Friday 2 September 2016 09:02, UK
As the summer transfer window officially shuts, Paul Merson runs the rule over which sides did the best business.
With pressure on managers and owners following the biggest summer spree in Premier League history, the Magic Man tells us who he thinks topped the class in the market, and who missed the target.
Will Jose Mourinho's additions lead him to another title? Did Arsenal get the right striker? Did Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte play their cards right? See below...
Major ins: Granit Xhaka - Borussia Monchengladbach, £34m, Rob Holding - Bolton, £2m, Lucas Perez - Deportivo, £17.1m, Shkodran Mustafi - Valencia, £35m
Major outs: Serge Gnabry - Werder Bremen, undisclosed, Joel Campbell - Sporting Lisbon, loan, Calum Chambers - Middlesbrough, loan
They could have done their deals a little bit earlier, but they're not bad. Shkodran Mustafi is a good player, and Granit Xhaka from Gladbach looks a decent midfielder too.
There was a bit of panic towards the end but I'll give them a B+ because they did one thing they needed to and that's sign a centre-half. They would have got an A if they had signed a top forward because I'm not sure about Lucas Perez. He's been in Spain and their national team have been looking for a centre forward for a long time and he hasn't played.
Major ins: Jordon Ibe - Liverpool, £15m, Lys Mousset - Le Havre, £5.4m, Marc Wilson - Stoke, £2m, Nathan Ake - Chelsea, loan, Lewis Cook - Leeds, £10m, Brad Smith - Liverpool, £6m, Jack Wilshere - Arsenal, loan
Major outs: Matt Ritchie - Newcastle, £12m
Jordon Ibe has a lot to learn, Marc Wilson is a solid player and has been around, and I like what Nathan Ake did at Watford last year. The big one is Jack Wilshere, which is a phenomenal signing. They are getting a £30m player for nothing, which is unbelievable. It's a credit to Eddie Howe and the way they play that he has chosen them. It could be the difference that keeps them up.
Major ins: Patrick Bamford - Chelsea, loan, Steven Defour - Anderlecht, £8m, Jeff Hendrick - Derby, undisclosed
Major outs: None
I'm still to be convinced by Patrick Bamford. He drifts in and out and has had a lot of loans now. Jon Flanagan won't let you down and if Jeff Hendrick can find his Euro 2016 form, he will be a success. Sean Dyche has strengthened where he needed to instead of just buying anybody, and they haven't lost any key players.
Major ins: Marcos Alonso - Fiorentina, £23m, Michy Batshuayi - Marseille, £33.2m, N'Golo Kante - Leicester, £32m, David Luiz - PSG, £30m
Major outs: Mohamed Salah - Roma, £12m, Juan Cuadrado - Juventus, loan
I don't think Marcos Alonso is good enough for Chelsea. Michy Batshuayi looks lively so far, and N'Golo Kante makes Chelsea the team to beat this season. David Luiz? No, no, no, no, no. Did you watch him play against Monaco last week? He gave away the silliest penalty I've ever seen and Paris Saint-Germain probably dropped him off. Having said that, I'm still giving them an A+ because I think Kante is that good.
Major ins: Christian Benteke - Liverpool, £32m, Andros Townsend - Newcastle, £13m, James Tomkins - West Ham, £10m, Loic Remy - Chelsea, loan
Major outs: Yannick Bolasie - Everton, £28m, Dwight Gayle - £10m
Christian Benteke hasn't found his Aston Villa form and that worries me but I like the signing of Andros Townsend, who gives his all. Benteke and Loic Remy need to prove themselves again, and they are deals that could go either way for Alan Pardew. This could be a D in six months, or an A+.
Major ins: Yannick Bolasie - Crystal Palace, £28m, Ashley Williams - Swansea, £12m, Idrissa Gueye - Aston Villa, £7.1m, Maarten Stekelenburg - Fulham, undisclosed
Major outs: John Stones - Man City, £50m, Tim Howard - Colorado Rapids, free, Steven Pienaar - Sunderland, free
Yannick Bolasie gives them pace and Ashley Williams is an organiser, but Maarten Stekelenburg has a mistake in him, and I thought they would go for Joe Hart. Ronald Koeman has done OK and to sign Williams with the John Stones money was a good move.
Major ins: Ryan Mason - Tottenham, £13m, Will Keane - Man Utd, £3m, David Marshall - Cardiff, £3.5m
Major outs: Mohamed Diame - Newcastle, £4.5m
Ryan Mason needs to play football and he has had a result by staying in the Premier League. He wasn't going to get a game at Tottenham, but he could be very good for Hull. Will Keane was highly rated so if he can rediscover that form he could be a find, but they haven't done enough overall.
Major ins: Nampalys Mendy - Nice, £13m, Ahmed Musa - CSKA Moscow, undisclosed, Bartosz Kapustka - Cracovia, £7.5m, Islam Slimani - Sporting Lisbon, £30m
Major outs: N'Golo Kante - Chelsea, £32m, Andrej Kramaric - Hoffenheim, £7.6m
There are a lot of question marks when you look at their incomings. There is nothing there you could hang your hat on as a guaranteed success. It could turn out to be a B+ transfer window or expelled from school. You just don't know with these signings, and losing Kante was an absolutely massive blow for them.
Major ins: Sadio Mane - Southampton, £36m, Loris Karius - Mainz, £4.7m, Joel Matip - Schalke, free, Ragnar Klavan - Augsburg, undisclosed, Georginio Wijnaldum - Newcastle, £25m
Major outs: Christian Benteke - Crystal Palace, £32m, Jordon Ibe - Bournemouth, £15m, Martin Skrtel - Fenerbahce, £5m, Joe Allen - Stoke, £13m
Sadio Mane gives Liverpool pace in attack, but you look at Georginio Wijnaldum's record at Newcastle and he was fine at home, but you never heard from him on the road. That is a concern. They got good deals for Benteke, Ibe and others and they have balanced their books, but they didn't do enough to address their defence and that's why they get a C.
Major ins: Ilkay Gundogan - Borussia Dortmund, £21m, Nolito - Celta Vigo, £13.8m, Leroy Sane - Schalke, £37m, Gabriel Jesus - Palmeiras, £27m, John Stones - Everton, £50m, Claudio Bravo - Barcelona, £17.1m
Major outs: Eliaquim Mangala - Valencia, loan, Samir Nasri - Sevilla, loan, Joe Hart - Torino, loan, Wilfried Bony - Stoke, loan
For me, I liked Joe Hart, who is proven in the Premier League, over Claudio Bravo. John Stones will be a good purchase and I think he's learning already under Pep Guardiola. Nolito looks a real bargain too. He is very clever and reminds me a little bit of Robert Pires. He's not quick but he's comfortable on the ball, has a good footballing brain and chips in with goals. They have done well to get rid of some of their players on loan too, there's £300,000 a week in wages when you add up Samir Nasri, Eliaquim Mangala and the rest!
Major ins: Paul Pogba - Juventus, £93.25m, Zlatan Ibrahimovic - free, Eric Bailly - Villarreal, £30m, Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Borussia Dortmund, £26.3m
Major outs: Adnan Januzaj - Sunderland, loan
Jose Mourinho knew what he wanted and got it. He's come in and got a big midfielder in Paul Pogba, a dressing room leader and goalscorer in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and at the moment Eric Bailly looks very good. Henrikh Mkhitaryan will be an absolute star for United as well. He will get in the team soon and when he does, he'll rip it up. He is different gravy.
Major ins: Adama Traore - Aston Villa, undisclosed, Marten de Roon - Atalanta, £12m, Viktor Fischer - Ajax, £3.8m, Victor Valdes - free, Alvaro Negredo - Valencia, loan, Brad Guzan - Aston Villa, free, Antonio Barragan - Valencia, £3m, Gaston Ramirez - Southampton, free
Major outs: Albert Adomah - Aston Villa, undisclosed
When Adama Traore first came to Aston Villa I thought he looked good, but injuries were a problem. Alvaro Negredo will be good if they play to his strengths and Gaston Ramirez has started his Boro career very well. I've gone B- but that could easily turn into a D because there are a few big gambles. I'm shocked he allowed Albert Adomah to leave too.
Major ins: Sofiane Boufal - Lille, £16m, Nathan Redmond - Norwich, £11m, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - Bayern Munich, undisclosed
Major outs: Sadio Mane - Liverpool, £36m, Victor Wanyama - Tottenham, £11m, Graziano Pelle - Shandong Luneng, £12m
I don't know much about Sofiane Boufal and for me Nathan Redmond is a winger, not a striker. Claude Puel is playing him up front but how many goals are they expecting him to get? They haven't done enough to replace Mane in my opinion.
Major ins: Bruno Martins Indi - Porto, loan, Joe Allen - Liverpool, £13m, Ramadan Sobhi - Al Ahly, £5m, Wilfried Bony - Man City, loan
Major outs: Philipp Wollscheid, Wolfsburg, undisclosed
Bruno Martins Indi is a decent player, and Wilfried Bony and Joe Allen look like really good additions. If Mark Hughes can get Bony going, they have a star on their hands, but it's an if.
Major ins: Paddy McNair - Man Utd, £2.75m, Donald Love - Man Utd, £2.75m, Adnan Januzaj - Man Utd, loan, Steven Pienaar - Everton, free, Javier Manquillo - Atletico Madrid, loan, Papy Djilobodji - Chelsea, £8m, Didier Ndong - Lorient, £13.6m
Major outs: Emmanuel Giaccherini - Napoli, undisclosed, Steven Fletcher - Sheffield Wednesday, free, Younes Kaboul - Watford, £3.5m, Jeremain Lens - Fenerbahce, loan
They have signed a lot of younger players, the likes of Adnan Januzaj, Donald Love and Paddy McNair, and I'm not sure about that. I'm not familiar with Didier Ndong, their new record signing, and I'm worried Sunderland could just get left behind after this window.
Major ins: Alfie Mawson - Barnsley, £5m, Leroy Fer - QPR, £4.75m, Mike van der Hoorn - Ajax, undisclosed, Fernando Llorente - Sevilla, undisclosed, Borja Gonzalez - Atletico Madrid, £15.5m
Major outs: Andre Ayew - West Ham, £20.5m, Ashley Williams - Everton, £12m, Alberto Paloschi - Atalanta - £6m, Bafetimbi Gomis - Marseille, loan
They haven't done much. Considering they have let the likes of Williams and Andre Ayew go, two of their three best players last season, I don't think they have replaced them adequately.
Major ins: Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar, £18.6m, Victor Wanyama - Southampton, £11m, Georges-Kevin N'Koudou - Marseille, £11m, Moussa Sissoko - Tottenham, £30m
Major outs: Ryan Mason - Hull, £13m, Nacer Chadli - West Brom, £13m
Vincent Janssen is a young lad still and Victor Wanyama is a solid signing for Spurs. As for Moussa Sissoko, it depends what player you get. Are you getting the one from the Euros, or the one that played for Newcastle last season? I think they still needed a few more squad players to really kick on from last season.
Major ins: Roberto Pereyra - Juventus, £13m, Younes Kaboul - Sunderland, £3.5m, Isaac Success - Granada, £12m, Christian Kabasele - Genk, £5.8m, Jerome Sinclair - Liverpool, £4m, Juan Camilo Zuniga - Napoli, loan, Daryl Janmaat - Newcastle, £7m, Stefano Okaka - Anderlecht, undisclosed
Major outs: Matej Vydra - Derby, £8m, Almen Abdi - Sheffield Wednesday, £4m
Younes Kaboul could be a good fit for Walter Mazzarri's system, as could Daryl Janmaat at wing-back because he's better going forward than defending. If they stay up, this is an A, but it's so close down the bottom and I think other teams have had better windows.
Major ins: Nacer Chadli - Tottenham, £13m, Matt Phillips - QPR, £5.5m, Brendan Galloway - Everton, loan
Major outs: James Chester - Aston Villa, £7m
I'd say £13m for Nacer Chadli is OK, while Matt Phillips has a lot to prove at the Premier League level. He didn't do too much at Queens Park Rangers. Brendan Galloway is a player I like, but I think they needed to be more active. If they stay up, it will be because of Tony Pulis rather these signings.
Major ins: Andre Ayew - Swansea, £20.5m, Manuel Lanzini - Al Jazira Club, £9.4m, Arthur Masuaku - Olympiakos, £6m, Havard Nordtveit - Borussia Monchengladbach, free, Sofiane Feghouli - Valencia, loan, Simone Zaza - Juventus, loan
Major outs: James Tomkins - Crystal Palace, £10m
I'm unconvinced by West Ham this window. I expected a very different list of signings to the ones they made. They were linked with just about everybody and now Ayew is out for a couple of months. Simone Zaza could be decent, but he completes a mixed bag of transfers. A lot hinges on Ayew getting back on form when fit and Zaza firing from the off.
