Transfer deadline day - Intriguing, but many stars stay put

THE transfer deadline has passed and many clubs were forced into the market on deadline day on Wednesday in a desperate attempt to strengthen their squads until January.

    Having received stiff criticism for the lack of new signings this summer, combined with the departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively, a lot of attention was placed on Arsenal’s activities.  Arsene Wenger didn’t disappoint, with five new signings, though the fans might be disappointed to see no world class star come to the Emirates before closure at 11pm.  The top signing he made was the £10million capture of playmaker Mikel Arteta from Everton.  Arteta, who had revealed to BBC Football Focus presenter Dan Walker about his desire to stay at Goodison Park only ten days earlier has made the move to North London and faces big shoes to fill in the void left by Fabregas.  Wenger also strengthened his backline with the captures of big German defender Per Mertesacker from Werder Bremen and talented Brazilian left-back Andre Santos, who leaves behind Fenerbache in the wake of a match-fixing scandal that has engulfed Turkish football.  Also completing moves to Arsenal were Korean attacker Park Chu-Young from AS Monaco and out-of-favour Chelsea midfielder Yossi Benayoun.  Benayoun’s deal is a loan move, with a view to a permanent switch and it is a surprise to see Chelsea be happy to loan players out to a London rival.

    Chelsea did some late business themselves, but it wasn’t the player everyone thought might leave their club.  Despite offering £30million, plus Brazilian set-piece bullet Alex, Tottenham Hotspur rejected Chelsea’s final attempt to land Luka Modric.  For now, Modric stays at Tottenham, but whether he will have the same impact on the North London side remains to be seen, as it seemed like he was keen to make the exit for Chelsea.  So, Chelsea turned their attentions to Liverpool’s Raul Meireles.  Just half an hour before the window shut, Meireles handed in a shock transfer request to Liverpool.  Less than an hour later, he was a Chelsea player.  The midfielder, who scored Liverpool’s winner at Stamford Bridge in the Premiership back in February signed for £12million and gets to work again with new Blues boss Andre-Vilas Boas, which was the main reason for his departure from Anfield.  His conduct is sure to have angered Liverpool fans though, maybe even more so than Fernando Torres after the Spanish striker’s acrimonious departure back in January to Chelsea.

BACK: Craig Bellamy will be hoping for a fruitful second spell at Anfield

      As Meireles was saying his rushed goodbyes, Craig Bellamy was returning to Stanley Park.  Bellamy, who spent one unhappy season in the Rafa Benitez regime (2007-08) signs for Liverpool on a free transfer from Manchester City.  He spent last season on loan at Cardiff City and will provide stiff competition for Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll in the Liverpool attack.  With Bellamy arriving, David N’Gog was deemed surplus to requirements and sold to Bolton Wanderers for £4million.  Also leaving Liverpool were Christian Poulsen, who joined newly promoted French side Evian and Joe Cole, who will be desperate to kick-start his career again with a season-long loan move to Lille.  Will the anticipation of Champions League football push Cole back into the England fold?

     Another winger desperate to get the attention again from Fabio Capello is Shaun Wright-Phillips.  His second spell at Manchester City has ended and it was QPR who beat off stiff competition from Bolton and Stoke City to his signature.  It was a busy few hours for Neil Warnock, who also added Jason Puncheon from Blackpool and Anton Ferdinand from Sunderland to his squad.  Sebastian Bassong was another target, but having waited in West London all day, he was told to return to Tottenham as a potential move for Bolton’s Gary Cahill collapsed over personal terms.  Bassong might be frustrated by these events, but Harry Redknapp was in a charitable move, allowing no less than five players to leave the White Hart Lane roster.

AMBITION: Crouch's move signals Stoke have serious plans

     Alan Hutton and Jermaine Jenas have moved to Aston Villa.  Hutton’s is a permanent deal, worth around £2million, whilst Jenas goes to Villa Park on a loan deal.  David Bentley’s stalled career will be hoping to regain some momentum with recently relegated West Ham United.  Talented youngster Henri Lansbury’s loan move to Upton Park from Arsenal paved the way for PFA Player of the Year, Scott Parker to make a £5million move to Tottenham.  Spurs also sold Wilson Palacios and Peter Crouch, with the pair going to Stoke City for a joint fee of £20million.  These signatures, plus that of Cameron Jerome from Birmingham City have shown how far Stoke are coming as a force in the Premiership.

     Having lost their first three Premiership matches, Steve Kean pulled out one of the deals of the day, by bringing Scott Dann to Blackburn from Birmingham for an undisclosed fee.  Dann’s injury which ended his season at Christmas last year was one of the main factors towards Birmingham’s relegation from the Premiership.  However, Kean’s purchase of Yakubu from Everton has to be seen as questionable.  Yakubu might score a few goals, but his attitude has never endeared himself to anyone.  It was a tough day for Everton, who also sold Jermaine Beckford to rich-spending Leicester City for £3million.  Despite Royston Drenthe’s loan move from Real Madrid, David Moyes knows he needs investment from foreign owners soon and so too do the fans, otherwise it could be a similar story in January.  Other notable transfers included Gael Kakuta joined Bolton on a season’s long loan deal from Chelsea, Shaun Maloney ending a frustrating stint at Celtic to go to Wigan for a cool £1million and Bryan Ruiz’s club-record £10.5million swap from FC Twente to Fulham.

     Although key names such as Modric and Tevez ended up staying at their current owners and it didn’t quite have the impact of the January deadline day, it was an intriguing day, right up to the last minute.  Let’s see what impact these new signings will have for those who’ve spent the cash!