Like so many of the recent transfer deadline days hyped up by certain news agencies and channels, Thursday’s deadline day produced some big deals, but not the drama some expected. Here is the pick of the deals:
Romelu Lukaku
The Manchester United forward joined Italian giants for a fee in the region of £73million and signed a five-year contract with the men from Milan. Lukaku had wanted to move away from Old Trafford for much of the summer after losing his first-team starting role to Marcus Rashford towards the end of last season.
Lukaku had failed to turn up for training in the week and instead ended up in Milan in the early hours of Thursday to complete the switch.
Alex Iwobi
The versatile attacking midfielder made a surprise move to Everton from Arsenal in a deal that could eventually cost the Toffees £35million with add-ons. The Merseysider’s had been attempting to tie-up a move for Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha.
Iwobi is a decent if an underwhelming alternative to the Ivory Coast international. However, the 23-year-old still has a lot of potential and gained much-needed experience both at club and international level. He could turn out to be a shrewd signing by today’s crazy prices.
Ryan Sessegnon
The 19-year-old completed his move to Tottenham from Fulham for a fee of around £25million, potentially adding up to £30million with add-ons, plus Spurs midfielder Josh Onomah.
Spurs had been linked with a move for the youngster since last summer. However, he has now joined the north London club. The teenager struggled for form last season in the Premier League, his first in the English top-flight.
The full-back/winger is a hot prospect though and Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has a reputation for developing young players. If he sees game time at Tottenham then he could improve immensely.
Kieran Tierney
Arsenal had been interested in the Celtic full-back for much of the summer. The Gunners finally agreed a fee of around £25million with the SPL champions to seal a deal for the Scotland full-back.
The 24-year-old has already played a lot of football with the Hoops and gathered experience of winning trophies with the Scottish giants. Left-back was one of the priority positions that needed filling this summer for the Gunners.
David Luiz
The Brazilian made a surprise £8million move across London from Chelsea to Arsenal. There was no sign of the move until Wednesday when Luiz reportedly refused to train with the Blues to force to the move to north London.
Recent media reports suggest there were problems behind the scenes at the club for Luiz. However, there have been claims that the 32-year-old moved on as he would not have been well down the centre-back pecking order if he would have stayed at Stamford Bridge.
Giovani Lo Celso
The Argentinian international has joined Tottenham from Real Betis on loan for an initial fee of £15million before joining on a permanent basis next summer for a reported further payment of around £50million. Tottenham have been admirers of Lo Celso for a good while.
Last season Lo Celso impressed at Betis while on loan from PSG, scoring nine times and creating four assists in the Spanish top-flight. The Spanish club bought Lo Celso, only to then move him on Thursday.
Despite their busy deadline day, . Manchester City and Liverpool remain way ahead of the betting when it comes to title odds.
Which of the deadline day signings will have the biggest impacts at their new clubs?
