Assessing returns - The Premier League so far

Mesut Oezil of Arsenal during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Stoke City at Emirates Stadium

We’re five weeks into the Premier League season and it’s time to take a look at the financial side of things. A total of 630 million pounds was spent by Premier League clubs in this transfer window. Let’s take a look at which teams are making the most astute transactions in the league this season.

Team	Money Spent	Points	Cost/Point
Arsenal	£44.9m	12	£3.75m
Tottenham Hotspur	£107.3m	12	£8.94m
Manchester City	102.1m	10	£10.2m
Chelsea	68.5m	10	£6.85m
Liverpool	46.7.8m	10	£4.67m
Everton	23.1m	9	£2.57m

Arsenal

After a long, tense wait for Arsenal fans, Wenger did eventually pull a Houdini and brought home one of the world’s premier mid-fielders- Mesut Ozil. While the critics may argue that the last thing a wafer-thin defence and attack needs is another midfielder, this move could prove to be the kind of shot in the arm that the club needs. Ozil has proved his worth in the games so far. With 3 goals in 5 games, he has more goals than any of his Premier League counterparts. He had a part to play in all three of Arsenal’s goals in their 3-1 win over Stoke on Sunday. Carrying the title of “King of the Assists” from his Real Madrid days, Ozil has proven to be a worthwhile investment for the mingy Arsenal management.

Tottenham Hotspur

The question that will be on the minds of most of the club’s followers is if the club can bounce back from losing its best player- Gareth Bale. However, an exciting cohort of players has entered the fold at White Hart Lane and are showing signs of alleviating the pain that losing Bale brought. Christian Eriksen is the kind of No. 10 that the Spurs fans have been waiting for since Andres Villa-Boas’ arrival at the club. The 21 year old featured in both of the goals in their 2-0 win against Norwich and also opened his own account in their Europa League victory over Tromso. New recruit Paulinho too has made a positive difference for the side and his injury time goal helped his team snatch a victory against Cardiff in the Premier League. With Roberto Soldado setting himself a 20 goal target for this season, Tottenham seems set to reap the benefits of the big money they’ve spent this season.

Manchester City

Manuel Pellegrini’s tenure at City has begun with confident transfer programme, exhibiting a calm self-assurance in their recruits. The club showed brilliant business acumen and addressed all the areas that were hindering their performance last season. Recent victories at Machester United and Wigan, where the team scored a sum of 9 goals, seem to vindicate the transfers made. Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo played a pivotal role in the win over United. Navas tormented Patrice Evra while Negredo made two crucial assists. Even after making a whopping ten changes for the game against Wigan, City pulled off a stellar performance, with two goals being scored by another new recruit- Stevan Jovetic.

Chelsea

While Wayne Rooney was the object of the endless jibber-jabber going into the transfer season, many are seeing the “best transfer that didn’t happen” as a positive for the club. They already have one amazing striker who has been unable to live up to his inflated reputation and another one of these would become an unnecessary liability for the club. Andre Schurrle began with an impressive performance in pre-season, notably by scoring in Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over AC Milan. The German has adjusted quickly to the Premier League style of play and made substantial contributions in attack. However, their loss at Everton has revealed a lack of organization in defence and a lackadaisical approach in attack. Marco Van Ginkel’s ACL tear rules him out for this season and this is another cause for worry at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool

Liverpool performed better than most observers would have expected them to do. They certainly outdid themselves when compared to how they fared at this time last year. Iago Aspas scored four times in pre-season season but is yet to find the back of the net in a competitive outing. Simon Mignolet has made a few critical saves and seems like someone who is set to take up long term responsibility at Anfield. The club suffered their first lost of the season against Sunderland, Dejan Lovren‘s header the only thing separating the two teams. The defeat did show that the side needs to work on ball movement at the top of the field. Andre Wisdom and Martin Kelly look extremely promising and act as much needed reinforcements in defence.

Everton

Gareth Barry’s experience will be a welcome addition in the Everton ranks. Their prospects did look bleak with the exit of Marouane Fellaini. James McCarthy’s arrival, however, has calmed the nerves at Goodison Park. The Blues’ new midfielder has endeared himself to the fans by revealing that he turned down a move to Liverpool to be at Everton. At just 22, he has more than a hundred Premier League games under his belt and is making waves at his new club. The most beneficial transfer that seems to have been made by the side is Romelu Lukaku, on transfer from Chelsea. The Belgian has made his presence felt in all the games so far, even helping his side come back from behind against West Ham, with a goal in the 85th minute.