An incredible summer transfer window is over. Whilst it was slow to get going due to the various international tournaments during June and July, it turned into one of the more wild rides in Premier League transfer window history.
It had everything from records being broken to legends returning home. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how the big six clubs of the Premier League fared this transfer window.
Manchester City Ins
Jack Grealish from Aston Villa ($139m), Gk Scott Carson (free)
City only made one real signing, yet they finished fourth in the Premier League in spending this summer. That’s what happens when that one deal happens to be record breaking. Grealish in a class by himself when it comes to players purchased by an English club- he is alone in the 100 million GBP transfer fee club.
Manchester City Outs
Jack Harrison ($15m), Lukas Nmecha ($15m) Eric Garcia and Sergio Aguero left on a free
You know the joke by now- Gabriel Jesus is the backup striker on a team that has no starting striker. It’s true though, City has no out and out centre forward right now, but they have wingers for days. Seriously, their second string wing pairing could easily start almost anywhere else.
While it’s a strange setup to be sure, you can’t argue against what works, and they can still score in droves, just like they did last year, and the year before that, and the year before that…..
Analysis
It would seem that they went all in on Harry Kane, perhaps and that it massively backfired. Putting all the eggs in one basket, for a guy that wasn’t really going to leave anyway, was a waste of time. Then again, what else were they going to do?
Bottom Line
Grade: B-
They are the champions, and they won the league comfortably last season, so they had the least work of anyone to do, but this was still kind of underwhelming.
2021 Summer Transfer Window Report Cards
United Chelsea City Liverpool Arsenal West Ham Palace Leicester Tottenham Everton Villa Southampton
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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