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Villa the Busiest and Best Team in the Transfer Window?

There are so many ways to look at the recent ridiculous dealings in the transfer window it is hard to decide on who comes out best but surely Villa, having been the busiest team with 4 incomings and 4 outgoings, are up there. In January Gerard Houllier managed to sign a young right-back, already being tipped for a senior England call-up, two vastly experienced international midfielders with age still on their side, and one of the league’s most proven goalscorers of the last decade. Well done Gerard! The potential £24m price tag for Darren Bent seemed a little ludicrous but in the context of what went on yesterday we could get done for robbery! Jean Makoun was cheaper than first thought it seems with Gerard Houllier stating that he folked out just £5m for the Cameroonian. Michael Bradley joined on loan yesterday and is highly rated in his native America having played 50 senior international caps at just 23. He joined on loan along with Tottenham full-back Kyle Walker, whose first 3 games have given much encouragement to the Villa fans, not least due to a fantastic solo effort on his debut. Add to these signings the significant wage bill slashing due to departures of the out-of-favour Carew, Sidwell, Davies and Ireland and Gerard Houllier will be sitting far prettier on his Villa perch! So how do you rate Villa’s transfer dealings this summer against our Premier League rivals? Has Houllier turned you round? To read my full round-up of why Villa can consider themselves well-off this February

Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll were at the centre of a busy day for Liverpool, with the former leaving for Chelsea in a record £50m deal for British football. In Torres Chelsea have bought a proven, world class striker with an exceptional scoring record in the Premier League. If you had offered Liverpool £50m at the top of his game, the club would have been reluctant to sell given £80m+ plus deals for the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo. All in all, not sure what to make of that, seems like it could be a pretty decent deal for both parties.

With regards to Andy Carroll I can’t sanction £35m+ for a striker that has had half a full season in Premier League football. His 11 goal tally is impressive for a young 22-year-old and he is undoubtedly a real talent and will also undoubtedly prove to be an even better one in the future. However, I could name you players of a similar age who have been as good if not better in the league this season i.e. Marc Albrighton at our beloved Villa but would we get £35m for our wing-wizard, yeh right! I recognise that the money spent on a striker is usually significantly ‘bumped up’ but this is insanity and starts to make Villa’s deal to sign Bent for an initial £18m look like pennies.

However, on a positive front for Liverpool for what equates to £10m plus the £50m received for Fernando Torres, they have acquired Carroll and Ajax striker Luis Suarez and I feel the two could make a fantastic little and large partnership, so like I said who wins?

Well the answer simply has to be the likes of Arsenal. The London club are certainly United’s biggest title challenge and haven’t spent a penny this window. In fact there entire starting XI of late in Sczezny, Sagna, Vermaelen, Djourou, Clichy, Nasri, Walcott, Fabregas, Song, Wilshere and Van Persie, all equate to a total value of around £44m!

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