In September 2017, the Premier League clubs voted to close the summer transfer window before the start of the season. Manchester City, Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Watford and Swansea were the clubs that voted against closing the window early while the remaining 15 clubs voted in favour.
As things stand, this decision looks like it could prove to be a big problem for many clubs in the Premier League. Since the transfer window has closed in England and is open elsewhere in Europe, the Premier League clubs won’t be able to sign any more players but their players can still be signed by foreign clubs.
This year was a World Cup year and hence, many stars were unavailable for transfer negotiations for a significant period due to their international commitments.
Considering these factors, it would be fair to say that the transfer window hasn’t gone to plan for many clubs. On that note, take a look at how the Premier League’s best two clubs based on their summer transfer business.
Arsenal
The post-Wenger era at Arsenal is shaping up nicely and the Gunners were quick to make alterations to their squad for new manager Unai Emery.
It was a tough call between Arsenal and Chelsea for the #2 spot in this list, but the Gunners edge their London rivals out narrowly because they knew where they had to strengthen and they did that quite early in the window.
Before discussing their incoming transfers, it is important to note that they dealt with a lot of fringe players in the summer. Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere were released and they joined Villarreal and West Ham respectively; Calum Chambers and Takuma Asano were loaned out and finally, Lucas Perez was sold to West Ham.
Arsenal’s first summer signing was Switzerland captain, Stephan Lichtsteiner, on a free transfer. The veteran brings a wealth of top-flight experience to the squad and provides competition for Hector Bellerin.
They followed up by signing Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen to phase out both Petr Cech and David Ospina. Leno is still only 26 and should prove to be reliable in goal for many years.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos was next and the Greek defender added some much-needed depth and quality to the central defence of Arsenal which struggled with injuries and form last season.
The final two additions were to bolster the midfield which was necessary following the departures of some key players. Arsenal fans were crying out for a defensive midfielder for years and they finally got one in Lucas Torreira. The Uruguayan is very young and still has a lot of room to develop further.
The final summer signing was Matteo Guendouzi from Lorient. At the time of his arrival, it seemed like he was one for the future but the Frenchman has impressed in preseason and should be able to give Emery some welcome selection headache this season.
Liverpool
There was never any doubt about which club had the best summer transfer window. In fact, Liverpool may have done the best business this summer among all the Premier League clubs.
A couple of days after Liverpool’s Champions League final defeat, they surprised everyone by announcing the arrival of Fabinho from Monaco. The defensive midfielder is clearly a replacement for Emre Can who joined Juventus on a free transfer.
The midfield was also bolstered by the arrival of Naby Keita from RB Leipzig. Liverpool agreed on the terms with Leipzig for Keita’s transfer last summer to keep other interested parties away and he finally became a Liverpool player this summer.
The Reds were also close to adding another midfielder this summer. It looked like Liverpool almost wrapped up a deal to sign Nabil Fekir from Lyon. In fact, both clubs agreed on a fee but the deal fell through at the last moment and there are rumours that the Reds pulled the plug on the deal after seeing an issue in his medical.
Although the pursuit of Fekir was fruitless, Klopp was able to make a significant upgrade elsewhere. The Reds had a longstanding interest in Roma goalkeeper Alisson Becker and they signed him for a then world record fee. That was broken a few weeks later by Chelsea when they signed Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Liverpool also bolstered their attack by signing Xherdan Shaqiri from Stoke City for a mere £13.5 million. The Swiss international was close to joining Liverpool four years ago before Bayern decided against selling him. He has finally got his move to Liverpool and has been very impressive in the preseason.
Liverpool also kept Mohamed Salah and has got him to sign a new contract. In addition, Daniel Sturridge remains at the club to provide more attacking depth and quality. The Englishman was easily Liverpool’s best player in preseason and looks fit ahead of the new campaign.