There can be little doubt that this season’s January transfer window was once again full of the thrills, rumours and big names that the Premier League has grown accustomed to since its introduction in the 2002/03 season, and it lived up to its reputation as one of the most exciting aspects of the English football league season.
It would be difficult to review the events of the past month without mentioning a certain Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite. Yes, Kaka was the biggest tale of the past few weeks as Manchester City smashed all preconceptions about the financial side of the beautiful game with a transfer offer of over £100m and a weekly wage offer of £500,000. However, even enough money to buy a Ferrari a day wasn’t enough to tempt the Brazilian playmaker.
It would have been phenomenal to see a player of Kaka’s calibre on Match Of The Day each Saturday yet at the same time the loyalty on display is surely something to be admired.
As for actual transfers Tottenham Hotspur’s recapture of their old strike force Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane signals Harry Redknapp’s intent to push the club back into European contention over the coming seasons and sent a message to fellow relegation candidates.
The additions of Zoran Tosic at Manchester United and Ricardo Quaresma at Chelsea will strengthen the depth of the two titan squads in the run-up to this season’s title race, whilst Rafa Benitez decided against any newcomers, believing his squad is strong enough to make one last push for top spot.
Yet the transfer window wouldn’t be the dramatic, romanticised period it is were it not for the last minute deals and with minutes to spare we were informed by a freezing reporter outside the Emirates that Arsenal had sealed a rumoured £16.25m deal for Russian playmaker Andre Arshavin.
The 27 year old, with bags of creativity, is a player who will give Arsenal a new attacking dimension with the intelligent passes and movement which saw him named Russian footballer of the year in 2006. Although fans failed to catch a glimpse on Sunday, they can be sure of seeing a player who can guarantee Arsenal a champions league spot by May if he can replicate previous form.
With Aston Villa now 7 points ahead of them and equipped with a (dare I say) much-improved yet still much-maligned Emile Heskey, the pressure is firmly upon Arsène Wenger and his new playmaker to start getting results.
0 comments so far
There are no comments for this post yet. Why not be the first by filling out the form below.