club with the
ambitions of challenging for the Champions
League must set the bar much higher.
Pellegrini's men are currently light-years
behind Bayern and Real Madrid.
THE MILANESE
:AC Milan and Inter need to get their skates on
if they are to not only close the gap on Serie A
champions Juventus but also slow down the
rapid ascent of Napoli and Fiorentina. Milan,
having controversially sneaked a Champions
League place, have been typically quiet so far.
Andrea Poli, Riccardo Saponara and Jherson
Vergara all have the potential to be fine
acquisitions, but if the Rossoneri are to topple
Juve and make an impact in Europe again they
need a couple of big-name purchases,
particularly in the centre of defence. Vice
president Galliani always waits until the end of
the market to secure a blue-chip bargain, but
this is a risky strategy.
Inter have been far more active than their city
cousins as they aim to rebuild a squad that
limped to a disastrous ninth-placed finish last
season. New coach Walter Mazzarri has
renewed optimism but in truth the summer
acquisitions offer no guarantees. Experienced
arrivals Hugo Campagnaro, Marco Andreolli
and Juan Carrizo will add little, while young
prospects Ishak Belfodil, Mauro Icardi, Ruben
Botta and Diego Laxalt possess an average age
of 21. Unless Inter sign a few established
names - which may hinge on Massimo Moratti
selling a controlling stake to Indonesian
investor Erick Thohir - there is little chance of
Inter reclaiming a Champions League place.
MALAGA
Malaga were a surprise success in the
Champions League last season and were
seconds away from reaching the semi-finals,
despite a summer of austerity that saw them
lose a host of stars, including Santi Cazorla,
Jose Rondon and later Nacho Monreal, who
joined the former at Arsenal in January.
This summer window has been even more
depressing than last year as having already
given up their world-class coach Pellegrini, the
Andalusians have seen their squad disintegrate
through the departures of Isco, Joaquin,
Martin Demichelis, Jeremy Toulalan, Julio
Baptista, Javier Saviola and many others. With
only a few modest names arriving, Malaga will
do well to even make it into the top half of La
Liga in 2013-14.
THE ERIDIVISIE
The Eredivisie has developed into a feeder
league in recent years and has taken some big
punches again this summer. Not only did the
championship lose five of last year’s top seven
goalscorers – Bony, Jozy Altidore, Sanharib
Malki, Dries Mertens and Jeremain Lens - high-
profile names such as Marco van Ginkel, Leroy
Fer, Nacer Chadli and national team captain
Kevin Strootman all departed Netherlands too.
The one positive was wonderkid Adam Maher’s
decision to reject an overseas transfer in order
to continue his development at PSV, but the
Eredivisie has no chance of playing a serious
role in Europe in 2013-14, epitomised by
Utrecht's embarrassing exit to Luxembourg
side Differdange in the second round of Europa
League qualifying. This will be another
devastating blow for the Dutch coefficient this
year as there were 19 better-performing
nations in the Champions League and Europa
League last season.
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