WINNERS
TOTTENHAM
After a really tough start to the transfer window that saw Kyle Walker walk away, Tottenham made good on deadline day. Like a small child saving up their pocket money hoping to cash in when their parents least expected it, Tottenham saved that Walker money right till the very last moment, and made some fantastic signings. Serge Aurier is a great replacement for Kyle Walker, and if he gets his attitude right he should prove himself to be one of the best fullbacks in the league. The signing of Fernando Llorente also will help to bring in some much needed depth, meaning they should have a more than capable backup should disaster strike and Harry Kane go down with injury. Not that it'll matter, because if Harry Kane goes down with injury, Tottenham fans will be too busy sobbing in the shower to watch Llorente. Depth was what they needed and now it's what they have. A good day for Spurs.
LEICESTER
It's been a roller coaster of a day for a club full of ups and downs. Lucky for Leicester fans who have suffered through relegation and won the entire Premier League, they're quite used to ups and downs. I'd say they ended today on an up. They'll be disappointed to lose another key part of their title winning side in Danny Drinkwater, who made his move to Chelsea in the final moments of the transfer window to reunite with another former Leicester man in N'Golo Kante. However, Drinkwater is no Kante. What Danny can do, Kante can do better. And what Kante can't do, can Danny do at all? That was all a mouthful. It looks as if Leicester have also secured his replacement in Adrien Silva, and a top quality replacement he is. Drinkwater's departure hurts but there's certainly a Silva lining. For that reason I'm calling their deadline day a win. A Riyad Mahrez sized cloud still hangs overhead, but with the English transfer window shut and Chelsea out of the running, it looks like they may have kept hold of their star man for another few months. Which is good news for the Foxes. All depends on if Barcelona decide to pick up the phone before the end of the day.
SWANSEA
In what might be the biggest shock of a transfer window that saw transfer records smashed and some of the world's best on the move, it was Swansea who were raising eyebrows on the final day of the transfer period. Swansea picked up 20 year old Renato Sanches on a one year loan in what was one of the most interesting moves of the window. The young Portuguese midfielder struggled in his first season at Bayern, notching up a grand total of 0 goals and 0 assists. This move seems very mutually beneficial, Swansea need some more creative spark after Sigurdsson left for Everton, and Sanches will be looking to inject some life back into his career.While losing Llorente was certainly a shame, the return of cult figure Wilfried Bony will certainly help to soften the blow. After an ill fated stint at Manchester City, Bony is returning to the club he played his best years at, and should find some form again. Personally for Wilfried Bony, I was hoping for a contract singing rather than a contract signing. The world needs to hear the golden velvety tones of Wilfried.
We'll go wild, wild, wild... pic.twitter.com/JljASfbhEz
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) August 31, 2017
How couldn't you love him?
LOSERS:
CHELSEA:
A mixed day for Chelsea, who would've been hoping for some much more impressive moves on deadline day following the fairly disastrous window they've had thus far. First they were hurt by Oxlade-Chamberlain, who snubbed the Blues in order to take less money at Liverpool. Next they were rejected by Ross Barkley, who took things a step further than Oxlade-Chamberlain and even went as far as having a medical at Chelsea before telling them that maybe they should just be friends. Way to lead them on Ross, not cool. They also would've been hoping for some movement on the Diego Costa front, who may yet still move to Atletico before the Spanish window shuts tonight. Not a lot of time left though. Drinkwater and Zappacosta were Chelsea's two incoming men today. Both seem like desperation moves. Full-back Zappacosta in particular is a far cry away from the Alex Sandro's and Danilo's of the world they were previously targeting. Conte will be fuming.
NEWCASTLE
It was genuinely nice to see Newcastle make their way into the Premier League again. They've got a passionate fan base and a fantastic manager at the helm, and things looked set for a good year at St. James' Park. So... where are the signings? Newcastle have picked up a few names here and there this window, but made no really great move that signalled they were in the Premier League to stay. Rafael Benitez would've been hoping for much more investment from owner Mike Ashley. He's a man who has managed outstanding sides before in Liverpool, Chelsea, Napoli, and Real Madrid, and he won't like that there has been little effort to ensure Newcastle find some success. A quiet deadline day was not what the doctor ordered. Who can blame Mike Ashley for not spending big though, his net worth went down this year after all. He's only worth 2.8 billion dollars now. Can't blame him for saving all the pocket change he can.
ARSENAL
Boy oh boy, where to start at Arsenal. After a promising start to this transfer window, things ended with the quietest of whimpers for the Gunners. Deadline Day saw no success for Arsenal, although not for lack of trying. They tried to tempt Monaco with what was a fairly low offer for Thomas Lemar. Not only did the club reject their approaches, but Lemar did as well. That's a double whammy that will hit Arsenal fans where it hurts. On top of that Kieran Gibbs was sold for £7m. This isn't a bad move, it's just that the same side that eventually bought him offered £10m for him at the start of the window. That's an extra £3m you could have thrown at Alexis Sanchez to desperately try to get him to stay. That brings me onto my next point, Alexis Sanchez. Arsenal's star man couldn't force through his move to Manchester City, and that leaves Arsenal with a very, very unhappy man. In this world of unbelievably expensive transfers, imagine the rioting at the Emirates should Sanchez end up leaving for free. It looked in Arsenal's best interests to move him on here and find a replacement, but they couldn't get it done. On top of that they lost depth in Oxlade-Chamberlain and failed to solidify their shaky defence. The offloading of Lucas Perez on loan 12 months after he first arrived at the club also goes to show that his signing was a bust. This was a bad day for Arsenal. A bad, bad day. No Champions League is hurting Arsene and his men a lot more than they first thought.
THE AVERAGE:
LIVERPOOL
A bang average day for Liverpool. They started out very strong with the signing of Oxlade-Chamberlain, who chose them over Arsenal and Chelsea. That's a tick. Then Liverpool's negotiations for Thomas Lemar fell through despite the player being interested in moving. That's a cross. Then nothing happened on the Virgil Van Dijk front, as Liverpool finished up without another centre back. That's a big, BIG cross. A cross so big that if a Liverpool defence tried to clear it they'd probably fail miserably. Liverpool had two stars of the game widely reported as wanting moves to their side and couldn't get either done, which is a massive shame. Their alarming lack of centre back depth has yet to be fixed, and the side that conceded 3 goals to Watford mightn't have done enough to ensure they have the defensive stability to mount a title challenge. Elsewhere on the pitch they look to have done pretty well though, and likely keeping Coutinho will also prove a win for them. Best hope they can score as much as they concede. Because if any of their first choice defenders go down, I concede that they may concede quite a fair bit.
