What you missed this summer

If you’ve been in a football vacuum (the moon, maybe, or North America) since Euro 2008 ended, you may have missed out on what happened - and didn’t happen - among the Barclays Premier League clubs this summer…

Non-transfer sagas

Never has so much been written about so little. Despite the rumours, hype and devious attempts by agents and clubs, there was about as much movement as you’d get from a geriatric tortoise standing in half-set concrete. Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard, Dimitar Berbatov, Didier Drogba, Roque Santa Cruz (right) and Emmanuel Adebayor all went… nowhere. So far, anyway.

Busy Blackburn

Mark Hughes decided it’d be a good idea to go and spend some of Thakshin Shinawatra’s millions down the road at Manchester City, and the Ewood Park managerial vacancy was filled by Paul Ince in June, Ince departing MK Dons (who replaced him with Roberto Di Matteo, the former Chelsea midfield player). Ince made headlines by becoming the first black Premier League manager and soon had to deal with two transfer setbacks: the departures of his star midfield player and goalkeeper.

Keeping track

It was a goalie-go-round, as several prominent ‘keepers switched clubs, with the moves made by Paul Robinson and Scott Carson, and the fees paid, showing just how quickly their stock has fallen…

Paul Robinson from Spurs to Blackburn Rovers (£3.5 million)

Brad Friedel from Blackburn to Aston Villa (undisclosed)

Mark Schwarzer from Middlesbrough to Fulham (free)

Scott Carson from Liverpool to West Bromwich Albion (£3.25 million)

The biggest deals

Despite the lack of action detailed above, there were still a few big, and in some cases surprising, moves:

Robbie Keane (left) from Spurs to Liverpool (£20 million)

David Bentley from Blackburn to Spurs (£15 million)

Peter Crouch from Liverpool to Portsmouth (£11 million)

Jo from CSKA Moscow to Manchester City (£19 million)

Samir Nasri from Marseilles to Arsenal (£11 million)

Johan Elmander from Toulouse to Bolton £11 million)

Yes, that was not a mistype: Bolton really did spend £11 million on one player.

Sir Alex Ferguson and Cristiano Ronaldo’s long-distance relationship

Ronaldo was pictured sunning himself on various beaches during the summer, but strangely, not snapped enjoying the company of his dear manager. Adamant that his superstar would not be granted his wish to join Real Madrid. Ferguson did in fact made a secret trip to Lisbon to talk to the player. It would have been fun to be a fly on the wall for that one.

Stamford Bridge shenanigans

Luiz Felipe Scolari added to the Portuguese contingent by buying Deco as well as Jose Bosingwa, a deal struck before Euro 2008. He sold bench-fodder Tal Ben Haim and Steve Sidwell. And no more will we enjoy commentators gushing with admiration as Claude Makelele makes an easy tackle and sprays a majestic sideways five-yard pass, since he’s joined Paris Saint-Germain.

Comments

[ioan]

John Barnes was black and British.

[Jonno]

Scolari wasn't to do with the Bosingwa signing: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/chelsea/article4302101.ece

Gullit was, and still remains a black manager.

Finally, what constitutes an 'easy tackle'? I'm not familiar with the phrase.
If you don't rate Makelele in 'The Makelele Position', you must be frustrated with the protection your own team's defence gets. I certainly am now he's gone.

[united for life]

wasn't rudd gullit the 1st black manager in the prem?

Ince is the 1st british black manager in the premier league however

[Oliver]

Good article buti would like to point out a mistake you made in your paragraph about Blackburn Rovers.

Jean Tigana was the first black Premier League manager when he was with Fulham.