Premier League transfer window: Chelsea and Manchester United catch the eye

It's a shame that football matches have to get in the way until January when the real sport everyone seems to love swings back into action. How will we cope without transfers for the next few months?

This obsession isn't quite a new phenomenon - my parents' telephone bills from back in the day to ClubCall and Teamtalk were testament to the fact there was always some interest in the rumour mill – but it has got ridiculous.

I'll be shouting "here we go" when the Premier League returns rather than when news breaks of some mid-rank Bolivian possibly signing for Watford, but each to their own and this international breather at least gives us a decent opportunity to see who won or lost in the transfer window.

Winners

Chelsea

According to transfermarkt.com, Chelsea made a profit this summer despite strengthening their starting 11 significantly with the arrival of Romelu Lukaku.

Chelsea had one area of weakness in the team and Lukaku is such a significant upgrade on the other striking options, while adding Saul Niguez to the midfield squad options on loan from Atletico Madrid makes them comfortably the closest challengers to Manchester City.

Man Utd

The hype surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo is at fever pitch but it could be argued he is the least important of the three major signings given the potential of Jadon Sancho and world-class qualities of Raphael Varane.

The lack of fuss surrounding Varane's arrival is quite bizarre but the multiple Champions League winner - not to mention World Cup champion - is in a different league from replacement Victor Lindelof.

Had United signed a midfield anchor maybe they would have won the transfer window.

Crystal Palace

Palace needed fresh blood and the arrival of Marc Guehi, Joachim Andersen, Odsonne Edouard, Michael Olise, Will Hughes and Conor Gallagher has given Patrick Vieira some decent tools to work with.

Guehi, Olise and Hughes were three of the best players in last season's Championship, Edouard is better than Palace had up front and Gallagher and Andersen showed plenty last term despite their Premier League relegations.

Losers

Newcastle

Only Joe Willock has arrived as a first-team player and he was already on loan at the club last season.

Given the ownership issues the lack of ambition is not much of a surprise but in standing still Newcastle could well go backwards. They were in the bottom five on expected goals last season while this season's Premier League looks stronger in depth.

Wolves

Results have been harsh on pointless Wolves and their new manager Bruno Lage, who seems to have brought a fresh approach and a more progressive style of play since replacing Nuno.

They have also kept Ruben Neves and Adama Traore, but Lage has not been able to rebuild the team significantly and new keeper Jose Sa has already been responsible for defeats to Tottenham and Manchester United.

Liverpool

This may be a little harsh as the Reds are playing by different rules to sugar daddy ownership at City and Chelsea and Liverpool's patient approach has paid dividends in the past.

Maybe they are waiting again for their transfer targets but the lack of investment makes life much tougher for Jurgen Klopp. They missed a bit of midfield creativity against ten-man Chelsea and getting a better version of Divock Origi is long overdue.

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