The Transfer Window Trophy

Mourinho was right, there is a campaign against Chelsea. I mean, they won the 2014 summer transfer window and they still haven’t been presented with the trophy for it!

Some may take that as being flippant or even facetious, but that’s what the transfer window has become to some fans – a trophy in itself; something to brag about or goad rival supporters over. “We’ve signed this guy and you’ve only got him”, “we’ve got a £50m star name and you haven’t bought anyone over £10m”.

For me, it’s about the right player, the most suitable player, the guy that can deliver what we need in that particular position or role within the squad, irrespective of cost. We certainly shouldn’t get drawn in by any hype. Anyone dreaming of spending 30 – 40 million pounds on Higuain needs a reality check. Just look at Balotelli last summer, a player with plenty of talent and even bigger hype, but a player that flatters to deceive and was clearly not suited to our style of play. Fortunately, at £16m, he wasn’t too much of an expensive mistake as I’m sure there’s another manager out there who thinks he will be the one to unlock Balotelli’s enigmatic talent.

As much as I’d like to see us sign Alexandre Lacazette this summer, he’ll likely be priced out of our reach. We’ve been heavily linked to Berahino and Danny Ings, much to the disgust of many supporters, but many of the people on social media unhappy at the prospect of Berahino or Ings are the same ones who were orgasmic over the signing of Balotelli. That’s the danger of being drawn in by hype, rather than objectively looking at the suitability of a player, to what our needs are and how we play.

Speaking to a Burnley fan who has seen Danny Ings play on a regular basis, he talks of his pace, work rate, team ethic, finishing ability and something that is perhaps not give enough focus – a strong and positive mentality. Although he also says his technique needs work, which is something that can be improved upon, whereas mentality is much more difficult.

So, surely the attributes of a player are more important than name value or whatever his FIFA15 stats are? Hopefully fans and, more importantly, our transfer committee can bear this in mind come the summer transfer window so we can sign the players that suit our needs, rather than a Lavezzi.