Sep
29
2007
Grading Summer 2007’s 20 Most Expensive Transfers
Some might think it would be hasty to make such an assessment so early into the season (after all, European leagues have only begun for a month or two) but it is interesting nonetheless to have a preliminary look at how some of this Summer’s signings are performing. Indeed, some managers (such as Sir Alex Ferguson, who isn’t entirely happy about how Anderson has coped with the club’s expectations at Man Utd) are bound to get restless if their new players don’t start delivering soon.
So from Gazzetta dello Sport, I’ve made a table list of the 20 most expensive transfers of the Summer break, along with a letter grade for their performance so far. What are your thoughts?
You can find my original article on the mCalcio blog here by the way.
All player costs are in Euros. To convert into Pounds, multiply by 0.7 to get a rough estimate (divide by 10 and multiply by 7, or whatever mental arithmetic suits your fancy).
| 1 | Fernando Torres | Atl. Madrid to Liverpool | €39.0m |
 El Niño’s first encounter with the English Premiership so far has been excellent: 3 goals in the EPL, and a hat–trick in the Carling Cup. Benitez has a lot to be smiling about.A |
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| 2 | Arjen Robben | Chelsea to Real Madrid | €36.0m |
 His debut with the Blancos was only a few days ago, the Dutchman now needs to find his place in a Real Madrid team that already seems to be up and running. No grade |
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| 3 | Pepe | FC Porto to Real Madrid | €30.0m |
 He didn’t do too badly in the pre–season matches, but his performance in the Spanish Super Cup game vs. Sevilla was a disaster. He’s been sitting on the bench ever since. C– |
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| 4 | Wesley Sneijder | Ajax to Real Madrid | €27.0m |
 The Dutch midfielder isn’t exactly a revelation, but no one thought he’d be scoring in almost every game and that he could take free–kicks better than Beckham. A+ |
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| 5 | Anderson | FC Porto to Man Utd | €25.0m |
 Still a mystery. After his work permit problems, he hasn’t gotten much playing time with the Red Devils but when he did, played very poorly. F |
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| 5 | Franck Ribéry | Marseille to Bayern | €25.0m |
 The Bundesliga hasn’t had a player this good in years: he’s become the indispensible dynamo of the Bayern team, forming an absolutely lethal trio with Klose and Toni. A+ |
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| 5 | Owen Hargreaves | Bayern to Man Utd | €25.0m |
 The England international is still struggling with a few injury problems, but has done good in the few matches he’s played so far. Ferguson trusts him, so we’ll have the chance to see more of him in the future. No grade |
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| 5 | Simão Sabrosa | Benfica to Atl. Madrid) | €25.0m |
 So and so. He’s been outstanding in some matches, disappointing in others. But inconsistency is a problem the whole Atletico Madrid team seems to be having at the moment. B– |
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| 9 | Darren Bent | Charlton to Tottenham | €24.7m |
 He’s been struggling with injury problems since the end of last season. However, considering that the club already has Berbatov, Keane and Defoe, the Spurs may have spent a little too much to buy the English striker. No grade |
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| 10 | Thierry Henry | Arsenal to Barcelona | €24.0m |
 Eto’o’s injury promoted the Frenchman to a fixed starter spot, but while Henry showed bits of what made him a great player at Arsenal, he still needs to fit into his new team. For a player of his standards, his debut has been fairly poor. B– |
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| 11 | Alexandre Pato | Inter. P.Alegre to Milan | €22.0m |
 We really won’t know how good he is until January, when he’ll be eligible to play with his new team. So far, a friendly match against Kiev and a nice goal. No grade |
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| 12 | Nani | Sport. Lisbon to Man Utd | €21.0m |
 He’s got the same vices as Cristiano Ronaldo: excessive feinting and too much love for spectacle. But the kid’s got one hell of a personality, and when his stuff works everyone’s on their feet. A |
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| 12 | Diego Forlán | Villareal to Atl. Madrid | €21.0m |
 Two goals in the Spanish Liga sor far. His partnership with Sergio Aguëro needs improvement, but it’s a good start. B+ |
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| 14 | Florent Malouda | Lyon to Chelsea | €21.0m |
 Having just lost José Mourinho, things are very delicate at Chelsea at the moment. However, the Frenchman has played very well with the Blues so far. A |
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| 15 | Gabriel Milito | Zaragoza to Barcelona | €20.0m |
 Barça bought him for a transfer fee that Juventus couldn’t afford. So far, despite a few occasional fu**–ups, the Argentine’s been doing fairly well. B+ |
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| 16 | Carlos Tévez | West Ham to Man Utd | €18.0m |
 The exact transfer fee is still unknown (unfinished business), but so far the Argentine has shown a lot of heart. His first tally for Red Devils was the all important match–winning goal vs. Chelsea. B+ |
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| 16 | Manuel Fernandes | Benfica to Valencia | €18.0m |
 He hasn’t had the chance to show his full potential yet, because the competition at Los Che is fierce. But the talent’s there, only time will tell. No grade |
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| 18 | Ryan Babel | Ajax to Liverpool | €17.2m |
 In the few games that Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has given him, the Dutch youngster has alredy shown bits of pure class. Ambitious, he can bring the Reds undeniable quality in the offensive zone. A |
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| 19 | Aiyegbeni Yakubu | M’boro to Everton | €16.5m |
 He still needs to work out his teamwork with Andy Johnson, but in the meantime he opened up his goalcount in the Premiership and in the Cup. B |
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| 20 | Kader Keita | Lille to Lyon | €16.0m |
 His was the most expensive ingoing transfer in Lyon’s history, and so far the Ivorian striker still has to repay the confidence put in him. He’s on the right track though. B |
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Do you think Marco is right, or do you think he’s an idiot? 
Let us know in the comments.
Marco Pantanella writes on the mCalcio blog.
Well it all seems fairly well thought out, I agree with most of it. Although since Fernandes and Anderson have had the same length if playing time its a bit unfair to give Fernandes ‘No Grade’ but Anderson an F. And I would have given Malouda a B+ at best:) Oh yeah and i would have given Keita a C, he’s big and strong and fast enough, but he seems like a bad finisher and definitely isn’t their first choice striker. But definitely agree with Ribery and Sneijder, so far, well worth the money.
Very well done article but there is 2 twelves and 2 sixteens
You put both Nani and Babel at A but i would knock em down to both b’s. they have both shown great class but are still losing the ball and looking uncomfortable with the constant closing down.
and there is 4 fives
if you put the likes of hargreaves and robben at “no grade: then why the fukk would anderson be an F if he’s had less playing time than each of them
Torres should def be an A+. You say sneijders isnt a revelation (but give him an A+) when he has been THE revelation so far. Babel should be a B, Nani a B+ (more assists)
to those idiots who seem to be flabbergasted as to why there are 4 fives and 2 twelves: look at the transfer fees you dimwits
just realised thats its the same dimwit who cant figure it out - no surpris then that he supports pool
But its not a table its counting separte player reports if you report on each indivudual then you have to count it in numbers otherwise the premiership would be cut down to 15 teams duh
Are you grading the signings or the players? For example, the Darren Bent SIGNING for me is a C at BEST, but his form itself is probably a B-.
Tévez I think is worth a B - he has worked hard, but so have other players; offensively he has not offered too much, although it has been difficult considering the formation. Still, nothing spectacular and therefore nothing nearing an A.
Agree with Liverpool fan about Babel - he hasn’t played enough to warrant an A. B+ for me.
As I told you on email, Anderson’s performance midweek in the Carling Cup exonerates him from that 45 minute showing that you’ve criticised. You also probably haven’t read this, which would explain that Fergie has only praised Anderson, and reports of SAF criticising Anderson are entirely fabricated.
@ Liverpool Fan
read your previous post and that wasnt what you said
Shaheen no need to overreact mate, I support United as well like but theres no need to get so angry over nothing, I think your just trying to show your support for United, but like, take it easy mate. And Robbens had less playing time than Anderson.
@ Conor:
No Im not JUST showing my suppoort for Utd (didnt I say torres should be an A+??)- I just hate it when people make seemingly silly calls:
how do you give anderson an F and then say bent is “no grade”??
its just stupid
even though ive been fairly harsh on the author - i think the idea behind the article is a good one
For me; thus far, sneijder and torres have been the best transfers
Jury still out on most and its too early to make any definite conclusions esp when a guy like anderson has hardly played
No i didn’t mean you were being biased towards United, I meant since you were making alot out of nothing about one of United’s players that was your way of showing support, but there are other ways of doing so.
Conor, Shaheen and everyone else: The Anderson F grade is because whenever he played this season (yes, he didn’t play much, I’ve acknowledged that already) it’s been a poor performance. I’m not an expert of the Portuguese league, but from what I gather his performance with Porto last year was much much better than what he did with Red Devils so far.
Ahmed, I’ll be honest: I haven’t seen his performance this week in the Carling Cup, and if you tell me he was one of the best for Utd I can only believe you. I can also tell you however, that Sir Alex is far from sharing your opinion.
Liverpool_Fan: Yes the ranking is for the transfer fee. Anderson, Ribery, Hargreaves, Simão are all 5th because they all cost €25.0m. Same for the others with different fees.
Hugo: I’m not grading the signing (i.e. how much of a bargain he was), I’m grading the player’s performance. That is, how good has he been playing with his new club so far.
Oh and Shaheen, by saying that Sneijder isn’t a revelation I meant that it’s not like the world discovered him last month or anything, he’s been doing extremely well at Ajax and the Dutch national team for the past 2-3 years now. It’s just that now that he’s at Real Madrid he’s in a much bigger spotlight.
Marco, THAT is why I asked you to look at the article I linked to.
Here it is again
Basically, Daniel Taylor (the guy who wrote that Guardian piece) made the whole thing up. Ferguson gave an interview saying that Anderson was one of the two best United players on the pitch (along with Pique) for that game. Both articles were published the same day, but as you’ll see in the Guardian piece, Daniel Taylor has NO quotes. If you read clearly, he says that Ferguson ‘must’ be angry, when there are direct quotes from Ferguson saying otherwise.
This is exactly why irresponsible journalism pisses me off.
Decent article. Loving the fact that Porto managed to get 30m euros!!!! for Pepe
Marco
Then why have you not graded a guy like hargreaves who has played MUCH more than anderson has???
Ooops
Sorry Ahmed, that completely flew over my head (haven’t had much sleep lately). I saw that you gave a link, but then forgot to read & include my response to it. This is all the more embarassing because I mentioned Ferguson’s complaints in my opening paragraph. 
Ok, so we’ve established that Anderson played well in the Cup, and that Ferguson was happy with his performance. Based on the comments from the article you linked though, you yourself do not exclude the possibility that Fergie is frustrated with how the youngster has coped with his expectations. Maybe my “F” grade was harsh but up until the Carling Cup match, for someone that Utd paid €28m to buy, Anderson still has to earn his paycheck. I think we’ll all agree on that one.
No we dont marco u definately havent watched much of united and anderson and hargreves and nani
nani has shown much promise yes ability to hold on is under critisism so he gets B or if u insist A-
Hargo has been amazing in all the games he has played clean tackels holding the ball clean and smooth run ups he definately get A+
Anderson on the other hand has played really less
Secondly both anderson and nani were purchased 1 year in advance due to high rate of interest in them from foreign clubs
And considering the couple of minutes he has played for us he has been looking good in fighting for the ball is first five minutes on OT were delightfull to see
Justa toddler left on the park to run behind the glowing candy filled ballon
So considering all that it was better u could have eased out by Not Grading him or atleast B- or something like that
And yes repeat with me five times Daniel Taylor is an asshat Daniel Taylor is an asshat Daniel Taylor is an asshat Daniel Taylor is an asshat
Torres should have A++++++… Ferguson should have bought him instead of TEVES…
dude. sir alex tried. bloody torres wanted to try one more season with a madrid b4 fergie got pissed off.
anderson, nani = abt 8 and 7 m respectively for initial fees.
only full fee payable if they succeed. so i guess we can dispense with anderson. but they are still overpaid purchases
best buy has to be ribery. what a talent. but the wrong club sadly simply because the bundesliga is not as competitive as the other 3 major leagues.
Nani, “A”. Are you sure you didn’t mean Nani, “eh?” ??
Ok, it seems that a lot of you have issues with the grades I’ve given to the Man Utd players specifically. Before I respond, allow me to state that these are only my opinions.
They’re not Gospel and you are all, by all means, entitled to disagree.
Ok so regarding Anderson: why an F when he’s played so little. Because like I said, the times he played, he played badly. For someone that the club paid €25m to get, I expected him to shine a lot sooner, and for not he’s now shown a return of investement. Remember like I said, opinions not facts, and the season’s still very long, this is a preliminary grading.
Hargreaves hasn’t played a lot, but has played well. I could have given him a B+, but preferred to see and wait how he’ll do in the long run. Compared to Anderson, he hasn’t sucked for a €25m price-tag which is why I’m willing to give him more time.
Concerning Nani, I maintain my vote. He’s got great talent, and in the Man Utd pre-season matches I followed he’s always played outstanding.
Tevez: in my opinion, the Chelsea goal (a very important one) boosted him up to a B+. If I had to grade him before the Chelsea match, he’d still get at least a B.
Sorry, in that second paragraph I meant “and for noW he’s noT shown”…
well anderson has played less than hargreves anyways now that u’ve yourself downgraded your opinions and admitted they are only your opinions and not GOSPEL we’ll call it a day on this topic
PS Anderson Looks and plays awesome in FIFA 08 better than hargeves but then i real its quite the opposite
Cheers bye
Indianpunk
It’s just rediculous giving Babel an A - you cannot have watched him play. There is so much lacking in his game. He has pace and a good inwards dribble from the right and a good right foot - but that’s it. His pace ensures, he often doesn’t get the ball with him, and his inwards dribble from the right makes him an easy read.
He surely hasn’t shown that much, and I have serious doubts about his talent, because his faults are exactly the same that I’ve seen from him in the last 2-3 years (and I have watched him on several occasions).
anderson should be a U because he is the worst player i have every seen. He could get into a blue square premire side never mind Manu
It was at least funny. You were in a hurry . Henry B Anderson F . Maybe it should have been Anderson B - Henry F.
Now that’s what we call biased judgement.