5 players that clubs were right to sell this summer

The transfer window has become like a large poker game. The onus is on managers to not only bring in the best players, but also get the best value for money.Nothing translates to the joy that is brought about by signing a world class player for as less a sum as possible. Similarly, making large sums of money by selling players is also met with delight. Here's a list of 5 clubs that made the perfect use of the transfer window in this regard.

#1 Thomas Vermaelen - Arsenal

Barcelona players give solidarity to Vermaelen with their ‘Get well soon’ t-shirts

Four months after his much coveted move to Barcelona, Thomas Vermaelen has yet to kick a ball for the Catalans and judging by his injury updates, he won't be doing that anytime soon.

Just last month, it was revealed that Vermaelen would require surgery on his thigh, a procedure which would take up to 5 months to recuperate from. It is the worst kind of nightmare for a player who has just changed clubs, and even worse for the club that has to deal with this.

Vermaelen is a good defender, but it came as no shock when Arsenal let him go for £15 million. His history with injuries has been well documented. Persistent troubles with his back and thigh had seen him struggle to make the Arsenal first team in his last two years there, despite being their captain.

Barcelona gambled on Vermaelen being fit, and from what we've seen so far, they've lost. Arsenal, meanwhile, will be singing merry on the way to the bank.

#2 Shinji Kagawa - Manchester United

The Shinji Kagawa that returned to Dortmund this season isn't the same Shinji that left in 2012.

Kagawa returned to Dortmund this summer, amid much fanfare, for a modest fee of £6.3 million. The move was hailed as a work of genius by the Dortmund management after all, this was the same player that helped Dortmund scale the Bundesliga heights a few seasons ago. After almost half a season, the move doesn't look all that inspired.

Kagawa failed to live up to the hype at United, and most of the blame was shifted onto the managers who failed to give him a regular starting berth. It was simply a case of under use and a failure to adapt on the player's part, or so it was assumed.

Now, back in his familiar surroundings Kagawa looks as lost as he did while he was at United. His performances have failed to amuse and this poor run is, unfortunately, coinciding with a horrible start for Dortmund.

In hindsight, it looks like United have played a brilliant hand in the transfer window and deserve to be commended for offloading a player while they could still get a fee for him.

#3 Mario Balotelli - AC Milan

For Liverpool fans, the mere mention of Balotelli is enough to power them into an apoplectic rage – such has been his impact in Merseyside.

Balotelli came with high expectations and an even more sparkling reputation. Since his debut in August, that reputation has been dragged through the mud several times. The £16 million spent on him represents a colossal waste of money, akin to shoving it down the drain.

Balotelli has come to represent everything that is wrong with Liverpool this season. He is lazy, he is not a team player and he's not the player he was in past seasons. In 8 Premier League starts this season, he has failed to find the net even once. His performances have been so bad, it has raised questions as to how long he will be in Liverpool.

AC Milan, the club that sold him, are enjoying just as listless a season as last, but without the added paranoia brought about by Mario Balotelli.

#4 Eliaquim Mangala - Porto

Elaquim Mangala was City’s most expensive purchase this summer

£32 million was spent to bring Mangala to City from Porto last summer. Quite why City would spend so much on a defender, who isn't even an improvement on Marin Demichelis and Matija Nastasic, is mind boggling. The £32 million they paid Porto was, not monopoly money, but real money.

Mangala, in a nutshell, is a lesser version of Kompany. The exact same characteristics, but less refined. Kompany was purchased for £6 million. Even then, Mangala would make sense, if he was purchased as a backup to Kompany, but from the matches seen so far, it looks like he was brought in to play alongside Kompany. Two center backs with the same deficiencies to play alongside each other, and at that cost. It's like the most redundant save on football manager, ever.

In contrast, Porto brought in 14 players with the money City gave them for Mangala.

#5 David Luiz - Chelsea

David Luiz was bought by PSG for massive money

David Luiz, if you didn't know, was bought in the summer of 2014 for a record fee of £50 million from Chelsea.

Goals conceded by PSG after 18 games this season: 16Goals conceded by PSG after 18 games last season: 11PSG's position after 18 games this season: 2PSG's position after 18 games last season: 1

Matches lost by PSG so far this season: 1Matches lost by PSG at same point last season: 1

All this is not to say that PSG have somehow become worse with David Luiz; they are virtually the same if you take away Marseille's dominance this season. PSG with and without David Luiz are the same entity. He has brought no noticeable change to their team and certainly nothing close to representing a £50 million upgrade.

Spending £50 million on David Luiz is simply the most extravagant way to dispense money, this after buying one of the best young defenders in the world for £25 million just last season. Marquinhos had proved to be worthy of the money spent on him and was performing splendidly till the decision makers at PSG decided they wanted a little more glamour in their side.

While on the field it has not cost them much, it has proved costly off it. The spending of £50 million on one player so early in the window meant they couldn't spend more without violating the Financial Fair Play Rules. This caused them to lose out on some very high profile players of the likes of Angel Di Maria, Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez.

Chelsea, the team who were gifted £50 million, made sure not to repeat their mistakes of past and spent wisely on the likes of Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Felipe Luis, each of whom cost less than Luiz.

Edited by Staff Editor