Arsenal, Chelsea have lost more than they've gained

Love it or hate it, oppose it or support it, but one thing cannot be denied: deadline day of the transfer window provides story lines better than your most unbelievable soap opera. The drama and hype is strangely addictive. There are always winners and losers, and even those who fall in the middle, and on Wednesday night we again saw evidence of this as some clubs snatched exciting acquisitions with barely minutes to go while others were left without their underwear when the lights were switched on. Everton, for sure, were stripped naked. Here is my rundown of the major players on deadline day and the winners and losers. ARSENAL – They needed a huge day to supplement the loss of key players and while the Gunners were active and shrewd, they fell short of chasing the targets that would have made them Premier League contenders and a realistic threat in Europe. Why didn’t they seek to replace top quality with top quality, instead of good? Where was the interest in the likes of Sneijder, Ribery, Robben and Benzema? Was it a lack of ambition? Or, did they try and players around the world are seeing Arsenal as a big club on the slide, reluctant to follow Chelsea, Man United, Man City, Liverpool and even neighbours Tottenham in the ‘who’s got the fattest wallet’ competition. [caption id=“attachment_75183” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“German Defender Per Mertesacker was a good buy for Arsenal but the lose of Nasri and Fabregas will hit the club hard. AFP”]  [/caption] They had a good day but not good enough. Experienced Germany defender Per Mertesacker was a solid buy if not spectacular, with left-back Andre Santos, and creative midfielders dragged in at the last hour Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun (on loan). Because the latter two are inferior to the talent that has left in Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, and because of the level Arsenal had to attain to be a competitive force domestically and in Europe, the Gunners were deadline day LOSERS. CHELSEA – They were different to Arsenal in that they had not lost their crown jewels going into deadline day, but still there was a need to add to the depth of quality, especially in midfield. Basically, they lost Benayoun and replaced him with a fellow attacking midfielder in Raul Meireles. This was after they failed in an audacious improved £40 million bid for Tottenham’s Luka Modric. Sometimes, though, a deadline day victory can be about doing nothing as their £50 million late show in January when buying the declining Fernando Torres proved. LOSERS [caption id=“attachment_75167” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“Tottenham signed the best English midfielder for 5 million AFP”]  [/caption] TOTTENHAM – The sale of Peter Crouch is questionable but they signed the best English midfielder available in Scott Parker for £5 million and offloaded many high-earning fringe players clogging up their wage bill so Harry Redknapp will likely be busier in January. He missed Gary Cahill but do they need him? WINNERS STOKE – After years outside of the top division, Stoke are making up for the misery and underachievement. Manager Tony Pulis developed an unfair reputation as a boss who encouraged rough and tumble football using long throws and bruising tactics that unsettled the big clubs’ prima donas. But now we must salute Pulis for the strides this club has made: FA Cup runners-up last season, good progress in the Europa Cup this season. And now he has added serious quality to his physical ball-winners with Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios from Tottenham, though one of the three deadline day buys Cameron Jerome has much to prove as a goal-scorer. WINNERS Continues on the next page EVERTON – They signed little-known, goal-scoring Argentine Denis Stracqalursi and Royston Drenthe on loan but they were the biggest losers of all. Mikel Arteta has been, along with Tim Cahill, the club’s most influential player for several years and at 29 still has some good years of service left. So to lose him with seconds to go, and more importantly no time in which to spend some of that £10 million to replace him, Everton are left worryingly short (relegation-bound?). They also sold promising striker Jermain Beckford and veteran poacher Yakubu to Blackburn, which may suit both parties. At least defensive linchpin Phil Jagielka remained. LOSERS FULHAM – The signing of £10.6 million Costa Rican winger Bryan Ruiz from FC Twente demonstrated some serious intent from a club that is perceived to be happy to spend modestly and exist nomadically in mid-table. WINNERS LIVERPOOL – The feel-good factor from the signings of Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson, Jose Enrique and Sebastian Coates was diluted somewhat by the surprising departure of midfielder Meireles, who demanded a move with an hour to go and left for Chelsea. That will weaken Liverpool, and the shock re-signing of Craig Bellamy won’t offer major consolation to fans. But they did offload dead wood like Joe Cole and Christian Poulsen. WINNERS (just about) ASTON VILLA – They have almost halved their squad from last season and though the deadline day recruitments of right-back Alan Hutton and England reject Jermaine Jenas, both from Tottenham, have added some quality to the squad, they are light in numbers and talent, even to last season when they fought a relegation battle. LOSERS  [caption id=“attachment_75176” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Samir Nasri’s playing for Manchester City . AFP”]  [/caption] MAN CITY – A great summer of transfer activity culminated in the peculiar arrival of the injury-prone Owen Hargreaves, as much because of the abundance of midfield talent already at the club than anything. But overall, how can anyone belittle the arrival of players like Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri. WINNERS WIGAN – They have brought in modest talent, such as Shaun Maloney from Celtic who was a failure at Aston Villa previously. And while they have held on to highly-rated striker Hugo Rodallega, they have not replaced the threat and trickery of Charles N’Zogbia who was sold to Villa for £9.5 million last month. LOSERS BOLTON – They may have made a few interesting signings such as David N’gog from Liverpool and Gael Kakuta on loan from Chelsea but arguably their greatest coup was the non-sale of England centre-back Gary Cahill. His price tag of £17 million seemingly deterred Arsenal and Tottenham. WINNERS BLACKBURN – There has been much bluster and ridiculously over-ambitious PR coming out of Blackburn since the Indian owners came in, such as noises to bring in Diego Maradone as coach and more recently Raul up front. But in signing classy defender Scott Dann and renowned poacher Yakubu they have been astute, while the non-sale of Chris Samba will provide much-needed stability in defence. WINNERS QUEEN PARK RANGERS – Started the season hugely under-strength to comfortably retain their league status but a takeover freed up the kind of funds that manager Neil Warnock has spent wisely. The likes of Joey Barton, Luke Young and now Shaun Wright-Phillips and Anton Ferdinand should keep QPR in the lower mid-table region prior to further team strengthening in January no doubt. WINNERS NEWCASTLE – They were possibly the biggest losers of the last transfer window deadline when Liverpool took Andy Carroll from them in January at the last minute for £35 million. The fact that money has not been spent on proven talent thereafter and added to the further losses of Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Jose Enrique, Newcastle look vulnerable and were deadline day. LOSERS SUNDERLAND – Steve Bruce has changed his team with ten permanent summer signings and the deadline day arrival of Nicklas Bendtner on loan from Arsenal for a season is more good business, even if Peter Crouch was their first choice. WINNERS Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion, Wolves, Norwich and Swansea were either inactive or relatively inactive on deadline day. Top Three Deals: 1) Peter Crouch – Tottenham to Stoke for £10 million 2) Gary Cahill – Bolton to, err, Bolton. Like a new signing 3) Shaun Wright-Phillips – Manchester City to QPR (undisclosed)