Transfer windows are exciting times for football fans and it was a record-breaking one in the Premier League as the total spending reached £1.165bn. For the first time in history, £1bn mark was crossed in the Premier League and £155m spent on the deadline day took the figures to a whopping £1.165bn. Thirteen top-flight teams broke their own transfer records and Crystal Palace was one of them.
Alan Pardew did not add too many players to his squad over the summer- five players being signed for a total of £55m. So, the Crystal Palace fans should be happy with their business. Let us do a quick review of the summer transfer window the South London club had.
Ins
Christian Benteke – Liverpool, £32m
Andros Townsend – Newcastle United, £13m
Steve Mandanda – Marseille, free
James Tomkins – West Ham, £10m
Loic Remy – Chelsea, loan
Fees quoted from Sky Sports
Outs
Sullay Kaikai – Brentford, loan
Hiram Boateng – Bristol Rovers, loan
Jonny Williams – Ipswich, loan
Luke Croll – Exeter, loan
Adrian Mariappa – Watford, Free
Yannick Bolasie – Everton, £28m
Dwight Gayle – Newcastle United, £10m
Alex McCarthy – Southampton, £4m
Mile Jedinak – Aston Villa, £4m
David Gregory – Cambridge, free
Chris Kettings – Oldham, free
Jake Gray – Luton, free
Emmanuel Adebayor – released
Marouane Chamakh – released
Brede Hangeland – released
Adrian Mariappa – released
Reise Allassani – released
Christian Scales – released
Connor Dymond – released
Jerome Binnom-Williams – Peterborough, undisclosed
Freddie Ladapo – Oldham, loan
Fees quoted from Sky Sports
What they managed to bring in
If I were a Crystal Palace fan, I would have been quite happy with Pardew’s business. Crystal Palace struggled for goals badly last season and Pardew brought in a proven Premier League goalscorer in Christian Benteke. The Belgian became the South London side’s club record signing. Loic Remy, another quality striker, was brought in on loan from Chelsea. The Frenchman shares a good relationship with Pardew having worked together at Newcastle. So, Palace’s goalscoring woes should be a problem anymore.
Andros Townsend adds a big threat out wide with his direct approach towards the game. James Tomkins has what it takes to improve the Eagles defensively while an experienced keeper like Mandanda for free was a great coup from Pardew. The major players who moved on to pastures from Selhurst Park were Bolasie and Gayle and Crystal Palace did a brilliant business from their sales.
What they still miss
Crystal Palace are a bit short on numbers at the heart of the defence with just three natural central defenders in their squad. Martin Kelly can do a decent job out there but Pardew should have gone for further defensive reinforcements.
Remarks
I would give Crystal Palace seven out of ten for the business they have done this summer. It could have been better but overall, it was a better than average window for Palace.
