The transfer window has been open for some time and some Premier League teams have made moves to sign players. There is something alarming, many teams in a similar as Aston Villa have spent big this year. Many have even bought a big name, we Aston Villa haven’t quite done that and with the potential departure of Benteke, we might even struggle to improve on last season. There are 4 times in the Premier League that are showing ambition this season. There is extra cash to spend in the form of new TV money so let’s take a quick look into these 4 teams that want to win.
Norwich: Spent Aprox. £16.6 million
This one is a little bit of a surprise, but they have been enormously ambitious this year. There big signing is undoubtedly Ricky Van Wolfswinkel. He is a very good young dutch player and will be Norwich’s main attacking threat. Norwich have also brought in midfielders, Redmond and Fer to support the striker. Redmond is a young midfielder, who is fairly decent. Fer was linked with a move to Everton and he too, is a good player. In defence they permanently signed Garrido and they snapped up Martin Olsson, another decent player and as a back up keeper Nash. They’ve spent a lot, I’m not sure if they can afford to buy any more players but Norwich is definitely on the up.
Southampton: Spent Aprox. £21 million
Southampton have gone for quality over quantity and it’s quite clear that they’re not afraid to spend big. They have signed two very young, and very quality players in the likes of Wanyama and Lovren. I personally rate Lovren more, he is a big centre back and that knows how to defend. I have a few question marks over the fee for Wanyama, but nonetheless he should add something to their midfield.
Sunderland: Spent Aprox. £11.5 million
Sunderland have done the opposite of Southampton went for quantity, they’ve signed 7 players so far. Here’s the catch, they are all pretty unknown. The only players that really stand out are Alitdore, Diakite and Mannone. As a result I’m not sure if Sunderland will improve or not, but they have signed players and I don’t think their spending is quite done yet. They’ve also signed Cabral, Roberge, Karlsson and Ba.
Swansea: Spent Aprox. £19.5 million
Laudrop is doing it again, buying players from the Liga BBVA and making the best use of the financial crisis in Spain. He has brought in a total of 8 players. The big names are surely Bony, De Guzman and Canas. Bony signed for £12 million, this is a clear indication of Swansea’s ambition. De Guzman is back on loan, he was good and Canas is a good overall midfielder. They’ve also signed Shelvey, Amat, Zabret, Gogic and Pozuelo. Swansea definitely want to progress forward and that’s definitely going to happen.
I am not saying that Aston Villa are screwed and can’t progress forward. I’m just pointing out the transfer market activity amongst other clubs. Can Aston Villa move forward? Definitely, some of these players will flop, some will not. I don’t think Lambert is finished with his recruits, the club have to sell the deadwood before we can bring in any more players. We also need to sort out the Benteke situation as soon as possible. Besides, we have signed some quality players, all very highly rated. They may not make an immediate impact such as Bony or Lovren but they will come good in the future.
Well said b6 and mark, I think that Oohah and Terry should go fishing together and let all them weird thoughts drain away about Aston Villa, if ever their was two twits we have them on here.