The Colours of Summer

It has been a hectic pre season this time around with Arabian money luring almost every player who can kick a ball to the blue half of Manchester. To mark the first anniversary of Florentino Perez’ trophy less season, The Sports Mirror brings you an honest and brutal evaluation of the top premier league clubs and their transfer activities in three segments.

Arsenal:

Arsene Wenger’s reluctance to dip into the transfer market for the nth time running gives him a stinginess rating of 3.5/ 5. Mouruane Chamakh, Laurent Koscileny are the only two arrivals in what has been a long summer for Arsenal after playing tug of war with Barcelona who seem to have convinced medical reps all over the world that Cesc Fabregas had been a Catalan bull in his last birth. Chamakh, who seems more of a fashionista then a central forward look like a good buy and Koscileny’s debut against Liverpool, was impressive in more than one way. The biggest plus for Arsenal however is that their captain is still in London and highly likely that he will be playing with Abou Diaby and Eboue instead of Xavi and Iniesta.

In: Chamakh (free), Koscileny (10 million pounds).

Out: Eduardo (6 million), Gallas (free), Silvestre and a few relatively unknown players.

Chelsea:

Chelsea’s relative dormancy in the transfer market is mysterious. After losing the media’s transfer pet tag to Manchester City it seems Chelsea have lost their interest in the market. After Ancelotti lead them to the Premier league, FA cup double the current crop looks like a team that can emulate AC Milan, if not through trophies, at least by age. Frank Lampard, Anelka, Drogba are all approaching their mid 30’s, and unless they blood youth quicker than they are right now, they might land up in trouble. Ramires and Yossi Benayon will be donning the blue colours of Chelsea this season, as Ancelloti looks to lead his side to glory.

In: Yossi Benayon, Ramires.

Out: Juliano Beletti, Michael Ballack, Joe Cole (free).

Liverpool:

After Rafael ‘Rant’ Benitez finally seemed to run out of luck, Liverpool’s biggest arrival of the season is Roy Hodgon. A manager right out of the coaching institutions, Roy is the best men for the job. Milan Jovanovic who has a really poor eye for goal as demonstrated in the game against Arsenal was their first signing (thankfully free). Joe Cole soon followed the suit only to find his debut extra red than expected. Poulsen from Juventus looks like a good cover for Masherano who wants his affair with Benitez to continue. Liverpool gets 4/5 for keeping the tabloids guessing and another bonus 0.5 for giving every football fan something to discuss about.

In: Joe Cole, Milan Jovanovic, Danny Wilson.

Out: Rafael Benitez and his backroom staff, Insua.

By: Anerudh Balaji

Tags: Arsenal, Chelsea, Football, Liverpool, Losers, Premier League, Sports, Sports World, Transfer Tales, Winners, World Sports