Clinton Morrison: My winners & losers of the summer transfer window
The summer transfer window closed on Monday as one of the busiest in recent years, with late drama around Marc Guehi and Alexander Isak going right to the wire.
Confirmation of the record signing of Isak has made Liverpool clear favourites with sports betting sites to win the Premier League this season, but there is plenty to digest after a record £3 billion was spent over the summer.
Clinton Morrison was a big part of it as it came to a close, and has been speaking to Free Bets about the moves that caught his eye.
It’s the international break right now, with the transfer window closing at the weekend which you were a part of on TV.
Now we can stand back and look at the window as a whole, let’s have a look at the winners and losers of the transfer window.
We’ll go through the Premier League and then the Championship, looking at a few categories. Let’s get going!
Premier League
Bargain of the Window
That’s a difficult one to call.
The one that immediately springs to mind - even though they did pay a lot of money for him - is Joao Pedro at Chelsea. I think he will be an outstanding player for them and end up being one of the best signings.
Donnarumma could be a bargain at Manchester City, but can he play out from the back? There will be a few question marks to answer for Pep, but City have been conceding a lot of goals recently so he should save them a lot of points and prove to be a bargain.
But with a bargain really, you’re thinking of something that is cheap, and I think there has been a lot of value for money - but you can’t call them cheap!
Someone who might turn out to be one is Jack Grealish.
Everton have got him on loan so there is no money involved, but he has a lot to prove and he will prove people wrong and make the England squad next summer.
Joao Paulinha is another one, on loan to Spurs from Bayern Munich. If he can recapture the form from when he was at Fulham, then that is a very good one.
Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho were two late signings for Aston Villa that I think could turn out well, but Grealish and Paulinha have started well and I think will continue to be.
Most Overpriced Player
I am tempted to say Florian Wirtz, but I do think he will come good, he’s just had a slow start and hasn’t looked great but I think he will turn it around.
It’s a tough one to call. Someone like Isak, there’s no doubt about him doing well at Liverpool but you could argue he is overpriced.
Someone who could be a bit overpriced, and I don’t want to judge him too early and that’s Sesko. I hope it works out for him but at the moment, from what I’ve seen in the few games so far, the price Manchester United have paid for him looks a little bit high.
You look at someone like Yoane Wissa, and Newcastle probably paid a bit more for him than they would have wanted to but they had to get a striker in, and he’s done it at this level before and will score goals with the likes of Elanga, Bruno Guimares, Tonali and Joelinton behind him.
Which Team Has Done The Best Business Overall?
You have to say Liverpool. If they had got Marc Guehi then it would have 100% been them, but I would still say they have pipped Arsenal and even Newcastle, who also ended up doing okay with four or five really good football players.
Liverpool just really stand out because the two fullbacks, Wirtz and then Ekitike who has come in and hit the ground running, to then add Isak as the icing on the cake gives them the edge.
They’d have smashed the window if they got Guehi too, you might as well have given them the title right then. But Arsenal have still done well and covered all basis so will be pretty happy.
Which Team Should Have Done More?
I would have said that Fulham would be the ones, but they did some good business at the end of the window with the wingers they brought in and their squad was okay to start with.
Sunderland have been excellent, Leeds have done well too - they could have done with another striker, but they’ve done well. Burnley have done okay business too.
Wolves are maybe the ones. They brought in a striker right at the end but could have done a bit more, so could West Ham, who needed to strengthen more.
Brentford too after losing Wissa haven’t really replaced him so them and Wolves, they could struggle this season.
Which Individual Transfer Are You Most Excited About?
Everyone will be talking about Isak and Wirtz, but I think Tottenham have done some really good business.
I like Kudus but everyone knows a bit about him, but Xavi Simons has gone under the radar a bit and I think he will be a really good signing.
I mentioned him earlier though and Joao Pedro is an outstanding signing. He has got so much ability and took his game to a new level at Brighton, so along with Simons he’s the other I’m really looking forward to watching.
Championship
Bargain of the Window
Picking out the bargain of the summer is a hard one in the Championship, because there have been so many signings.
Looking at the teams, Ipswich and Birmingham have signed big, West Brom and Wrexham too.
Some of the figures that are being thrown around are crazy, but if you’re looking at the best value buy then Demarai Gray might be the one. He has a lot of ability and a lot to offer at Birmingham.
I think Leicester signing Ramsey from Burnley is a very good signing as well. They’ve done decent business towards the end of the window, but Gray just pips him as the bargain.
I think Patrick Roberts is a good signing too. Gray on the left and Roberts on the right is pretty good, and he knows the Championship inside out.
The Championship is going to be a hell of a league this year because there is some serious money being thrown about.
Chuba Akpom is shouldn’t go under the radar either. He showed at Middlesbrough that he can score goals, and that could be massive for Ipswich.
Most Overpriced Player
Ipswich have spent some big money. They bought McAteer for around £12 million, and then Egeli for nearly £20 million and I have never heard of him!
That amount of money in the Championship is bonkers. I know Birmingham spent similar on someone like Jay Stansfield, but he was a bit more proven. That could be an outrageously overpriced one.
Wrexham spent big on Nathan Broadhead. I bet Ipswich were rubbing their hands at about £8 million, and he has to go there and deliver.
Wrexham have spent big all over really. Callum Doyle, Lewis O’Brien, Kieffer Moore and Ben Sheaf, there’s a lot of money in there.
But the guy at Ipswich, that’s got to be number one for me.
Which Team Has Done The Best Business Overall?
Derby have done a lot of good business and brought in a lot of players, but it’s going to sound bias when I say Birmingham.
With Patrick Roberts and Jack Robinson coming in late on, they’ve got a lot of very good work done and done it early before topping it off.
They have a very competitive squad.
Which Team Should Have Done More?
Sheffield Wednesday have clearly had the worst window. I know they couldn’t bring in many players because of their embargo, but they got Harry Amass on loan from Man United, which is a good signing but would have been even better if they got more loan signings in alongside him.
The squad is competitive and they’re ahead of Sheffield United right now, so the fans will be happy! But Sheffield Wednesday just need more players.
It is hard to attract them in their situation, but you might have got one or two more youngsters to tempt.
Charlton could have done more and Portsmouth too.
Which Individual Transfer Are You Most Excited About?
He hasn’t hit the ground running yet, but I like Kyogo at Birmingham. His movement is brilliant - I saw a lot of him at Celtic.
He should be scoring a lot more goals.
I like Ramsey at Leicester. He has had a lot of injuries so needs to get his career back on track so that should be a very good signing.
Wrexham paid a lot of money but Ben Sheaf is a very talented footballer who can pick a pass, and improves that midfield.
I can’t move away from Kyogo, I do like the Stoke winger Sorba Thomas too. He has a lot of ability, can create and score a lot of goals.
Crystal Palace
Q: Moving onto Crystal Palace, it was a tough end to the window for Marc Guehi whose move to Liverpool fell through at the final moment.
Is it unfair that he didn’t get his move but someone like Alexander Isak was rewarded for how he behaved?
A: I feel sorry for him because he is such a humble, quiet guy who went about his business, never moaned and has led by example.
He is a fantastic individual and it was his dream move to Liverpool. It could still happen in January or the end of the season because he is not going to sign a contract, but you feel sorry for him.
But you know without a shadow of a doubt he will go back to Palace, get his head down and get on with it.
I am gutted for him because he has gone about it in the right way, and others haven’t done that, but managed to get their moves.
I do think he will get that move though, I think Liverpool will come knocking in January.
Q: Is there any blame to be put on any of the parties?
A: There are a lot of rumours that if Guehi had left, then the manager walks away which would have been a disaster.
And I think the way it works out, the manager and the chairman will be happy, but Guehi won’t be because he has missed out on his dream move - or at least it’s been put on hold.
They did try to get the replacement in but he went to West Ham and that’s what happens. But the manager wanted more bodies in the building and that didn’t happen, which is disappointing.
But as soon as the Igor move was off, there was no time to get a replacement in and even though Guehi had probably done his goodbyes and the medicals got completed, the move was kind of killed, but his time will come.
Q: In terms of Glasner, he’s been linked with the Bayer Leverkusen job after Erik ten Hag was sacked. Can you see that working out?
I can’t see that, to be honest.
I think Leverkusen is a massive club, but he could go somewhere bigger. I think Glasner’s next move could be to a huge club - if he wants to go back to Germany he might wait and see how Vincent Kompany gets on at Bayern this season.
Or if he stays in the Premier League, you have seen some of these managers under pressure at the big clubs so he might be in the conversation there.
EFL Pre-Season Predictions
Gab Sutton is the in-house EFL tipster for Free Bets, and before the season started he had a look at how he thinks the EFL will pan out this year.
