Closing the window

After two months of intense wheeling and dealing, the transfer window has been bolted shut, meaning that European clubs cannot bring in any more contracted players until 2008. Only those players currently without a deal are authorised to sign with new clubs.

As is often the case, the last few hours of the summer transfer window were the busiest, with clubs looking to fine-tune their squads or pick up some extra cover for injured or transferred players. While none of the game's biggest names changed clubs in the past few weeks, some of the top teams have still been very active.

A case in point was Real Madrid, who finalised their squad just hours before the Spanish championship got underway. A third Dutchman flew in to keep Royston Drenthe and Wesley Sneijder company, namely former Chelsea winger Arjen Robben, along with another former Premiership star in the shape of Argentinian defender Gabriel Heinze from Manchester United. Madrid may not have grabbed the headlines with their new recruits, but new manager Bernd Schuster has certainly put together a squad capable of challenging for honours.

Their city rivals Atletico also sneaked a player in at the last minute, picking up Brazilian midfielder Thiago Motta from Barcelona, while Peter Luccin left the club to join Real Zaragoza. Spanish international Asier Del Horno, who was struggling to fit in at Valencia, went on loan to Athletic Bilbao in his native Basque area, while the Che chose to strengthen their midfield by picking up Portugal's Manuel Fernandes from Everton.

Belletti rather than Daniel Alves
Throughout the summer the English Premier League had been the most active in the transfer market, and this was again the case as the window closed. Chelsea were determined to sign a right-back, with the club's number one choice being Sevilla's Daniel Alves. The UEFA Cup winners were not going to give up their star player without a fight, however, so Jose Mourinho was forced to pick up another Brazilian, namely Juliano Belletti from Barcelona. This spelt the end of Glen Johnson's time at Stamford Bridge, with the full-back being shipped out to Portsmouth, while French holding midfielder Claude Makelele signed a contract extension which will keep him at Chelsea through to 2009.

England international Kieron Dyer suffered a broken leg mere days after signing for West Ham United from Newcastle United, while in other news from the north-east of England, 35-year-old striker Andy Cole moved to Sunderland, joining former Manchester United team-mate Roy Keane, now the manager of the Black Cats. Danish international Thomas Gravesen has also returned to Everton, this time on a season-long loan from Scottish league and cup holders Celtic.

The French Ligue 1 also had a few surprises in store. While Sylvain Wiltord's transfer from Lyon to Rennes was a protracted affair, there were other less expected moves, such as Brazilian left-sided midfielder Nene joining Monaco from Celta Vigo, Patrick Kluivert signing for Lille, and Brazil international Emerson joining Wiltord at Rennes from Al-Sadd. Kluivert and Wiltord certainly have reputations to live up and the French media spotlight is sure to follow them around all season.

Another famous centre-forward has taken over the managerial reins at Lens. Jean-Pierre Papin replaced Guy Roux, whose on-off retirement is now very much back on for good, and it will be interesting to see how JPP fares in his first coaching job.

Six-time French champions Lyon have been hard hit by injuries to regulars such as Gregory Coupet and Cris, but the transfer window enabled them to acquire some much-needed cover in the form of Brazilian defender Cleber Anderson from Benfica and reserve goalkeeper Frederic Roux. Alain Perrin was also on the trail of gifted young Corinthians striker Willian Borges, who in the end chose Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk.

Emerson in red and black
Another Brazilian did decide to come to France, with Internacional right-wingback Ceara joining Paris Saint-Germain on a three-year contract after impressing at the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup, where he kept Ronaldinho on a tight leash.

In Italy, it was quality rather than quantity on the transfer front. Another Brazilian right-back, Cicinho, joined Roma from Real Madrid, with the Spanish champions also saying adios to 31-year-old defensive midfielder Emerson, who joined UEFA Champions League winners AC Milan.

Napoli celebrated their return to the top flight by picking up two players from Juventus, with Manuele Blasi and Marcelo Zalayeta signing for four and five years respectively.

The Bundesliga was also quiet towards the end of the window. Nigerian forward Victor Agali moved back to Hansa Rostock, while Dimitri Bulykin moved from Dinamo Moscow to Bayer Leverkusen. Christian Schulz joined Hanover from Werder Bremen, who themselves picked up youth international Sebastian Boenisch. Brazilian striker Grafite also left French outfit Le Mans to join Wolfsburg.

Argentinian goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo joined Lazio but was immediately sent back on a six-month loan to his former club River Plate. River's Buenos Aires rivals Boca Juniors picked up Uruguayan attacker Carlos Bueno from PSG, but the biggest headlines were made by Denilson, formerly the world's most expensive footballer, who joined Dallas. What with David Beckham's move to LA Galaxy, the MLS is certainly not lacking in ambition.

With the window now firmly closed, coaches will now have to hope that the new faces will gel alongside the old ones, otherwise it will be a long wait until the transfer market opens again on 1 January 2008.

(FIFA.com) Saturday 1 September 2007

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