Here we take a look at the transfer dealings of two London clubs, the two from Manchester and the two Merseyside teams.
CHELSEA
Chelsea have signed Antonio Rüdiger. He is a centre back and there was, as far as we know, no competition for his signature.
Chelsea have not signed Romelu Lukaku because they had competition from a bigger club. They may not sign Timoue Bakayoko because that same bigger club is now expressing an interest in the player.
Chelsea are now sulking in a corner somewhere, blaming everybody but themselves for their own shortcomings.
The fact of the matter is that they dithered even longer than Dithering Ed Woodward over the Lukaku signing and, according to Monaco, they are doing exactly the same over Bakayoko. This would not normally be a problem but they seem to now have a grudge with Manchester United because they proved to be competent in signing Lukaku.
Chelsea now do not want to sell Nemanja Matic to United meaning that United must look elsewhere and that means Bakayoko. Who’s fault is all this? Does the name Michael Emenalo mean anything to you?
ARSENAL
Arsenal have signed Alexandre Lacazette. There was apparent rivalry for his signature from other clubs but, obviously, nothing too serious otherwise he would not now be at Arsenal.
Now Arséne Wenger wants us to believe that he is interested in buying Kylian M’Bappe. He is probably expressing his interest because he knows it won’t happen and he wants the fans to think that Arsenal, under his new found free-spending style of management, are really interested in spending large amounts of cash.
Real Madrid will buy the player.
Arsenal have also signed Sead Kolašinac on a free transfer, which is much more in keeping with their tradition.
MANCHESTER CITY
Manchester City have only bought Ederson,who is another goalkeeper, and the midfielder Bernardo Silva. This, despite the fact they have released three full backs which would suggest that their priorities lie elsewhere.
Silva will now compete with Yaya Touré, David Silva, Raheem Sterling, Fernandinho, Fernando and Kevin de Bruyne for a starting berth.
As City are serious players in the annual transfer bash then expect Guardiola to spend a lot more of the Sheikh’s not-too-hard-earned cash in the not-too-distant future.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Another club not too bothered by competition for players is Manchester United who have signed Victor Lindelof for certain and, we think, Romelu Lukaku. He seems to think so anyway and has had a medical just to show what a good sport he is.
There was little or no competition for Lindelof which means one of two things. Either the fact that United wanted him put off any potential rivals, or he isn’t very good. We will see over the next few months which is true.
Lukaku was supposed to go to Chelsea according to all national newspapers, but ended up with United proving something we already knew, that the press are wrong far more often than they are right.
LIVERPOOL
Liverpool have gone quiet recently since their conversations, out of school, with Virgil van Dijk achieved precisely nothing other than to increase Southampton’s determination to either keep him or get a record transfer fee for him.
They have signed ex-Chelsea flop Mohamed Salah who is now an ex-Roma pretty good player and is being praised by Jürgen Klopp because of his unique ability to run fast.
More signings are in the offing but we don’t know who they are because Liverpool aren’t telling anybody in case they get in trouble with the headmaster at the FA.
EVERTON
Everton have signed ex-Manchester United latter-day flop Wayne Rooney and, as we write, are currently the biggest spenders of this transfer window. They have also brought in Jordan Pickford, Michael Keane, Davy Klaassen, Henry Onyekuru and Sandro Ramirez.
If they can add Gylfi Sigurdsson from Swansea they might just challenge for a top four place, otherwise Ronald Koeman will have to display his full range of managerial skills to break into the elite. Top six is more realistic, probably at the expense of Arsenal.
Watch this space for more developments in the dog-eat-dog world of the transfer window.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 