The summer transfer window is closed. All 20 Premier League clubs have signed and sold players for the first half of the season. Some clubs fared better than others. Let's look at a few winners and losers from the summer transfer window in the Prem.
Loser: Chelsea
The West London club has spent the GDP of a small nation since they got a new owner. In this window alone Chelsea spent over $501 million on 11 players. That's A LOT of quality coming into the club. Or, at least it is supposed to be a lot of quality.
Through four matches in the Premier League season, Chelsea are 12th with a win, a draw and two losses. What makes that worse is Moises Caicedo, whose $125 million price tag suggests he's one of the best defensive midfielders in the world is already at fault for a few goals against.
Caicedo reminds me of Yaya Touré, what a baller🔥 pic.twitter.com/FOaWy5h9k5
— Hardly Seen🕴🏿 (@isthatUW) September 3, 2023
The transfer window is supposed to strengthen a team, not weaken it! Chelsea wants to get back into the Top 4 and spent big to try and do so. So far, that's not looking likely. Embarrassing.
Winners: West Ham United
David Moyes was given a massive transfer budget when Arsenal paid $126 million for Declan Rice. West Ham used that windfall very well by bringing in Mohammed Kudus, Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse.
Ward-Prowse specifically has been an incredible addition to the club. The former Southampton captain has the fifth-best goal-creating actions per 90 this season in the Premier League at 1.38. And don't forget he's already got a goal and three assists in three games for the Hammers. Ward-Prowse is so far the steal of the transfer window.
West Ham have picked up 12 points in four matches, putting them third in the league early in the season. Through the first four weeks of 22-23, West Ham had only three points. It's early stages, but West Ham has done very well in the transfer window.
Losers: Manchester United
Sometimes it's not about who you sign, but about who you don't sell. United opted to keep both Mason Greenwood and Harry Maguire.
The Red Devils fumbled the Greenwood situation with a poor first statement that they immediately had to walk back. And while they eventually sent Greenwood out on load to Getafe, they haven't got rid of the problem that is Mason Greenwood.
Former club captain Harry Maguire hasn't been able to get into Erik Ten Hag's squad for a while now. Surely he would be sold in the transfer window. But a deal with West Ham fell through for...reasons. Maguire is, at best, fourth in United's center-back depth chart and will barely see game time even with Raphael Varane out for weeks with an injury.
It really feels like United doesn't have a plan. Keeping a player around who's a PR nightmare and a player who doesn't factor into the squad are both wild decisions.
Winners: Brighton Hove & Albion
In the transfer window, Brighton has lost nearly $200 million of talent with the sale of Moises Caicedo, Alex Mac Allister and keeper Robert Sanchez. They used only half of that war chest to make the additions of Joao Pedro, Carlos Baleba, Bart Verbruggen and Igor. Oh, and they also nabbed Barcelona's young star Ansu Fati on a season-long loan.
Roberto De Zerbi on getting to manage Ansu Fati at Brighton ⭐ pic.twitter.com/vLKrHv2cJK
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) September 2, 2023
You'd expect a massive drop-off with that much talent leaving and theoretically only bringing in half.
De Zerbi disagrees. His squad has so far picked up nine points from a possible 12 to open the season.
Joao Pedro has already opened his goal account for Brighton and the capture of Fati can't be understated. The young Barcelona star already scored 15 goals for Barca in 53 starts! And he only turns 21in two months. In this Brighton squad, Fati could go off and put up some truly dominant numbers.
Not only did Brighton fill their war chest with a ton of money by selling high and buying cheap, but they've added world-class talent in the process and keep on winning. Exceptional transfer window.
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