Additions that could have made all the difference.
With the summer transfer window having now closed for business for the year, Premier League teams are unable to bring in any more permanent recruits in order to help them in the first half of this season until the window swings open for business once again in January.
And so as the table begins to take shape after the opening four matches of the new campaign, we take a look at the one player each top-flight side should have signed during the close season in descending order of the teams’ current league positions …
Stoke City: Emmanuel Adebayor
With new Potters boss Mark Hughes having surprisingly allowed striker Cameron Jerome to join newly promoted Crystal Palace on loan this season, the Welshman has been left with just Kenwyne Jones and Peter Crouch as his main attackers at the Britannia stadium for this campaign.
However, you get the feeling that Hughes does not rate either front men judging by the way he has alternated between both men as his lone forward so far this season, so maybe the new coach should made a move for Tottenham Hotspur’s unwanted Togo international, particularly as the north London club seem virtually willing to drive Adebayor to a new club should one be willing to sign the player with a mountain of top-level experience from his time spent with some of Europe’s biggest clubs?
Newcastle United: Darren Bent
The Magpies were in for Aston Villa’s some-time England international, along with Premier League rivals Fulham, with manager Alan Pardew desperate to add more firepower to his under-performing front line in the north east this season, especially following the departure of Senegalese striker Demba Ba to Chelsea in the January transfer window.
However, Pardew and new director of football Joe Kinnear opted to go for Queens Park Rangers forward Loic Remy instead, with the France international agreeing to move to St James’ Park on a season-long loan deal, although already one gets the feeling that this move is not going to work out for either party.
And yet had the Geordies been more convincing in their discussions with Bent, then there is every chance that the greater financial package they had on offer would have been more than enough to secure his signature and Newcastle would now have at their disposal a proven Premier League marksman.
Aston Villa: Abdoulaye Ba
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but Paul Lambert must be wishing he has successfully lured FC Porto defender Abdoulaye Ba this summer. The Midlands club were pushing to bring in the Senegal international and now there is an added reason the Villa Park side could have done with his services.
Summer signing Jores Okore has suffered a knee injury that will keep him out for the entire season and as such there may well be a distinct lack of alternatives at the back.
Lambert’s side have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their opening four Premier League fixtures and Ba may have been the answer to this problem however the 22 year old has instead moved to Vitória Guimarães on loan.
Everton: Nick Powell
The classy Manchester United midfield player is still very much learning the ropes at Old Trafford following his move from Crew Alexandra last July for £6m, although anyone who saw the England Under-21 international’s debut goal for the Premier League champions against Wigan Athletic last September – a brilliant long-range strike – would be able to vouch for the 19-year-old’s abilities.
And with the Merseyside giants having sold attacking midfield player Marouane Fellaini to the Red Devils, maybe new coach Roberto Martinez should have asked for Powell in part exchange for the Belgium in order to help fill the huge void at Goodison Park created by the shaggy-haired 25-year-old’s departure from the Toffees, if only on a season-long loan.
West Ham United: Oscar Cardozo
The prolific Paraguay international has been banging in the goals on a regular basis for Portuguese giants Benfica for the past six years now, however, with the word around Europe this summer was that Cardozo quite fancied one last pay day in the Premier League.
And, by all accounts, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce was interested in bringing the 30-year-old to Upton Park this season with ‘Big Sam’, who knows a thing or two about convincing experienced foreign stars to come and play for him, said to be concerned about his lack of numbers up top in east London this campaign.
In the end, however, Allardyce opted against making a move for the tall striker, who has netted an impressive 161 goals in total in just 260 appearances for the Lisbon-based outfit, although one wonders now whether he is regretting that decision following the recent heel injury picked up by club-record signing Andy Carroll.
Southampton: Suso
Saints manager Mauricio Pochettino has already used his connections from his time spent both playing and coaching in La Liga to pull off the surprise big-money purchase of Pablo Osvaldo, and maybe the former Argentina international should have considered making a move for highly rated Liverpool starlet Suso this summer as well.
Reds boss Brendan Rodgers made it be known at the end of the previous campaign that he wanted his Spain Under-21 international to go out on loan in this campaign so as to get more playing top-level experience, with the creative midfield player eventually moving to Liga minnows Almeria on a season-long loan.
However, had the South Coast club come in as well for the Spaniard, then there’s no doubt that the Merseysiders would have preferred their young starlet to remain in England and get more valuable Premier League experience instead, and there’s no doubt that Suso would have been a welcome addition to the Southampton midfield had such a move taken place.
Cardiff City: Yossi Benayoun
As a newly promoted team to the Premier League, it is always important to fill your squad with as much top-level experience as one can gather, within your financial restrictions of course, which is why picking up free agents of the calibre of the former West Ham United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal wide man would have been a real coup for the Bluebirds.
The skillful Israel international is still only 33 and has been on the look-out for a new club in the Premier League all summer long in order to preserve his top-flight career, and who better to create the goals for front men Fraizer Campbell and Peter Odemwingie than the wily Benayoun?
Swansea City: Florent Malouda
With both goals other than from Michu and transfer funds hard to come by at the Liberty stadium, Swans head coach Michael Laudrup may have missed a trick this summer by not taking a small risk in signing unwanted the Chelsea midfield player.
The experienced France international, who has won 80 caps for les Bleus in a highly successful nine-year international career to date, was made surplus to requirements by the west London club this summer, although that does not mean that the 33-year-old could still not do a fine job in midfield for a side such as Swansea.
Instead, the attacking midfield player who won both the Premier League and the Uefa Champions League during his six seasons at Stamford Bridge, moved to lowly Turkish outfit Trabzonspor instead, with the Turks forking out just 2.5m euros a season in order to land the France wide man.
Fulham: Tom Huddlestone
Cottagers manager Martin Jol was actually the man who signed the England international for Tottenham Hotspur while the Dutchman was in charge at White Hart Lane, with the midfield player arriving from Championship outfit Derby County for just £2.5m in January 2005.
And while the ball-playing midfielder may have struggled at times to hold down a regular starting berth in the centre of the park in north London under Jol’s successors at Spurs, Juande Ramos, Harry Redknapp and Andre Villas-Boas, that is more a reflection of the top-quality individuals that Huddlestone had to compete with in the capital than on his own abilities.
So perhaps the Dutchman should have tried to negotiate a double purchase from Tottenham when he signed Scott Parker from the club earlier this summer before Huddlestone’s eventual £5m switch to Hull City.
Norwich City: Barry Bannan
The Scotland international was a player who shone on regular intervals during his time at Villa Park, although there is no doubt that his career did also fall away badly last season following the arrival of new head coach Paul Lambert.
However, often all a player needs is a change of scenery in order to reinvigorate their stalled careers, and with the Cannaries on the look-out this summer for quality midfield players to help create the chances for new big-money striking duo Gary Hooper and Ricky Van Wolfswinkel, perhaps manager Chris Hughton should have taken a chance on the 23-year-old?
Hull City: Nicklas Bendtner
In the end, it is goals that ultimately what keep newly promoted teams in the Premier League and whatever his reputation in front of goal is from his time spent in north London, the Denmark international was still available to either buy, or take on a season-long loan deal, this summer had the Tigers come up with the cash.
However, instead Bendtner has remained at the Emirates to spend the campaign warming the substitutes’ bench, which when you consider this is a striker with 22 international goals for Denmark to his name, could prove a costly error in judgement by the Tigers come next May.
Arsenal: Asmir Begovic
It is hardly revealing any huge secrets by saying that Gunners head coach Arsene Wenger was on the look-out for a new experienced goalkeeper during the summer, with the Frenchman being linked with a number of top-class shot stoppers while the window was still open, including the likes of Liverpool’s Jose Manuel Reina and Queens Park Rangers’ Julio Cesar.
However, in the end the Frenchman ended up signing Emiliano Viviano on a season-long loan from Serie A outfit Brescia to act as understudy to current first-choice Wojciech Szczesny at the Emirates this season when in fact, Wenger would surely have been better served luring Stoke’s highly rated keeper to north London instead.
Crystal Palace: Sebastien Squillaci
If Ian Holloway is to produce a miracle and keep the Eagles in the Premier League this season against all odds, then you feel that his team are going to need to tighten up at the back a bit more, so maybe the south east London outfit should have targeted this Premier League centre back with international and Champions League experience?
The France international was released on a free transfer transfer by the Gunners back in June, and so would have been available for nothing had Palace been quick off the mark and contacted the 33-year-old before he eventually decided to move back home and sign for Ligue 1 side Bastia in July.
West Bromwich Albion: Fabio Borini
It is already obvious that this campaign prove to be a struggle for the Baggies, especially in front of goal following the departure earlier this summer of front men Peter Odemwingie and Marc Antoine-Fortune.
However, had manager Steve Clarke used his connections with former club Liverpool, then he would have discovered that their Italy international was available, either on a season-long loan or if the offer was right, to buy permanently, a deal that rivals Sunderland have ended up pulling off instead.
Sunderland: Brad Friedel
The veteran United States shot stopper was understood to be open to offers this summer from any Premier League clubs willing to take a chance on the 42-year-old, who by all accounts is still as fit as a fiddle and having sold former No 1 Simon Mignolet to Liverpool in July, the Blacks Cats have since turned to the inexperienced Keiren Westwood to be their new first-choice keeper at the Stadium of Light this season.
However, with a relegation battle looming on the horizon, one has to question the wisdom of that decision, especially when one considers just how vital a role an experienced, top-class keeper can play in keeping a struggling outfit away from the drop.
Liverpool: Christian Eriksen
The Reds were the early favourites to land the coveted Denmark international earlier this summer, before for some inexplicable reason deciding not to move for the attacking midfield player, and so opening up the path for Uefa Champions League-chasing rivals Tottenham Hotspur to instead swoop for the 21-year-old in a cut-price deal worth just £10.5 million.
And one gets the very distinct impression that the Merseyside giants will come to greatly regret that decision come the end of the campaign.
Tottenham Hotspur: Fabio Coentrao
The North London club were heavily linked to the Real Madrid left back throughout most of the close season, and at one point it looked as though the Portugal international would move to White Hart Lane as part of the world-record deal that saw wide man Gareth Bale join the Spanish giants.
However, that particular transfer never materialised, although los Blancos were clearly willing to allow the 25-year-old to leave the Santiago Bernabeu this summer following the defender’s near switch to Manchester United in the final hours on transfer deadline day.
All of which begs the question: why did Spurs head coach Andre Villas-Boas not go back in for the attacking full back given the Portuguese’s clear mistrust of left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto this season, especially as Coentrao is regarded as one of the finest players in his position in world football at present?
Manchester City: Daniel Agger
It has generally been acknowledged that the mega-rich Premier League outfit have had a very successful summer in the transfer market, with the club securing almost all of new head coach Manuel Pellegrini’s intended targets.
However, within just a matter of weeks, the Chilean was forced to utilise midfield player Javi Garcia in an unfamiliar centre-back role due to a spate of early-season injuries to the likes of Micah Richards, captain Vincent Kompany, Matija Nastasic and recent new signing Martin Demichelis.
And that unfortunate sequence of events has really exposed the club’s shortage of numbers at the back at Eastlands in this campaign, and particularly when it comes to top-class central defenders, which is odd for a team that is bankrolled to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds.
So perhaps Pellegrini should have returned for Liverpool’s classy Dane after previous City boss Roberto Mancini tried to buy the 28-year-old last summer.
Manchester United: Sami Khedira
The Premier League champions were reportedly interested in bringing the coveted Germany international to Old Trafford on transfer deadline day, with new Red Devils manager David Moyes believed to be keen to find a world-class holding midfield player to take on that role in the north west in his debut campaign in charge of the top-flight giants.
However, United were not prepared to meet Real Madrid’s 40m euro asking price for the 26-year-old, whose current contract at the Santiago Bernabeu runs until June 30 2015, and so Khedira remained in the Spanish capital.
That was a huge mistake though by Moyes and Co, who will now have to wait until the window reopens in January before they can find a solution to this problem position at the club, when the money they spent on Marouane Fellaini could have instead be used to sign the German.
Chelsea: Luis Suarez
The one type of player that the west London club have been desperate to add to their first-team roster is a striker, hence why returning Blues manager Jose Mourinho spent all summer long attempting to engineer the transfer of unsettled Manchester United front man Wayne Rooney from Old Trafford.
However, when the Portuguese failed in his efforts, he instead switched his focus towards veteran Cameroon international Samuel Eto’o instead, with the experienced forward agreeing to move to Stamford Bridge on a one-year deal.
Already, though, there are signs that Eto’o’s once prolific eye for goal may now be deserting him, which is why Mourinho would surely have been better making an approach for coveted Liverpool marksman Luis Suarez instead, especially given the fact that the Uruguayan is known to be keen to join a club competing in this season’s Uefa Champions League.