Chris Hatherall
IF THE Premier League was decided on performances in the transfer window then Chelsea would be running away with the title leaving Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham buffeted and stumbling in their wake.
To say that Carlo Ancelotti’s men were the winners on transfer deadline day is like describing Roman Abramovich as a promising businessman; because the capture of Fernando Torres and David Luiz could define this season.
Liverpool fans, ever optimistic, may claim their club’s capture of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll is good business Newcastle may be happy counting their money and Aston Villa can claim their hard work was done before deadline day with the capture of Darren Bent.
But Chelsea’s transfer business is on a different level because Torres is a proven performer, capable of winning trophies for his club; and it is only the fact that Liverpool are so far out of the title race this season that made it even feasible for him to be sold to a domestic rival.
Abramovich targeted the Spanish striker as long ago as 2008 and has made two previous bids to sign him; but this time, by offering a British record £50m, he made no mistake.
There will be people who say he is over-priced, given Torres’ disappointing form and constant injury problems in the last 12 months but there have been signs in recent matches at Liverpool that despite his obvious unhappiness on Merseyside his form has started to improve.
At 26 there is little question that his best days are ahead of him and the prospect of spending at least the first year of his five-and-a-half-year contract at Chelsea playing alongside Didier Drogba should be enough to put Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger in a sweat.
“For me Torres is the best striker in the world of his style,” Chelsea legend Kerry Dixon remarked. “And Drogba is, for me, the best of his style. And the great thing is they can play together or Torres has shown he can also play up front on his own. It’s a wonderful signing.”
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is probably the best man of all to judge the winners and losers on transfer deadline day, after all he has so often in the past been the last-gasp transfer magician that kept us all entertained; remember the astonishing capture of Rafael van der Vaart with minutes to go in August? Or the deadline-beating arrival of Jermain Defoe before that?
This time he couldn’t repeat the fact, failing in a last-gasp bid for Blackpool’s Charlie Adam; and with Arsenal and Manchester United completely silent on deadline day he has no doubts at all over who took full advantage.
“Chelsea have made a big statement, they have put a marker down,” he said. “Torres is a fantastic signing and the boy Luiz is a great defender, too. I think Chelsea will be very, very close to winning the Premier League again now.
“They came back with a good result at Bolton last week to win 4-0 away from home and with these two signings they could really push on. They are a team you cannot write off, I certainly think by the end of the season they won’t be a million miles away.”
If Torres’ arrival can put Chelsea back in the title race and, even more importantly, win the Champions League at Wembley in May, it will be money well spent.
Can Andy Carroll, a player who has only just found his feet in the Premier League and is yet to learn how to behave off it, match that kind of impact at Anfield alongside Luis Suarez, a hugely promising player of course but one who may need time to adjust to English football?
Of course if Carroll and Suarez click immediately and start to look like the new Dalglish and Rush, the judgement will change quickly. But right now champions Chelsea can claim the transfer day honours.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/l8LUpGoRUYk/post.aspx
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