Grading Transfer Deadline Day Cont. — Lots of Loans!
Some of the biggest deals of the summer transfer window’s final hours!
Carlos Soler (Valencia → PSG)
€20m — A-
Similar to the acquisition of Fabián Ruiz, PSG is carefully reinvesting into their midfield. Rather than playing with a passive center-field, the Parisians are finally adapting to the style of offense that people have been waiting for them to play with their illustrious attacking trio. While Carlos Soler is not as active as Ruiz, he is as precise when it comes to his distribution, as illustrated by his 1.76 key passes per 90 minutes. He is a true attacking-midfielder that can relieve some of Ruiz’s box-to-box workload, and should fit nicely into a side with enormous aspirations.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Barcelona → Chelsea)
€11.5m + Marcos Alonso — B
Nobody thought Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would be returning to England, much less London, this soon after declaring joining Barcelona to be a dream come true, but here we are. Aubameyang is exactly what pundits say Chelsea needs: a clinical finisher. Chelsea falls in the middle of the Premier League table when it comes to getting shots off per 90 minutes, so Aubameyang’s 3.18 per 90 should be critical. It’ll be interesting to see how Thomas Tuchel implements the striker into his system though, as the Blues’ are incredibly offensively conservative and often overlook through-balls for a steady build-up. Losing Marcos Alonso shouldn’t be of much concern as well, as Chelsea’s depth chart was overflowing with full-backs before this transfer.
Martin Dubravka (Newcastle → Manchester United)
Loan Fee of €2m + Potential Obligation to Buy — B+
Manchester United seem to be steering the ship back towards course, but if a shipwreck seems imminent then Martin Dubravka is a justifiable replacement to Red Devil legend David De Gea. Erik ten Hag has placed an emphasis on wanting to build their structure from their back, but De Gea is much more focused on just stopping shots. In contrast, Dubravka’s ability to distribute the ball at varying lengths is evident, as depicted by the fact that he launched 92.8% of his goal-kicks beyond 40 yards last season, dwarfing De Gea’s 51.2%. Dubravka’s approach to goalkeeping is quite the polar opposite to De Gea’s, so if United ever wants a fresh alternative to the Spaniard, Dubravka will do.
Willian (Corinthians → Fulham)
Free — D+
Fulham currently sit at 8th in the Premier League and are actively overachieving. Thus, I find it incredibly puzzling that they would recruit Willian, especially in the potent offense that they have been implementing. Willian has become particularly weak at finishing, so he would mostly be deployed on the flanks in order to create for the relentless Aleksandar Mitrović, but he is even less proficient at playmaking than scoring. Willian is stereotypically Brazilian when it comes to the ball being at his feet, opting to dribble and swerve around, rather than crossing the ball. I don’t see how he will fit in Fulham’s squad even with their lack of winger-depth.
Idrissa Gueye (PSG → Everton)
€27m — A-
For lack of better words, Everton’s defense is terrible. No one in their squad averages more than 3 tackles per game, aside from Nathan Patterson. The fact that they rank third in the Premier League this season for total tackles is misleading as well, as they have the second-lowest tackle completion rate in the league versus players in possession of the ball. This means they get out-paced a lot. It also means that they do not put enough pressure on to the attacking-third of the field, an area of the pitch where Gueye thrives, ranking in the 92nd percentile in the past year for all midfielders in the top 5 leagues at tackles in the aforementioned area. Gueye’s aggression should be beneficial to the Toffees.
Hector Bellerín (Arsenal → Barcelona)
Free — B
Hector Bellerín serves as the successor to Sergiño Dest’s departure, which I’ll get to later, and it is a pretty on-par replacement. Bellerín fits Barça’s style of possession-based football that is executed through the means of cautious short passes. Even though Bellerín often preemptively pushes into offside positions, he has proven to be a more effective contributor to both offense and defense than Dest. Bellerín’s eagerness to dispossess dribblers led him to out-tackle Dest, regarding their matchups, by 12, in addition to out-matching Dest’s goal-creating actions per-90 minutes last season as well. In relation to the loss of Dest, Bellerín is a solid signing.
Sergiño Dest (Barcelona → AC Milan)
Loan — B
Sergiño Dest is a great complement to the parallel-flanking Theo Hernandez, as both are offensive forces when playing through the wing. Milan’s exterior defending may struggle, as Dest presses extremely high and is often caught out of position because of it, but his pace partly compensates for these shortcomings, as he manages to tackle 66.7% of dribblers attempting to get past him (in the past year). Dest’s playmaking is of considerable concern though, as he ranks in the 96th percentile for passes intercepted, which is certainly worrying regarding how ball-dominant he is. This will surely be a period of growth for the young American who is hoping to receive a considerable role within the nation’s World Cup squad.
Arthur (Juventus → Liverpool)
Loan Fee of €4.5m + Option to Buy for €37.5m — B-
Hypothetically, Arthur aligns with Liverpool’s school of thought, this being a reliance on progressive passing and dictating the tempo of matches, but Arthur has had such a fall from grace that it is not a given. Arthur racks up every single passing stat you could imagine to an elite degree, but it mostly never comes to fruition in the form of actual goal involvements or scoring opportunities, something that the Liverpool midfield desperately needs with players like James Milner and Fabinho being depended on for creation. Arthur is a far cry from the glory days of Georginio Wijnaldum and a thriving Jordan Henderson, but a one-year test-run can’t dilute Liverpool’s midfield more than it already has been.
