Soccer transfer roundup
By Eric Wilkins, Staff Writer
It’s been a busy transfer window for soccer, with plenty of big names seeing a change of scenery. The ridiculous sums of money being thrown around seem to be soccer’s attempt to say, “Economic downturn? What economic downturn?”
It’s just not a true transfer window if Arsenal doesn’t offload one of its stars and Manchester United doesn’t make a massive signing. Thankfully, there was one deal that covered both of these. In a somewhat surprise move, Robin van Persie made the switch to Old Trafford after flirting with several other clubs. Adding to the grief, Alex Song is now a member of Barcelona. The Gunners tried to ease the pain of their ever-frustrated fan base by picking up a few players, namely Lukas Podolski, but it looks set to be another long, fruitless season at the Emirates. United, on the other hand, brought Shinji Kagawa into the squad from Borussia Dortmund to add some attacking flair to the middle of the park while sending the least impressive member of their crowded strike force, Dimitar Berbatov, to Fulham
Premier League moneybags Manchester City ensured they got in on the action by securing Javi Garcia’s services from Benfica. Joining Garcia as fresh faces at the club are former Toffee wonderkid, Jack Rodwell, along with Scott Sinclair, and Maicon. Meanwhile, Nigel de Jong, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Adam Johnson were shown the door, heading to AC Milan, Tottenham, and Sunderland, respectively.
Ever-loveable Chelsea finally got their hands on one of Europe’s most coveted midfielders when they managed to ink Eden Hazard to a new deal from Lille. With a little luck, Hazard will make Cheatski watchable. Last year’s Champions League Final was the kind of display that justifies the “soccer is boring” comments. They had just as much imagination in that game as a brain-dead lemming.
Over at White Hart Lane, the Spuds offloaded Luka Modrić to Real Madrid and sent Rafael van der Vaart back to Hamburg. With the funds produced from these transfers, tight-fisted Daniel Levy went out and grabbed Joao Moutinho to fill the void in the midfield. As of this writing, it looks as if Spurs will finally have a keeper, with Hugo Lloris reportedly agreeing to a switch from Lyon.
Finishing up at another club backed by some significant money, QPR made themselves worthy of a mention in my books by picking up young Canadian star, Junior Hoilett. While I hate clubs that simply buy their way into relevancy, it’s hard not to cheer for a club with a Canadian. Of course, this could all change if Hoilett pulls a Jonathan de Guzmán, but that’s highly unlikely, given Jamaica is his only other eligible country. Also running into Loftus Road is Korean hero, Park Ji-Sung from Manchester United and Júlio César from Inter Milan. With the ever troublesome Joey Barton supposedly on his way out, things are looking good for QPR this year, or, at least better than last year’s relegation struggle.
And there it is, a Premier League-weighted slant on the transfer window. Manchester United takes the title this year. You heard it here first.
