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Deadline Day Deals – The Facts!

Published by Ian John on September 1, 2010

IMAGE : Asamoah Gyan’s reaction after hearing Sunderland were keen on his services…
After a look at the rumours yesterday, here are the facts from yesterday’s transfer deadline day in the EPL and beyond…

Marc Wilson (Portsmouth – Undisclosed fee), Jermaine Pennant (Real Zaragoza – loan), Eidur Gudjohnssen (Monaco – Undisclosed fee) – all to Stoke City : A good days business for Tony Pulis. Stoke haven’t had the best start but all three of these deadline day captures can play a role in helping Stoke recover from their poor start to the season. Pulis is an astute mover in the market and proved that once again today.

Robinho (Manchester City, £21m) to Milan – Not the biggest shock really. Robinho made it patently clear he didn’t want to be at Eastlands and given that Roberto Mancini has around 38 strikers on his books any serious offer from a top European side was always likely to see the Brazilian sold. Good business for both clubs I feel.

Alexander Hleb (Barcelona – loan), Martin Jiranek (Spartak Moscow – undisclosed) Jean Beausejour (Club America – Undisclosed) to Birmingham City : A decent days business for Alex McLeish. Jiranek is a decent defender, though remains unproven at Premier League level while Hleb is an astute signing and will add some much needed creativity in midfield. Beausejour is something of a gamble but looked a decent player at the World Cup.

Asamoah Gyan (Rennes – £13m) to Sunderland – Well, Steve Bruce has put his eggs all in one basket. With Fraizier Campbell injured, Gyan should get plenty of games but it remains to be seen whether he can produce the form he showed at the World Cup on a consistent basis. For me, he is too similar a player to Darren Bent and in my view, I think he will struggle to make the same kind of impact Bent has had on Wearside. I hope I am wrong though.

Paul Konchesky (Fulham – Undisclosed) to Liverpool (plus Lauri Dalla Valle & Alex Kacaniklic in part exchange) - I can’t say I am overly enamoured of this deal. I think Konchesky is a good signing, but at the reported cost of £3.5m for a 29 year old of average Premier League ability, plus two talented youngsters in Kacaniklic and particularly Dalla Valle, I think Fulham got the better of this deal. Still, Liverpool need a solid left back and they don’t come much more solid than the Mekon lookalike.

Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow – Loan), Rafael Van Der Vaart (Real Madrid – £8m – pending) to Tottenham Hotspur : Harry had a quiet day by his standards. Pletikosa was always likely to arrive and duly did so, which is a good move given Gomes recent injury concerns. Then the last gasp signing of Rafael Van Der Vaart – if ratified & confirmed – will be an excellent piece of business for the Londoners. £8m for Van Der Vaart compared to £13m for Asamoah Gyan? Hmmm, it really isn’t a competition for bargain of the day is it?

Marcus Bent (Birmingham City – Loan) to Wolves – A non-event in my view. Bent is a decent Championship level striker. He will do little at Wolves other than bolster the squad and cover for injuries.

Tom Cleverley (Manchester United – Loan) and Franco Di Santo (Chelsea – Loan) to Wigan Athletic : Roberto Martinez attempts to boost the firepower at the DW Stadium by taking two of the Premier Leagues big boys young guns on loan. Both are talented youngsters but I can’t help feeling that the Premier League is just too much for both now and that a Championship club would have been far more beneficial at this stage of their career. In which case they may well end up back at Wigan on loan next season.

Matt Phillips (Wycombe – £325,000) and DJ Campbell (Leicester – Undisclosed) to Blackpool - Ian Holloway gives two more lower league players a chance at the big time and keeps Blackpool financially secure. Both will have to make the step up to Premier League level quickly if they are to make a big impact at the club this season but I must say I admire Holloway for sticking to his guns and not paying over the odds for a player. I really hope it pays off for them this season.

Notable outgoings…

Joseph Yobo Everton to Fenerbahce (Loan) – A surprise move for me given Everton’s small squad. Yobo it seems wanted first team guarantees that David Moyes was unable to give him. I feel this may not be a wise move come the middle of the Winter but we shall see.

Damian Plessis Liverpool to Panathinaikos (Undisclosed) – The young French midfielder obviously hasn’t impressed Roy Hodgson who quickly shipped him out to the Greek side. It was a busy day at Anfield for players leaving the club with Nabil El Zhar also leaving for PAOK Salonika in Greece on loan and Emiliano Insua joining Galatasaray on a season long loan.

Armand Traore Arsenal to Juventus (Loan) – Arsenal’s talented third choice left back gets a chance to show his credentials in Serie A with Juventus in a deal which may well become permanent at the end of the season.

Felipe Caicedo Manchester City to Levante (Loan) – Man City’s 3715th choice striker decides to leave rainy Manchester for the beautiful environs of Levante in Spain and first team football. I bet that was a tough decision to make.

All in all, one of the quieter transfer deadline days we have seen. The big winners? Stoke, Birmingham City and if they get Van Der Vaart, Tottenham. Best deal? Van Der Vaart though I think Stoke signing Eidur Gudjohnssen is a particularly astute move too.

Now there is four months of seeing if these signings can have the impact that most fans want.

Image Courtesy of ***Oderzhanie*** on Photobucket.com

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