5 clubs who didn't sign what they needed in the 2015 summer transfer window

The summer transfer window is such an important time in football. Get it right as a manager and your season can be one to remember for decades to come. Get it wrong, however, and you could find yourself in a sack race. With the amount of money floating around the top level of football now it’s never been more important to get your signings right – especially if you are competing for a title or trying to fight off relegation. But who had glaring weaknesses in their side going into this window and didn’t even acknowledge that this summer?We take a look at five clubs who didn’t sign what they needed.

#5 Tottenham Hotspur - Midfielder

Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino did not sign a decent player in midfield this season

I could have picked a couple of positions here that Spurs needed to strengthen. The Lilywhites have gotten rid of a number of players – 20 if you include loanees. For me though, their midfield still looks light.

Mauricio Pochettino likes to play his 4-2-3-1, a very useful formation that offers width and options going forward while the double pivot protects the defence. But for it to work, the two holding midfielders need to be of a sufficient quality.

Nabil Bentaleb has potential and Ryan Mason is busy, that’s as far as the praise these two will get in this article because that’s all you can label them. They are not world beaters and won’t be enough for Spurs to ever consider being a top 4 side. At least for a couple of seasons.

Pochettino hasn’t actually won any of the first four games of the league season and if things don’t improve soon he can find himself in the rumour mill for first to go. And that is because he hasn’t identified a suitable central midfielder to play in beside either one of Bentaleb or Mason.

Spurs were linked with moves for Schniederlin (a player he managed at Southampton), but losing out to Manchester United is understandable. He also tried to get Victor Wanyama but he either seemed to have left it too late in the window or the offer wasn’t good enough.

Instead, Spurs spent their time chasing Saido Behrahino who has had one decent season, is horribly overpriced, and was clearly never going to be sold. Now Spurs will once again be languishing in mid-table and will most likely have to settle for a Europa League place. But at least Paulinho is gone.

#4 AC Milan - Central Midfielder

Is Andrea Bertolacci good enough to be AC Milan’s midfield anchor man?

AC Milan signed a whole raft of players this summer. A new forward line of Luiz Adriano, Carlos Bacca and Mario Balotelli may begin to fire them back up the table while they also improved their defence with Rodrigo Ely and Alessio Romagnoli.

But much like Tottenham, Milan require a midfield anchor man. They felt they found him when they were about to sign Geoffrey Kondogbia from AS Monaco until arch rivals Inter hijacked the deal. Kondogbia would have been perfect for them. He’s strong, athletic and has technical ability to match the vision to begin attacks. A general all round great midfield asset.

Instead, Milan signed Andrea Bertolacci and he hasn’t started his life at Milan with headline writing performances. There is still more to come from him but whether it’s enough or not remains to be seen.

Other players they could have been signed include Axel Witsel who was linked with moves away from Russia and even to Milan. Sami Khedira went on a free and should have at least been spoken to. But the main one for me was Kondogbia. They went all out to get him and couldn’t and it is a sad state of affairs for the Rossoneri that they can’t seem to attract that level of players anymore.

#3 Chelsea - Centre Back

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho still trusts John Terry to play as a centre-back, but for how long?

Chelsea did excellent business by swooping in to sign Pedro from under Manchester United’s nose – a really talented winger that was going to waste in the star-studded forward line at Barcelona. But the Blues’ biggest positional concern was at centre-half. And their start to the season is all the evidence you need of that.

Their defence is quickly becoming a bit of a shambles this season and when one player has a bad day, they all seem to. Jose Mourinho turned his entire attention to John Stones for some reason and he is not a player that was going to immediately improve them. He is probably no better than Kurt Zouma who is already waiting in the wings to get into the team.

John Terry is getting older and his legs may be starting to give on him a little. That’s not a dig, it’s just a fact of life. Terry can still play at this level for probably another season but would Chelsea be able to challenge for the league and the Champions League with a player like him at the back for every game? Probably not.

For me, they should have been out and looking for a centre-half that could come in and play straight away instead of waiting a few season to perhaps develop. With Chelsea’s resources, there is no limit to the players they could have signed. Baba Rahman and Papy Djilobodji obviously are long term prospects but are ultimately a gamble.

#2 Arsenal - Striker

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger didn’t sign a striker to compete with Olivier Giroud

Arsene Wenger seems to enjoy toying with the sanity of Arsenal fans. At first appearing like he’s starting a brilliant transfer window with the early announcement of Petr Cech, which in my opinion will be an excellent signing over the course of the next couple of seasons. But then all of a sudden there was nothing. Not a single further addition to the squad.

Arsenal have been tipped to be involved in a title race this season and rightly so. They have got world-class talents such as Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla. All on their day can be game winners.

But where they seem to be lacking mostly is a consistent goal-scorer to lead the line. I like Sanchez but he’s not an out-and-out striker. Olivier Giroud is a great presence and likes to bully players, but he’s not the consistent performer they need if they are going to win a title.

Of course, there are other areas that Arsenal needed to strengthen, another centre-half and perhaps a holding midfielder would have been nice. But the striker is the one everyone wanted, and it was the one they didn’t get.

But what options were there for Arsenal in the striker market? Karim Benzema was linked heavily with a move to the north London club but it was a transfer that was unlikely to happen. Elsewhere players like Luiz Adriano moved to AC Milan for just £8 million – a player that bagged almost 100 goals in the last five seasons. Also, Edin Dzeko left Manchester City to go to AS Roma on loan, a player that has experience of winning the EPL title.

Would City have sold to their rivals? Who knows. But those are just two examples of players that could have come in.

#1 Manchester United - Centre Back

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal trusts Daley Blind at centre back but he hasn’t impressed in that role

Manchester United had a brilliant start to the transfer window, announcing players like Memphis Depay, Morgan Schneiderlin, and of course the news that Bastian Schweinsteiger was going to be leaving Bayern Munich to join Louis van Gaal’s side. But then it all seemed to go a bit quiet.

All of a sudden there was only news of a secret striker that probably didn’t even exist or David De Gea going to Real Madrid. But there was nothing about centre-backs joining the club. Instead they actually allowed Johnny Evans to leave on a permanent deal and Tyler Blackett was loaned to Celtic.

Yes, United do need a striker. But not anywhere near as much as they needed a centre back that can lead the defence. Someone in the mould of what Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were like a few years ago. There’s an old saying in the NFL: “Offence wins you games, defence wins you titles.” And the same can be said for football. If teams can’t score against you, they can’t beat you.

But who could United have signed to come in at centre-back? Of course, they were linked with Sergio Ramos, but that was probably never going to happen. Nicolas Otamendi was heavily linked and at one point it seemed to be a done deal until Manchester City nipped in and took him for £33 million.

If United really wanted him they should have got this one over the line as quick as they did with the early transfers. And in reality, £33 million seems to be nothing these days considering they spent reportedly around £40 million on Martial.