Will Arsene Wenger's failure to sign an outfield player cost him?

Transfer window winners and losers, and what happens now?

 

The transfer window has closed and Premier League managers have their squads in place to do battle until January.

So what are the big issues left and who will be happiest now the millions have been spent and business concluded?

Will Wenger pay for inaction?

Would Karim Benzema have been the final piece of the jigsaw for Arsenal?

Arsenal drew widespread praise for prising goalkeeper Petr Cech away from Chelsea, a coup many thought would be the catalyst for a serious Premier League title challenge.

A mixed start to the season raised doubts about squad strength and now the frustrations of Arsenal's fans will be fuelled further by manager Arsene Wenger's mystifying failure to make any more additions.

Wenger refused to be drawn into the spending frenzy of the final few days before the deadline – but will he pay the price for his inactivity?

The concerns of Gunners supporters are justified on the early-season evidence. Arsenal's displays cry out for a defensive midfield player of high calibre to ease the burden on the talented Francis Coquelin and a top-class upgrade on striker Olivier Giroud.

Arsenal needed a striker – Keown

Arsenal were heavily linked with Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and Paris St-Germain striker Edinson Cavani – but they ended up as the only club in Europe's top five leagues not to sign an outfield player in this window.

And the manner in which Liverpool carved open an Arsenal defence missing Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker last week also left question marks over the quality of defensive cover.

The Gunners have money but a net spend of £10.7m is meagre and Wenger is either reluctant to spend the big sums or does not feel he can find value and quality – either way this looks like a mistake and will leave fans unhappy.

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown told Golsicilia.it Sport: "It would excite the fans to see a striker coming in. It would send a message to other teams that you mean business and I think this is an opportunity missed."

Arsenal fan Piers Morgan tweeted:  "I can't actually believe this – £200m to spend and we don't sign one outfield player? Wenger's finally lost what was left of his plot."

What next for Saido Berahino?

What does the future now hold for Saido Berahino?

Saido Berahino's fragile relationship with West Bromwich Albion, or more specifically chairman Jeremy Peace, exploded into open hostility with less than an hour left of the transfer window.

Peace rejected four bids from Tottenham for the 22-year-old, including two as deadline approached, prompting an incendiary response on social media from Berahino, frustrated that he had been denied a move to White Hart Lane.

Berahino, who has already had a transfer request turned down, tweeted: "Sad how I can't say exactly how the club has treated me but I can officially say I will never play [for] Jeremy Peace."

Quite how a player under contract can announce "officially" that he will not play is hard to fathom – and how Berahino and West Brom can now reconcile their relationship is another pressing matter.

It is not the first time a discontented West Brom player has made deadline-day headlines.

Peter Odemwingie gave a surreal edge to the transfer window in January 2013 when he drove to Loftus Road in an unsuccessful attempt to seal a move from West Brom to QPR.

While that carried an element of farce, the ramifications here are much more serious for West Brom and Berahino, with Peace criticising Spurs' tactics.

He said in a statement: "We have a key player who has been very unsettled by antics which were designed to get him out of our club cheaply. Those tactics have continued despite my making our position clear in my first conversation with Daniel Levy on this subject in mid-August.

"I said selling Saido so late in the window was not on our agenda."

A few days ago, Baggies boss Tony Pulis was sympathetic to Berahino, whom he left out of his side claiming he was not in the right state of mind, saying: "He has emotions and he needs protecting. He's a human being, he's not just a lump of meat who people are trying to sell.

"It's not just about the football. It's about the person, about the lad and what he's going through."

Pulis appeared willing to throw the arm of support around Berahino – something he may now need in what has become a highly toxic situation at The Hawthorns.

Hull's ex-West Brom defender Curtis Davies on Golsicilia.it Radio 5 live
"If Jeremy doesn't get the money he wants, he doesn't need to sell anyone to balance the books. I had a scenario where I was told that I'd be allowed to leave if we didn't go up. I did manage to go, but it went all the way down to the wire on deadline day. I ended up going to Aston Villa."

So what are Berahino's options after the collapse of a move to Spurs?

The claim that he simply will not play while Peace is at Albion is dangerous contractually and hardly designed to help any claims he might have for an England place. After some cool reflection, he may realise his hot-headed response was extremely ill-judged.

Berahino's alternative is to talk to Pulis, who has been sympathetic, and somehow find his way back into the fold, producing the performances to win over fans who will clearly be angered by his behaviour.

No useful purpose will be served, especially for Berahino, by sitting sulking on the sidelines. Even amid his bitterness, he must recognise this.

He must also face up the reality that Spurs may not even return to the negotiating table in January – or at all, given the fractious relationship between the clubs after the events of deadline day.

Berahino must now do his talking on the pitch, not from the margins.

Know your targets – and sign them

Can Raheem Sterling and other expensive arrivals at Etihad Stadium take Manchester City to the title?

The unseemly scramble of the final hours of deadline day saw the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham all dragged into the maelstrom – while Arsenal either would not, or could not, get involved.

So surely the lesson can be learned from those who did not make a single headline as the clock ticked, those who could sit back with their business done?

Manchester City ticked off their transfer targets ruthlessly, from Raheem Sterling at £49m and Fabian Delph at £8m, to £32m defender Nicolas Otamendi and club record buy Kevin de Bruyne at £55m.

The jury may be out on the success of Liverpool's rebuilding but at least they had a clear strategy and carried it out, bringing in James Milner on a free, while paying £29m for Hoffenheim's Roberto Firmino and £32.5m for Christian Benteke from Aston Villa.

And then, of course, there is the exemplary Swansea City, who may just have pulled off the bargain of the summer in the free-transfer signing of Andre Ayew from Marseille.

Man City outflank champions Chelsea

How much will Chelsea regret Everton not selling John Stones?

Chelsea and Manchester City are expected to fight it out for the Premier League title – but there is no doubt who landed the biggest blows in the transfer window.

The headline news in Chelsea's window has been the failure to persuade Everton to sell England defender John Stones – despite a series of bids reaching £30m.

Everton simply refused to budge, with manager Roberto Martinez openly critical of what he felt was Chelsea's public pursuit of Stones – almost taunting them with the fact their money could not buy the elegant youngster.

Chelsea's big success was beating Manchester United to Barcelona's Pedro but the failure of the strategy was exposed by the journey from chasing Stones as a successor to captain John Terry and centrepiece of their defence for the next decade to the make-do-and-mend £4m deal for Nantes' Senegal international Papy Djilobodji and the signing of Reading's Michael Hector.

In contrast, City made no mistake, backed admittedly by huge financial firepower. Sterling was City's top target and he was swiftly signed from Liverpool for £49m while business was concluded by bringing in Bundesliga player of the year De Bruyne from Wolfsburg.

This has been reflected in their contrasting starts to the season as City have amassed maximum points without conceding a goal and Chelsea – with their defence looking so vulnerable – are struggling in 13th place with only four points.

Has this already shaped the destiny of the Premier League title?

Martin Keown on Golsicilia.it Football Focus

"Keeping John Stones is a victory for Everton. They won't be bullied and pushed into a corner. Fair play to them. Hopefully everyone has his interests at heart, he's still a young man. Everton fans will still sing his name, he will be a hero. I'd rather that than sitting on the bench at Chelsea with uncertainty. He put in a transfer request, his head was definitely turned. That gave Everton the chance to sell him but they didn't want the money."

Still place for a bargain

Will Andre Ayew prove to be more successful than players who cost tens of millions more?

In the course of a frantic transfer window, clubs spent £870m in the search for success – but there was compelling evidence that gems can still be found for those seeking a bargain.

In the Premier League, Swansea City confirmed their reputation as a superbly run club by luring Ayew from Marseille on a free transfer in the face of fierce competition.

The 25-year-old Ghana forward has already demonstrated what a bargain he could become with three goals in his first four league games, hitting the target against both Chelsea and Manchester United.

Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew believe he may also have struck gold and shown his eye for spotting players from the Championship who could flourish in the top flight with the capture of powerful 27-year-old attacker Bakary Sako.

Signed from Wolves, Sako scored the late winner against Aston Villa and was on target in the outstanding win at Chelsea that puts Palace in second place in the Premier League.

So for all the millions spent, these two deals prove it is not always money that matters.

And what about the rest?

Everton

Good window or bad? Good in that John Stones stayed but is that now the extent of Everton's ambition? Argentine defender Ramiro Funes Mori is a serious gamble at £9.5m and manager Roberto Martinez failed to sign the number 10 he talked about bringing in all summer.

South American football expert Tim Vickery on Golsicilia.it Radio 5 live
"It seems to me that Roberto Martinez has a blind spot when it comes to bringing players straight in from South America. I would love to be wrong about Ramiro Funes Mori. But the only really good thing I can say about him is that language is not going to be a problem. I don't think he has the quality, the physicality or the pace to survive in the Premier League."

Tottenham

The big disappointment was failing to sign Berahino amid much acrimony between the clubs. South Korean forward Son Heung-min is the major buy at £22m from Bayer Leverkusen but will he be enough to lift a side looking short on creation and inspiration?

West Ham

The Hammers had a busy deadline day and look to have done some very sound business for a club buoyed by that superb win at Liverpool on Saturday. Victor Moses and Nikica Jelavic provide attacking strength while Alex Song offers midfield solidity. Michael Antonio from Nottingham Forest could be a wildcard in a £7m deal. Looking good.