da wazamba： If you somehow managed to miss it among the psychedelic flashing-yellow coverage of Deadline Day on Sky Sports, Premier League clubs spent well over £1bn across the summer transfer window – an all-time record.
da cassino： No fewer than 13 sides broke their transfer records for new players and the last day of the madness resulted in some staggeringly expensive deals.
Naturally, among this there are a few ‘what were they thinking?’ signings. It’s hard to say what is overpaying right now with the new TV deal having swelled valuations, but some deals done by clubs up and down the division just scream more money than sense.
With this in mind, here’s an XI made up of the most overpriced players to have moved to Premier League clubs over the past two months (they make a big chunk of that £1.2bn outlay!)…
Goalkeeper and defence… GK – Claudio Bravo (£13.75m)
Don’t shout us down straight away! We know Bravo is a decent goalkeeper, but the mooted £13.75m sum is pretty steep considering he’s 33.
Man City were perhaps somewhat forced to go so high for the Chilean as they desperately searched for an alternative to Joe Hart late on, but having had all summer to find the stopper they wanted, it’s hard to have sympathy.
RB – James Tomkins (£10m)
Solid and reliable, Tomkins is not a bad defender, but the £10m Crystal Palace paid feels a little steep. It remains to be seen how the Eagles fare over the season, but should they struggle against relegation, or even be unable to avoid the drop, questions will surely be asked of their decision to ay such a fee for Tomkins.
CB – Shkodran Mustafi (£35m)
Arsene Wenger’s desperate late search for a defender saw Mustafi’s fee swell to an eventual £35m. The German, a World Cup winner has been in good form for Valencia over the past couple of season, yet it’s hard to put him among the elite defenders on a global scale, which is where his price-tag puts him.
CB – John Stones (£47.5m)
A defender with question marks around his ability to defend for £47.5m? Man City don’t do themselves any favours, do they! To be fair Stones has looked decent in Pep Guardiola’s XI since his move along the M62, but a fee that makes him one of the most expensive defenders in the history of the game is well above the odds.
LB – Marcos Alonso (£23m)
Alonso, once of Bolton and Sunderland, cost Chelsea £23m… TWENTY-THREE MILLION POUNDS. The Spaniard has improved immeasurably over the last 12 months at Fiorentina, but it feels like the Londoners’ desperation to sign a left-back was taken advantage of by La Viola.
Midfield… RM – Jordon Ibe (£15m)
If Ibe wasn’t English, would he be worth £15m? Probably not. The winger struggled at Liverpool last season and has failed to kick on after initially impressing under Brendan Rodgers at Anfield, at which time he was tipped to be better than Raheem Sterling. A big risk from Bournemouth, this.
CM – Paul Pogba (£89m)
Pogba will probably continue his development and be a very, very good midfielder.
However, for a fee of £89m the Frenchman will need to be Player of the Year to justify the huge outlay, and that’s before the ‘he was allowed to leave four years ago for £800k’ factor is thrown in…
CM – Moussa Sissoko (£30m)
The big story of Deadline Day, Sissoko ended up costing Spurs a mooted £30m after they swooped at the last minute to snatch him from Everton’s grasp.
The Frenchman is clearly a talented midfielder when he’s motivated, but there are question marks surrounding his attitude and with his performances at the Magpies were related last term having been so poor, the reported fee is exorbitant.
LM – Yannick Bolasie (£25m)
Bolasie’s YouTube skills videos are certainly worth a watch, but with his end product having been questioned it seems like flop status awaits the £25m man at Everton, unless Ronald Koeman can work his magic.
Up front… ST – Andre Ayew (£20.5m)
A free transfer last summer, Swansea probably couldn’t believe their luck when West Ham offered a club-record £20.5m for the Ghana international.
Ayew is a decent forward, but he’ll need to make a swift return to his best when he comes back from his four-month lay-off if he’s to justify the fee paid.
ST – Islam Slimani (£29m)
Leicester finally spent like champions on the last day of the transfer window, but £29m for Slimani seems like misplaced funds.
The Algerian is now 28 and is unproven in a ‘major’ league and it’s hard to see where he fits in with Jamie Vardy, Ahmed Musa and Shinji Okazaki in Claudio Ranieri’s ranks.