The transfer window prior to the 2016-2017 season has been one of football’s most hectic yet. From record transfer fees, deadline day scrambles and drama aplenty, this window has not failed to deliver from an entertainment standpoint. The progressive monetization of the game has meant that big clubs have tremendous amounts of cash waiting to be splurged, while smaller clubs also have the opportunity to spend big on players that would otherwise be out of grasp.
While some transfers seemed obvious, such as Paul Pogba to Old Trafford, others weren’t so much. The following list comprises of seven player transfers that left fans scratching their heads.
1) Gonzalo Higuain: Napoli → Juventus
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The Argentine enjoyed a stellar season with Napoli, netting 36 goals. It was apparent that a host of clubs wished for his services. Arsenal is a club that have been perpetually linked with the striker, but Juventus emerged as the most likely candidate. On the 26 July, Gonzalo Higuain was unveiled as a Juventus player.
This move was shocking for two main reasons. Firstly, the price tag. For a league record of €90 million, many led to question whether the former Napoli frontman was worth the cash, especially for a man known to miss scoring opportunities on large occasions (for example, the 2014 World Cup). But perhaps this transfer fee isn’t so surprising, given Juventus’s ambitions to win the Champions League, and given the amount of money splashed around these days.
The second reason is one of betrayal. Napoli fans have always been hopeful of winning the Scudetto, and with Higuaín transferring to direct competitors, fans were outraged. Images of burning shirts and graffiti pertaining to the Argentine flooded social media, due to Napoli fans’ shock at Higuain’s disloyalty to the club.
2) Victor Valdes: Manchester United → Middlesbrough
Once an integral goalkeeper for FC Barcelona, the decline of Valdes has been bewildering. Despite enjoying success with Barcelona, he wanted a move away. Manchester United snapped him up, but before his arrival to United at the end of the 2013-2014 season, he suffered an ACL injury.
He made his first Manchester United appearance for the Under 21 team, on 26 January 2015. Things quickly soured between the Spanish keeper and the Premier League club, when he allegedly refused to play for the reserve team. He was transfer listed by Louis van Gaal but was unable to make a move away from Old Trafford.
In January 2016 the Spaniard was loaned out to the Belgian side Standard Liège, where he garnered match minutes. It must have been a relief for Valdes when he penned a deal with Middlesbrough in the 2016-2017 transfer window, as he could finally rejuvenate his career.
Middlesbrough, a Premier League side that had just been promoted, have had a great transfer window given their position as a newcomer. Signings such as Alvaro Negredo and Calum Chambers have given them a fighting chance of staying the Premier League, but Valdes was one of the first of such star signings.
Not only was the keeper’s apparent decline surprising, but so was the transfer to a newly promoted club, showing the spending power clubs wield nowadays.
3) Mario Gotze: Bayern Munich → Borussia Dortmund
Mario Gotze has been deemed one of Germany’s rising talents. The midfielder’s World Cup winning goal in 2014 only seemed to confirm these affirmations. But fast forward two years, Germany’s star boy spent his days sitting on Bayern Munich’s bench.
Many blame Gotze’s stagnation on his transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich. At Dortmund, Gotze made a name for himself and established himself as an exciting young prospect. He scored goals and bagged assists, and looked extremely comfortable. But then Bayern Munich swooped in, enticing the young German with money and trophies.
This is an experience Dortmund fans know all too well. They were angered at his betrayal, especially due to the fact that Gotze was raised and nurtured at Dortmund. He started off well at the Allianz Arena but soon fell down the pecking order on Pep Guardiola’s list of midfielders. When he returned to the Signal Iduna Park, he was received by a chorus of boos and verbal abuse- it seemed that he had burned his bridges with the fans of Dortmund.
At 24 years of age, Gotze needs playing time to achieve his huge amounts of potential. It was clear that, despite the appointment of Carlo Ancelotti and the departure of Guardiola, he would receive limited game time due to Bayern’s stacked midfield.
But a move to Borussia Dortmund shocked everyone. While it made sense for Gotze to move to the club where he could play freely and his talent could develop, the apparent harboured hatred for the attacking midfielder from the fans seemed to prevent a move like this from ever happening.
But, perhaps surprisingly, Gotze was actually well received at the Signal Iduna Park. Now, along with Dortmund’s star-studded attacking line-up, super Mario can flourish once again. I’m glad this story has a happy ending.
4) Lucas Perez: Deportivo La Coruna → Arsenal FC
It’s crystal clear to everyone that, prior to the 2016-2017 transfer window, there was a gaping hole in Arsenal’s frontline that needed to be filled if the North London club wanted to achieve Premier League glory.
After the signing of Granit Xhaka early in the window, Arsenal’s transfer committee seemingly became dormant. The next few weeks only saw the signings of Rob Holding and Takuma Asano- nothing really to write home about. Arsenal fans became increasingly frustrated, as they had to endure their rival clubs bolstering their lineups while their club seemed to lag behind.
In typical Arsene Wenger fashion, the French manager signed two players in quick succession in the dying days of the window. The first, Shkodran Mustafi, seemed a fantastic buy. A solid centre-back from Valencia, plus his positional diversity, definitely added a new dimension and new options to a relatively unstable Arsenal backline.
The second signing, however, was a little more controversial. Arsenal have been linked with big name strikers season after season, such as Gonzalo Higuain and Alexandre Lacazette. So being linked with, and eventually signing, Lucas Perez, was a surprise, to say the least.
Scoring 17 goals for a relatively weak Deportivo La Coruna side is quite the feat, which is something to be noted. Whether he can propagate this form into the Premier League is a different story. The playing style in La Liga is definitely more technical as opposed to the physicality and directness of English football. Added to the fact that he is 27 years old has led many to believe that this transfer was a gamble.
Many fans have been slating Wenger for such a signing, while many think he could be the next big thing. Given his previous circumstances, Perez’s success in London could go either way. Wenger has a knack for turning unknown players into reputable ones, such as Laurent Koscielny, but who really knows what will happen? Either way, it definitely wasn’t the marquee signing Gunners fans expected.
5) Jack Wilshere: Arsenal FC → AFC Bournemouth
In spite of being a relegation favourite last season, AFC Bournemouth exceeded the critic’s expectations with a respectable 16th placed finish, given the fact that they had just been promoted and are an extremely new club. But with the massive expenditure of many Premier League clubs and the underperformance of clubs last season, Bournemouth needed to have a huge transfer window if they wanted to avoid the drop.
They had a relatively average transfer window up until the last day when they signed Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere on a season-long loan. The midfielder’s career has been plagued by injuries, and such injuries have threatened to prevent Wilshere from every reaching the potential that everyone knows he is capable of.
After a series of injuries and a sub-par Euro 2016, Wilshere’s confidence must be rock bottom. And with Arsenal’s strong midfield comprised of the likes of Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Granit Xhaka, Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin, Wilshere’s chances of being in the team week in and week out seemed slim. So a loan move, in many ways, was a sensible decision.
Despite offers from big Serie A clubs such as Roma, he chose to stay in the Premier League. Bournemouth, undoubtedly a smaller club, would have given Wilshere plenty of playing time provided he stayed fit, which would have allowed him to progress his career. He would also be among the best players in the club, serving to increase his confidence.
Many think Wilshere should have moved abroad to Roma, however. Manchester United legend Paul Scholes is one to express this opinion. Roma, one of Europe’s biggest clubs, would have given Wilshere experience abroad and surrounded him with quality that would have motivated him to do better. Additionally, many question whether Wilshere would succeed at Bournemouth due to the lack of surrounding quality compared to AS Roma.
6) David Luiz: Paris Saint-Germain → Chelsea FC
Chelsea’s desperation to sign a centre-back has not been kept quiet. The signing of N’Golo Kante from Leicester City has been speculated to be one of the best signings of the window, but with the ageing of John Terry, Gary Cahill’s inconsistency and Kurt Zouma’s long term injury, Chelsea’s options at the back were limited. After scouring the Serie A for quality defenders and coming up with nothing, they turned to Ligue 1.
Chelsea have developed somewhat of a reputation for resigning former club members. Jose Mourinho and Nemanja Matic immediately spring to mind. But Premier League fans were still dumbfounded by the signing of David Luiz on deadline day.
This was a transfer that seemingly came out of nowhere. Through the course of the summer, there were no rumours about Luiz departing PSG, forget about leaving for Chelsea until the second last day of the window. Even then, many were speculative of the deal going through.
Chelsea fans’ reaction to such a shocking transfer were mixed. Many were relieved to sign a center back, while others were not so sure. Luiz, although a very good player, is known for frequently venturing up the field, which has led to many conceded goals. He is also very rash, giving away penalties on many occasions. Additionally, he has the odd own goal in his game. Plus, his disastrous performance in Brazil’s 7-1 thumping from Germany has left him scarred.
Although he enjoyed many fantastic performances for the Blues, his brashness caused Mourinho to ship him off to PSG in the summer of 2014. At PSG he enjoyed much success and looked to have found a home in Paris. Which makes his transfer back to Stamford Bridge all the more perplexing.
While the re-signing of the Brazilian defender will pay off for Conte is debatable, but for a Premier League neutral, this signing is exciting. David Luiz brings passion and joy to every match and is one of football’s biggest entertainers.
7) Joe Hart: Manchester City → Torino
Joe Hart is Manchester City through and through, having signed for the Manchester club before their rise to the top of the Premier League. As Manchester City’s number one goalkeeper since 2007, he looked set to become one of the club’s biggest legends.
Hart has played week in and week out for the Citizens, his place in the team rarely debated. His passion for the club is also something that is irrefutable, and despite the occasional mistake in him, he has been England’s first choice keeper for many years.
Enter Pep Guardiola. After a poor showing at Euro 2016, some began to express their doubts about the former Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper. Reports then came out of Manchester City, claiming that their new manager Pep Guardiola did not believe Hart fit into his plans, due to the English keeper’s unconvincing passing statistics. Reports of a falling out between the player and the manager also emerged.
When City’s first Premier League game of the season went underway, Joe Hart was astonishingly dropped in favor of Willy Caballero. This was undoubtedly a massive statement from the renowned Spanish manager. Rumours of loan moves to Everton and Sunderland emerged, as it seemed increasingly likely that Hart would ply his trade for another Premier League club for the remainder of the season.
Hart turned down all these offers, only to accept a move from...Torino. Though many top clubs have solid goalkeepers, the fact that no other clubs wanted Joe Hart’s services amazed the football world. Hart made his move to Turin in the last days of the transfer window.
The fact that Hart had to resort to Torino, considered a sleeping giant in Serie A, has shocked many. But perhaps what has been more shocking is the brutal treatment he received from Pep, as he was replaced by Barcelona’s Claudio Bravo. While Bravo is undoubtedly a world class goalkeeper, Hart’s departure from Manchester City has been saddening. Despite many fans claiming that City is a money oriented club, Joe Hart has been a player with unquestionable love for Manchester City.
Although it is just a loan deal, it is doubtless that this is the end of an era for Hart’s career. On 25 August, Hart played his last match in a City shirt prior to his departure to Italy and was named captain for the night. In one of the more emotional matches, he received thunderous applause from fans and Joe Hart was visibly moved, which goes to show how much he cares about his parent club.
