ADVERTISEMENT
The Sun Nigeria
  • Home
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun
No Result
View All Result
The Sun Nigeria
No Result
View All Result
Home National

Premier League Deadline Day winners and losers: Everton on the up; United, Spurs fail

10th August 2018
in National
0
clubs
0
SHARES
70
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

ESPN

The Premier League transfer window is over for the summer. But who came out on top on Deadline Day? And who will be wishing they had done a bit more?

WINNERS

EVERTON

Marco Silva’s flurry of late additions may just have transformed the Everton squad — and their prospects of, as a minimum, cementing a place as the strongest challengers outside the top six.

Their two additions from Barcelona, Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes, strengthen the core of the side. Mina, well known to those who watched Colombia’s World Cup campaign, is a towering centre-back who has plenty of room to improve at the age of 23 and provides genuine goal threat at set-pieces — as England discovered.

Gomes had a patchy two years at the Nou Camp but was excellent in his time at Valencia and, at 25, could have several years in him as the dynamic midfield presence they have lacked if his loan is turned permanent.

Meanwhile they have a bargain in Bernard, the thrillingly talented winger who has arrived for free from Shakhtar Donetsk, and if Kurt Zouma’s loan arrival from Chelsea is rubber-stamped then Everton have depth in almost all areas.

The only doubt is whether Silva should have added extra quality at centre-forward, but Everton fans are hardly complaining at the last 24 hours’ activity.

READ ALSO 4,000 undergraduates to take part in NCDMB Essay Competition

FULHAM

What a revolution newly-promoted Fulham are undergoing. Slavisa Jokanovic spelt out the need for new players within minutes of their playoff final win over Aston Villa and their deadline day activity built on an already strong summer’s work.

Their five arrivals all add something: Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who joined from around £22m from Marseille, is an exceptional midfield prospect; Luciano Vietto, on loan from Atletico Madrid, has a hugely encouraging goal scoring record in Spain; Joe Bryan is an exciting attacking left-back from Bristol City;

Sergio Rico is a smart goalkeeping capture from Sevilla; while Timothy Fosu-Mensah, on loan from Manchester United, will be all the better for his season at Crystal Palace last term.

In total Fulham have spent nearly £100 million on eight permanent signings and four loans during the summer; it will take time for them all to settle in but a club whose recruitment once caused fractures between Jokanovic and those above him now looks set for a fascinating ride.

LEICESTER

Losing both Riyad Mahrez and Harry Maguire could have made this a troubling window for Leicester, but instead it ends with shoots of genuine hope.

The highly-rated centre-back Caglar Soyuncu arrived from Freiburg on deadline day and was joined by another defender: Croatia’s Filip Benkovic. Yet Maguire stayed put, with Manchester United’s interest never really crystalising, and Leicester now have genuine depth of quality among their back four.

To cap it all, they announced that Jamie Vardy has signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until he is 35. It crowned a deadline day that, broadly, proved far more productive for the Premier League’s mid-ranking clubs than its elite.

READ ALSO Nigerians decry circulation of mutilated Naira notes

LOSERS

TOTTENHAM

Zero, nada, nothing. That is how much Tottenham spent on summer transfers and, in the process, became the first club in the Premier League era not to bring anybody in during preseason.

That need not be a disaster and it is refreshing in some ways that Mauricio Pochettino will simply have to develop what he already has — a job that should play nicely to his strengths — yet the manager had stated his wish for early reinforcements as far back as January and, even when speaking in his news conference on Thursday, clearly had not given up hope of a last-minute arrival.

But, largely due to the £850m millstone of their new stadium, players were always going to have to depart before anyone came in; there was to be no deal for the want-away Toby Alderweireld despite some interest from Manchester United and that essentially meant Pochettino was bereft of leeway.

There was a certain amount of cash available to spend on Jack Grealish, who would have lessened some of Christian Eriksen’s creative burden, but Aston Villa quickly made it clear a deal could not be done even though the player was believed to be keen.

Any other targets were simply too expensive; the window passed frustratingly and Tottenham, whose first XI can stand up to almost any, may live to rue their lack of depth in key areas.

MANCHESTER UNITED

Jose Mourinho wanted a centre-back but his board were, by all accounts, unimpressed with his targets. It will not do much for the atmosphere, already testy, around Old Trafford although United do look strong in most other areas, provided Mourinho can get them playing with the fluidity they often lacked last term.

That in itself is a big question; the other is whether a top-quality full-back, to put genuine pressure on Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia, might have been added too.

The sense is that United can get by, and their defence was stingy last season behind the great form of David De Gea after all — but the impact on Mourinho’s mood, which has been fragile all preseason, may be more important than anything that immediately happens on the pitch. If United do not get off to a good start, a long autumn may be in the offing.

READ ALSO Trump admin sets goal to create US military Space Force by 2020

NEWCASTLE

On Friday morning it was announced that Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct company had bought House of Fraser, the British department store chain, for £90m. The timing might either make Newcastle fans laugh or cry.

Rafa Benitez had been desperate for Ashley to loosen the purse strings as the window ticked down to its conclusion, with a left-back and a No. 10 particularly high in his sights.

In terms of fees spent and received, Newcastle are in profit to the tune of £21.4m from this summer — but Federico Fernandez, the Swansea centre-back, was the only deadline day addition and Benitez must be wondering what exactly he is expected to achieve with a squad that looks woefully short in key areas.

He will surely keep Newcastle up, but the last few days have been nothing like enough for a manager of his quality and ambition.

 

Tags: andre gomeschelseaenglish premier leagueevertonkurt zoumaManchester Unitedvalenciayerry mina
Omotayo Edubi

Omotayo Edubi

Related Posts

Rivers PDP candidate vows to replicate Wike's development strides at grassroots
Elections

Rivers PDP candidate vows to replicate Wike’s development strides at grassroots

13th April 2021
Ramadan: Okorocha urges Muslims to pray for safer, prosperous Nigeria
National

Ramadan: Okorocha urges Muslims to pray for safer, prosperous Nigeria

13th April 2021
2023: We did not endorse Wike for President - NYLF
National

2023: We did not endorse Wike for President – NYLF

13th April 2021
Next Post
clubs

Premier League promoted clubs: Wolves, Fulham show transfer ambition; Cardiff less so

Amori

Daura’s Sack: Lesson for overzealous security agents – Ex-Lawmaker

UNILORIN VC seeks global partnership to fight cyber insecurity

Unilorin working hard to host National Youth Games–Eke

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Highlights

2023: We did not endorse Wike for President – NYLF

Nearly 1 million going hungry in Mozambique, warns WFP

Financial Reform Initiatives: We are open to stakeholders with valuable ideas – AGF, Idris

Anambra group tasks Obiano on security

Ramadan: Sanwo-Olu to clerics, pray for peace, Nigeria is shaking

2023 presidential election: PDP too weak to wrestle power from ruling party–Govs forum DG

Trending

Establishing Twitter’s presence in Africa
Business

Establishing Twitter’s presence in Africa

13th April 2021
0

Twitter’s mission is to serve the public conversation, and it’s essential, for the world and for Twitter,...

Rivers PDP candidate vows to replicate Wike's development strides at grassroots

Rivers PDP candidate vows to replicate Wike’s development strides at grassroots

13th April 2021
Ramadan: Okorocha urges Muslims to pray for safer, prosperous Nigeria

Ramadan: Okorocha urges Muslims to pray for safer, prosperous Nigeria

13th April 2021
2023: We did not endorse Wike for President - NYLF

2023: We did not endorse Wike for President – NYLF

13th April 2021
Nearly 1 million going hungry in Mozambique, warns WFP

Nearly 1 million going hungry in Mozambique, warns WFP

13th April 2021

Follow us on social media:

Categories

  • Abuja Metro
  • Arts
  • Broken Tongues
  • Business
  • Business Week
  • Cartoons
  • Citizen Joe
  • Columns
  • Cover
  • Culture
  • Duro Onabule
  • Editorial
  • Education Review
  • Effect
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Events
  • Features
  • Femi Adesina
  • Food & Drinks
  • Frank Talk
  • Funke Egbemode
  • Gallery
  • Global Square by Kenneth Okonkwo
  • Health
  • Insights
  • Kalu Leadership Series
  • Kunle Solaja
  • Kunle Solaja
  • Letters
  • Lifeline
  • Lifestyle
  • Literary Review
  • Marketing Matters
  • Muiz Banire
  • National
  • News
  • Offside Musings
  • Opinion
  • oriental news
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • PressClips
  • Public Sphere
  • Ralph Egbu
  • Shola Oshunkeye
  • Sideview
  • South-west Magazine
  • Sponsored Post
  • Sporting Sun
  • Sports
  • Sun Girl
  • Tea Time
  • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
  • The Sun Awards Live
  • The Sun TV
  • Thoughts & Talks
  • Time Out
  • Today's cover
  • Tola Adeniyi
  • Travel
  • Travel & Tourism
  • Trending
  • TSWeekend
  • Turf Game
  • Uncategorized
  • Updates
  • Views from Abroad
  • Voices
  • World
  • World News
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Paper Ad Rate
  • Online Ad Rate
  • The Team
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© 2019 The Sun Nigeria - Managed by Netsera.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun

© 2019 The Sun Nigeria - Managed by Netsera.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist