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⚽️ Agents Dish the Dirt on Worst Transfers of the Recent Window

+ Manchester United Are a Very Expensive Shrug of a Team

Author

Philip Keidel
September 14, 2023

Good morning. The relief here at Crossing the Pond HQ is palpable, as this is the last newsletter of this way too long international break before we can talk about the return of the Prem on Saturday. Fortunately there are a couple of juicy stories to sort out, and some other nuggets as well.

In the email today:

  1. 💶 Agents Ranked the Worst Signings of the Last Transfer Window

  2. 💷 Manchester United Tops List of Most Expensive Squads

  3. ❌ Tweet of the Day: Brighton Tacitly Enlists Taylor Swift Fans to Vote for Goal of the Month

  4.  🗳️ Poll: Which Match Can You Not Wait to See This Weekend?

  5. 🔗 Links

1) 💰️ Agents Call Out Worst Signings of Most Recent Transfer Period

It has to be tough to wake up and read this if you’re Havertz.

Imagine you left a good job for a better one and instead of everyone congratulating you, experts in your industry say that your new employer made a big mistake in taking you on. That’s more or less what happened with the recent poll of agents following the close of this most recent transfer window.

  • Agents voted on the worst Premier League transfers of the summer, with 6 of them selecting Kai Havertz's move to Arsenal as the top choice, citing concerns about his quality and confidence.

  • Moises Caicedo's transfer to Chelsea from Brighton was voted as the second-worst, with agents believing the Blues overspent and worrying about the unstable environment at Chelsea.

  • Mason Mount's move from Chelsea to Manchester United ranked third among the worst transfers, with agents questioning the need for a £60 million expenditure on Mount, a player who may not fit Erik ten Hag’s scheme.

  • Agents also questioned Chelsea's move for Cole Palmer from Manchester City and Liverpool's signing of Japanese midfielder Wataru Endo.

  • Chelsea was voted to have had the worst transfer window, described as 'scattergun' by agents.

Our take: We have two thoughts:

  1. Since these agents gave their opinions anonymously, there is a non-zero chance that some of these agents actually negotiated deals that they now say were bad for the clubs. That’s some major chutzpah.

  2. It’s not a little too soon to be deeming these transfers bad business — it’s a lot too soon. We have seen too many examples of players taking a season or more to bed in at a new club. And there’s not going to be a look back on this poll if Havertz for example scores 20 goals for Arsenal next season.

2) 💷 It Cost Manchester United a Lot of Money to Be This Mediocre

Restaurant critics love to twist the knife in reviews, saying things like “this expensive food is terrible, but at least the portions are really small.” Manchester United’s roster construction is thus a two-star restaurant where you have to take a second mortgage out to be able to afford eating there.

  • The CIES Football Observatory in Switzerland has compiled a list of the top 100 most expensive first-team squads in world football for the 2023-24 season.

  • Four clubs have surpassed the €1 billion mark in assembling their squads.

  • Manchester United has the most expensive squad, with a total spending of €1.15 billion for the 2023-24 season.

  • United's squad includes notable signings such as Antony, Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho, Rasmus Hojlund, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Mason Mount, Anthony Martial, Lisandro Martínez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and André Onana, all costing over €50 million.

  • Manchester United also leads in CIES' ranking of clubs with the largest negative transfer spends over the past decade, indicating they have lost more money on player signings and sales than any other club.

Our take: That rundown of the €50 million-plus players in the United squad really is a murderers’ row ranging from “eh, he’s pretty good” to “he’s not that good” to “they spent how much on that guy?”

3) ❌ Tweet of the Day: Brighton & Hove Albion Try to Tap Into Swifties’ Power

Very clever and very shameless work from the Seagulls.

When do the games start again?

4) : 🗳️ Poll: Which EPL Match Are You Most Excited to Watch This Weekend?

Choose the match you're most up for this weekend:

Choose one:

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Have additional thoughts? Reply directly to this email to comment, and see if we include your response tomorrow.

5) 🔗 Link Roundup:

The newsletter today was written by Phil Keidel. Follow Phil on X @philkeidel.

Thanks for reading!