Dateline Day Transfer News And Views

(Source from BBC Sports)

Raul Meireles and Mikel Arteta swapped the city of Liverpool for London in dramatic deals on a busy transfer deadline day.

Meireles moved from Liverpool to Chelsea, while Everton's Arteta joined Arsenal along with Chelsea midfielder Yossi Benayoun.

Arsenal also signed Germany defender Per Mertesacker and left back Andre Santos from Fenerbahce for £6.2m as Arsene Wenger re-shaped his squad after Sunday's 8-2 defeat by Manchester United.

Manchester City completed the free-transfer of former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves and allowed out-of-favour forward Craig Bellamy to rejoin former club Liverpool.

Liverpool let two players depart for France, Joe Cole moving to Lille on a season-long loan and midfielder Christian Poulsen joining Evian.

Manchester United did not make any deadline day deals, with Inter Milan's Wesley Sneijder revealing on Twitter that he would be staying in Italy.

Fulham and Stoke made major striker signings.

Fulham bought FC Twente striker Bryan Ruiz for £10.6m, beating off a late rival bid from Newcastle United.

Stoke broke their transfer record to sign Tottenham's Peter Crouch for £10m, and also bought Wilson Palacios from Spurs for a fee believed to be around £6m.

Spurs also let Jermaine Jenas and Alan Hutton move to Aston Villa, the latter opting for the West Midlands over a move to Fulham.

Tottenham winger David Bentley joined West Ham on a season-long loan.

Spurs completed the deal for West Ham United's Scott Parker, but failed to sign Bolton defender Gary Cahill.

Sunderland ended their search for a striker when Nicklas Bendtner moved from Arsenal on a year-long loan deal.

Arsenal also let young striker Joel Campbell, who only signed last week, join French side Lorient on loan, following team-mate Gilles Sunu, who made a permanent switch to the Ligue 1 outfit.

QPR added Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips to their squad and Sunderland's Anton Ferdinand. Their move for Spurs defender Sebastian Bassong fell through due to Spurs' failure to sign Bolton's Gary Cahill.

As well as keeping hold of their prized defensive asset Cahill, Bolton added new faces by sealing a permanent deal for Liverpool striker David Ngog and a loan switch for Chelsea midfielder Gael Kakuta.

Blackburn raided Goodison Park to sign striker Yakubu, and also complete moves for Birmingham defender Scott Dann and Sheffield United frontman Jordan Slew.

Everton made two loan signings: Real Madrid's Royston Drenthe on loans and striker Denis Stracqualursifrom Argentine side Tigres. The Toffees let Jermaine Beckford to join Leicester.

Wigan completed two deals, signing Celtic winger Shaun Maloney for a fee of £1m and Chelsea defender Patrick van Aanholt on loan.

(Source: BBC from Sports)

Now that the transfer dateline is over, some teams in my opinion has strengthened its squad while others might be worse off from its transfer deals.

Positive Signings:

Arsenal have signed Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker, Yossi Benayoun and Andre Santos, as well as Park Chu-Young, while Niklas Bendtner has joined Sunderland on loan. This is good news for Arsenal fans who just had a week to forget after seeing their side hammered by rivals Manchester United. Arteta will be a great addition in their midfield after losing Fabregas and Nasri, and Mertesacker and Santos will add much needed stability in defense. This signings will definitely improve the squad after their best eleven against Man Utd, do not look like a side that can even finish in the top half of the Premier League.

Chelsea surprised everyone after securing the signature of Raul Meireles in the last minute of the transfer dateline. It is still not known how Andre Villas-Boas will fit Meireles into the team, already with many quality midfielders, but adding a player of Meireles’ quality is always a good problem to have.

QPR, under a new owner, Malaysian own Tony Fernandez, has a new ambition. They have been very busy in the transfer market and plan to add up to 5 new quality players to strengthen their squad. They have succeeded to add 3, with the signing of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Anton Ferdinand yesterday, as well as Joey Barton last week, which is a positive move for their squad for me. Expect them to stay up in the Premier League this season.

Stoke City has manage to strengthen its attacking options by signing 2 strikers, Cameron Jerome from Birmingham and Peter Crouch of Spurs. They also signed a good defensive midfielder, Wilson Palacios, also from Spurs. Already a good squad, expect these signings to improve their team and help them in their push in the Europa League and Premier League.

Bolton Wanderers, importantly, manage to hold on to Gary Cahill, at least for another six months. Spurs have tried their best to get the signature of Cahill, but Owen Coyle is determined to keep his quality defender at the Reebok. They also picked up a few decent players on transfer deadline day including David N’Gog (from Liverpool) and Gael Kakuta (from Chelsea, on loan), to add to their already impressive attack.

Blackburn Rovers has picked up quality defender Scott Dann from Birmingham and tricky striker Yakubu from Everton. They also managed to keep Christopher Samba in their team. To me, these signings are much needed to improve their squad, who are currently favourites to be relegated next term.

Negative Signings:

Tottenham Hotspur offloaded Alan Hutton, Wilson Palacios, Peter Crouch and Jermaine Jenas. They manage to keep Luca Modric and sign Adebayor on loan. Spur are hoping to capture Gary Cahill and another striker, but will have to do with Adebayor. They will be hoping for Adebayor to hit goal-scoring form and Modric to get over his dream move and start playing his best for Spurs again.

Everton to me are the biggest loser during dateline day after losing its best player, Mikel Arteta, to Arsenal for a fee that’s believed to be £10 million. That transfer fee is an absolute bargain for a class player like Arteta, and it shows what a financially unstable position Everton is in. With the deal being done at the eleventh hour, Everton didn’t have time to use the money to buy a top class player, but they did get Royston Drenthe from Real Madrid on a season-long loan. Expect Everton to be in the bottom half of the Premier League this season.

Liverpool received a huge blow after losing a key player, Raul Meireles, to Chelsea. Craig Bellamy was a good addition, but his best years may have past him. Meanwhile, getting rid of Christian Poulsen and Joe Cole is a welcome relief. I believe Meireles are one of the main reason for Liverpool’s good string of results during the second half of last season.

Swansea so far has their goalkeeper, Michel Vohm, to thank for their precious two points collected thus far. Vohm has been very impressive in their opening game as well, despite losing 4-0 to Man City. However, they needed to fill its attacking options, a creative midfielder and a striker, and have failed to sign any attackers before the dateline. However, Swansea mange to picked up Fulham defender Rafik Halliche on loan as well as left back Federico Bessone from Leeds, but based on today’s dealings, it’s going to be a long season for the Swansea.

Barreto Heads To Palermo

Paraguay international Edgar Barreto has confirmed he has joined Palermo from Atalanta.

The 27-year-old midfielder announced via Twitter that he has penned a four-year contract with the Sicilian club.

Barreto said: "I am a new Palermo player... I signed at midday (Paraguay time).

"Atalanta, thank you for these past two years!"

Barreto joins compatriot Daniel Martinez at Palermo.

The South American joined Atalanta from Reggina in 2009 and made a total of 33 appearances in his two-year spell with the Bergamaschi.

Roma Seal Simon Kjaer Loan Deal

Roma have signed Simon Kjaer on loan from Wolfsburg, the Serie A confirmed on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Denmark centre-back underwent a medical last week but his move was only finalised hours before the end of the transfer window.

Kjaer, who returns to Serie A just one year after leaving Palermo, becomes Roma's 14th signing of the summer.

Arsenal Sign Santos & Mertesacker

Arsenal has completed their bid for defenders Andre Santos and Per Mertesacker in a bid to strengthen their backline.

Andre Santos, 28, joins the Gunners from Turkish champions Fenerbahce while Mertesacker joins from Werden Bremen.

The two players will add some much-needed experience to an Arsenal backline which shipped eight goals in their humiliating defeat at Manchester United on Saturday.

A statement read: "Arsenal has confirmed they have agreed terms with Werder Bremen to sign German international defender Per Mertesacker.

"The deal is subject to the completion of formal registration processes."

Manager Arsene Wenger told the club's official website, www.arsenal.com: "Santos is a quality player, with the ability to both defend well and get forward and help with attacks.

"He has experience in the Champions League and for Brazil and has proven he can deliver at the highest level.

"We welcome Santos to the club and look forward to him having a big impact for us."

Mertesacker is relishing the challenge of the Premier League.

He said on Bremen's website, www.werder.de: "I had a great time at Werder, and I owe a lot to the club.

"The move to London is a wish come true, to take another step in my career.

Tottenham Complete Signing Of Scott Parker

Tottenham has completed the signing of Scott Parker from West Ham.

The midfielder has long been courted by Harry Redknapp's side and has now finally sealed his switch to White Hart Lane on the final day of the transfer deadline.

Parker, 30, had been keen to leave the Hammers following the club's relegation the Championship and handed in a transfer request to force through the move.

Fulham Sign Juventus Defender Zdenek Grygera

Fulham has completed the signing of Juventus defender Zdenek Grygera on a one-year deal.

The 31-year-old has been with the Turin giants for the past four seasons and has now penned a deal with the Cottagers, with an option for a further year.

He moves on a free transfer after his contract with Juventus was terminated by mutual consent yesterday.

Grygera faced Fulham in March 2010 when he come off the bench during Fulham's 4-1 Europa League win against Juventus at Craven Cottage, which he is excited to now call home.

"I am delighted to have completed my transfer to Fulham Football Club today," he told the club's official website, www.fulhamfc.com.

"It has always been an ambition for me to play in the Premier League and I am looking forward to an exciting new chapter in my career with Fulham."

Grygera began his career with Czech side FK Svit Zlin in 1997, before moving to Petra Drnovice and Sparta Prague.

The defender, who has made 52 appearances for his country, joined Ajax in 2003 and then Serie A outfit Juventus in 2007.

Everton Sign Real Madrid Winger

Everton has signed Royston Drenthe from Real Madrid, according to Spanish publication AS.

There are currently conflicting reports over whether the deal is a loan switch or for a nominal fee, as the Netherlands international has a single year remaining on his contract.

Drenthe has fallen down the pecking order at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, with Fabio Coentrao signing to offer Marcelo competition on the left flank.

Should the left back cum winger complete his move to Goodison Park, he will join Argentine striker Denis Stracqualursi on Merseyside, making this transfer deadline day somewhat more inspiring than recent ones for Everton fans.

With the pair joining Everton, David Moyes has now signed two more players than he was expected to this summer - and kept his star names to boot.

It is likely that the expected sale of Jermaine Beckford to Leicester City financed both transfers.

Elia Joins Juventus On Four-Year Deal

Dutch international Eljero Elia has joined Italy's Juventus on a four-year contract after two seasons at Hamburg SV, the German club said on Wednesday.

"Elia's transfer to Juventus is complete," Hamburg said on their website.

"The 24-year-old signed a four-year contract according to the Italian club."

Winger Elia joined Hamburg in 2009 from Twente Enschede, playing 52 league matches for the club and scoring seven goals.

Zarate Joins Inter On Loan

Lazio striker Mauro Zarate has completed a loan deal to Inter Milan with a view to a permanent deal next year.

The 24-year-old had been expected to remain with Lazio for this season as they had been reluctant to let the striker go out on-loan.

Lazio paid 20million euros (£17.7m) to purchase the striker from Al-Sadd in 2008 and wanted to recoup their outlay on the Argentine marksman.

But a compromise has now been reached between the two clubs which will see the Nerazzurri pay a loan fee of 2.7million euros (£2.4m).

And, should they decide to sign him on a permanent deal, Inter would have to stump up 15million euros (£13.3m) to conclude the deal.

Arsenal Prepare £25m Bid To Sign Serie A Playmaker

Arsenal is reportedly readying a bid for Napoli playmaker Marek Hamsik as Arsene Wenger looks to find an able replacement for French international Samir Nasri. The Slovakian international has been previously linked with the North London club and now the Gunners boss is ready to make an offer for the 24 year old before the transfer window shuts.

Wenger had been targeting Lille youngster Eden Hazard to fill the spot vacated by Nasri but having snatched South Korean Park Chu-Young from under the Ligue 1 side’s nose it seems hugely unlikely that the French side will be willing to do business with the North London club.

Hamsik has been a huge success in Naples and has become a virtual ever present over the course of his four seasons at the Serie A side and it highly unlikely that boss Walter Mazzarri would consider selling the former Brescia man unless the player himself pushed for an exit.

The Arsenal board appear happy to hand Wenger a sizable transfer budget and will allow him the use of all the money raised from the sales of Nasri, Cesc Fabregas and Gael Clichy, which brought in around £60m and the Emirates Stadium side are ready to offer around £25m for the goal scoring attacking midfielder.

After such a poor start to the season Wenger knows that he must improve his squad if he wants to push to end a six year silverware drought and he also knows that this could be a pivotal season individually and failure could bring an end to his 15 year reign at Arsenal.

It may take some persuading to convince Hamsik to move as he appears settled at Napoli, who he helped secure a Champions League spot for the coming season.

Spurs Blow As Diarra Set For AC Milan Move

AC Milan is closing in on a loan deal for Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra, according to reports in Italy.

Diarra is surplus to requirements at the Bernabeu and has been chased by Tottenham all summer, with Harry Redknapp eager to tie up a permanent deal for the France international.

However, Diarra’s wage demands have been holding up a potential move to White Hart Lane and Milan has now entered the race.

The Rossoneri are keen on a season-long loan deal for the 26-year-old after Mathieu Flamini suffered a serious knee injury, which is likely to rule him out of action for around five months.

Roma Swoop For Miralem Pjanic

Roma have signed Bosnia-Herzegovina international Miralem Pjanic from Lyon, the Serie A side have announced.

Pjanic, 21, has penned a four-year contract and is the latest new face to join Roma, who have already secured the likes of Bojan Krkic, Pablo Osvaldo, Gabriel Heinze and Maarten Stekelenburg this summer.

Pjanic joined Lyon from French rivals Metz in 2008 and became a key player for the club, making 116 appearances and scoring 15 goals in his three-year spell.