By ATIBA JACKSON
The Premier League certainly enjoys manufacturing days of intense spectacle at either ends of its calendar – whether that be the frantic, simultaneous final round fixtures, or the drama of last-minute decision-making as transfer windows close.
The 2016/17 summer transfer window played host to some of the highest profile player movements in the competition’s history, most notably a couple of former favourite sons returning to England after a few years’ hiatus.
Clubs in contention for the coveted silverware took on aggressive transfer strategies to refine their starting line-ups with the hope that the perfect balance between attacking prowess, defensive stability and team cohesion could be struck.
Whether these shifts in team dynamics have the intended positive effect or are revealed to be short-sighted is something audiences will only learn as the season continues.
But with that in mind, here are five of the dominating narratives that tell the overall story of the 2016/17 summer transfer window.
1. The Premier Leagues TV deal has sent club spending out of control
OK, it’s official. The Premier League has lost all sense of monetary value when it comes to transfers. With the new £5.1bn ($8.9bn) TV deal coming into effect, clubs pockets were apparently too full as 13 of the league's 20 sides broke their transfer record this summer. Thirteen! All this crazy club spending put the total spent by PL clubs well past the £1bn threshold, surpassing the previous summer transfer window record of £870 million that was spent across the league last year.
2. Hull City does understand how a transfer window works
With only 14 fit players available for selection and the club apparently scared of the transfer market, it took until two days before the deadline for Hull City to wake up and get to business. With some pundits before the season labelling this Hull City team the worst in PL history, Hull’s quick start (two wins in the first three games) and its addition of six new faces to the squad will bring hope to supporters of avoiding relegation in the spring. The signing of Ryan Mason, for a club-record fee from Tottenham, shows the club is intent on fighting for its PL spot.
3. The Manchester clubs mean business
While there were plenty of deadline day drama, both Manchester clubs were left to remove surplus players from their squads. With José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola looking to stamp their style on their new clubs early, neither Manchester United nor Manchester City left it to the deadline to get the players that they wanted. With Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Leroy Sané, İlkay Gündoğan, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Claudio Bravo and Eric Bailly among the names to move into Manchester this summer, the signs are ominous for the rest of the league that these two sides are willing to spend whatever is required to win the PL title.
4. Chelsea were really, really desperate to sign any available defender
All summer long Chelsea were seemingly linked with every defender that had ever stepped onto a football pitch. For all their reported efforts to sign Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly and Alessio Romagnoli of Milan, they failed to pry either player free. However the deadline day proved a little more fruitful. Firstly they were able to grab former Bolton defender Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina and then shocked pretty much everyone by resigning David Luiz from Paris Saint-Germain for £34m. Luiz left the club for France two years ago for a then record fee of £50m, but with Chelsea so desperate for more defenders they were willing to take the sometimes-erratic defender back.
5. English players don’t get preferential treatment
The point is clearly made by Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere, the national team goalkeeper and the prodigious talent that was supposed to lead the English midfield back to relevance. Their clubs loaned them out before the deadline and they are now forced to show their worth at other clubs. Hart, removed from the starting XI at Manchester City by Guardiola, was keen to play first team football and he will find that this season at Torino (in Italy if you were wondering). Wilshere gets to stay in Britain as has been loaned to Bournemouth for the season, with injuries causing him to slip down the pecking order at Arsenal. It will be interesting to see how both will fare at their new clubs and if they can convince their managers before the 2017/2018 season that they are worth having back.