Well, the transfer window has turned out better than it seemed a week ago. The key thing was getting in two young energetic 21-year-old midfielders in Fernandes and Magassa and that gives the season a much more optimistic hue. Potter also brought in Igor Julio from Brighton on loan, who was very Igor to join us having played against West Ham for Fiorentina in Prague. That move also scuppered Crystal Palace selling Guehi to Liverpool. If he's a big bruising centre half who can win balls in the air then that's what we need against teams like Sunderland.
Nayef Aguerd has gone to Marseille for a reported £20m which isn't bad business even if it was £10m less than we paid for him. I always thought he was a good player who would eventually adapt to the Premier League, but the three games he played this season showed he was still struggling. Emerson has also gone to Marseille for a very low £900,000. You can only assume the club was desperate to get his wages off the books. The 31-year-old Emerson completed the set of European trophies with West Ham and overall did pretty well in his three seasons. While lingering like an odd sock at the bottom of the drawer we have also loaned forgotten Maxwel Cornet to Genoa.
Potter and Macauley have certainly been hampered by the club being obliged to buy Todibo for an overpriced £36m and then thanks to last summer's spree and the PSR rules having to sell Kudus for £55m before we could buy. Diouf and Hermansen have come in for £20m each and Walker-Peters and Callum Wilson arrived on frees. A lot of fans deplored the Wilson signing but for a season-long deal I think he's a bargain if we can keep him fit. As he showed at Forest he's a really good player.
The other plus is that Lucas Paqueta really did throw his phone away at Forest. The one area where Potter hasn't acted is in signing a young striker, though Fullkrug, Wilson, Bowen and Marshall offer some depth for this season. Overall a lot of older players have been moved on such as Cresswell, Coufal, Ings, Fabianski, Zouma, Antonio and Emerson, while Alvarez has been loaned out. We've spent around £133 million and recouped around £76 million while probably saving a bit on wages. The main aim was to reduce the average age of the side and that has been achieved. Potter now has seven of his own signings in the squad so let's see what he can do with them.
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