The window: how did we do?

At the end of last season and after the predictable sale of Richarlison, it was pretty clear that we needed at least 4 players to complete the first team and provide vital cover.   Those players were:

·         A forward to cover Calvert-Lewin’s absences

·         A centre back of courage and leadership

·         A specialist midfield holding player

·         A (ideally left-footed) right wing / forward

As it happens, we have not only recruited each of these players, we have almost completely overhauled the squad and first team.  That is a very bold move in just one transfer window.

Verdict

Overall, I give Lampard and Thelwell a 7 out of 10 for their efforts.

Pros: We have covered all of the 4 strategically important positions and more besides. Overall, the squad is stronger than last season by some measure so we should handle the inevitable absences much better.  We also look much tougher physically and hopefully mentally. 

Cons: Although the squad is stronger, our first team is arguably weaker than our fully fit starting XI of last season – at least in the final third.  This is because Richarlison repeatedly dug us out of matches last season with his drive, determination and moments of class in the final third. I don’t see Maupay in that league (hence he’s playing for us and not Spurs). 

Coming windows will need to be more ambitious as to quality (rather than quantity) but we have enough to regain some dignity with a top 10 finish.

Could we have done better?

I’ll look at the essentials first.

In terms of strikers, Maupay gives us a similar goal output to Richarlison at lower cost, but he’s not as good. Elsewhere in the market there were some good deals including the potentially brilliant Jovic for free to Fiorentina, Zirkzee from Bayern to Bologna for £9m, Kalimuendo to Rennes from PSG for £18m, Pinamonti on loan from Inter to Sassuolo and Hojlund (a Haaland-esque young Dane) moving to astute buyers Atalanta for £15m.   Others will disagree but I’m glad we didn’t end up with a player like Batshuayi.

In terms of right wing / forwards, it’s hard to see a better deal (for anyone left-footed) than the £15m (rising to £20m) fee for McNeil. Neres and Tete were cheap due to the situation in Ukraine but, importantly, McNeil gives young Patterson good defensive cover. I expect them to form a decent partnership.

In terms of holding midfield, Amadou Onana is a genuine Champions League quality talent, albeit raw. As I generally say, we shouldn’t be spending more than about £20m on any player given our financial situation but it seems we pay the £35m on the drip over a few years which has made the other deals possible.  So good work from a financial point of view perhaps.

Could we have done better? It will be interesting to compare him to Adams and Roca (at Leeds), Doucoure (at Palace), Palhinha (at Fulham) and Kamara (at Villa).  Weigl (a former “new Busquets”) and Ampadu look like good loan signings.  On balance it looks very encouraging but there’s some stiff competition here.  We must give the young man time to acclimatise before we judge. He could end up being a tremendous signing.

In terms of centre-back, I’m torn.  For the price and experience, I can’t see better options than Tarkowski and Coady.  However, early days I know but I’m not convinced either is as good as Mina – and I have mixed feelings about Mina (even when fit).  It might have been better getting just one experienced player and then a younger player with much greater potential like Richards (Palace), Kotchap (Southampton), Thiaw (leaving Schalke for Milan) and Nianzou (ex-PSG graduate leaving Bayern for Monaco).  But seriously, can’t really complain at the price we paid. Good business.

In addition to the essentials, we’ve also got a few more.

Vinagre looks like a decent LWB / LB so we don’t need to have this daft debate about whether Nkounkou is ready (he’s not) or try using players like Kenny, Coleman or Iwobi for a role they’re completely ill-suited to. Also allows Mykolenko to move into a back-three if needs be.  Good loan signing.

Gueye we know all about and Garner is young but with plenty of experience on loan at a high standard. They both look like decent signings over the short and long term respectively.  Again though there’s stiff competition here. We can compare them to Gilmour to Brighton (£111m), Mangala at Forest (£13m) and the excellent Camara who joined Monaco from Salzburg for the same price. 

Other good deals include Fulgini (joined very astute buyers Frankfurt for just £6.5m), another Camara (Olympiacos to Roma on loan), Svanberg to Wolfsburg for £9m and Ferguson leaving Aberdeen to replace Svanberg at Bologna for just £3m.  It’ll be interesting to see whether Gilmour ends up being any good at Brighton, too. Looks like a good place for him to develop.

Elsewhere

Across the whole market, I’m jealous of Leeds for getting Aaronson (who has that Donovan-esque mix of drive and ability), Leverkusen for Hlozek and Milan for getting DeKetelaere (both such classy young players) but while the fees for each were less than we paid for Onana, they weren’t really the players we needed so urgently. Also, very difficult to compete with the glamour of Milan (and a resurgent Milan at that).

Looking ahead

Being a cautiously optimistic type, I am also pleased with preparations for the future with the loans of Branthwaite, Simms, Onyango, Warrington and Dobbin who should all be playing regularly at a higher standard of football than they are used to.  Strong performances on loan could see them very much part of the first-team squad reckoning for the 2023-24 season.  This looks like good work by Thelwell or whoever else is responsible.

Getting rid

As the window has progressed, I can’t help but feel Richarlison went for a pretty low fee – but the timing suggests we had to do the deal to fend off FFP trouble (and maybe legal proceedings from Burnley).  So I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt on that.

It’s also fair to say that the management team were at least decisive about Dele Alli and presumably have protected us against paying good money after bad for someone who can’t really be arsed anymore.  Gomes is another good departure. A relief, in fact.

What we kept

As much as new players, we have probably also done a good job of retaining Calvert-Lewin, Gordon and Mina – all of whom are still probably the best we’ve got in their positions.  Obviously, it went right to the wire with Gordon.  Hopefully he can now show what he’s made of, which we should be optimistic about. 

Sadly, it means that Mina will leave for free in June 2023 but such is life. In the meantime, he’ll be an important part of the defence when fit (to be replaced with Branthwaite perhaps when he returns from PSV in summer).  Calvert-Lewin is really good and doesn’t get enough credit, but the main thing in coming windows is to find that genuine Champions League quality forward who can take us up a notch.  They are out there.

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