Transfer spending by Premier League clubs during this summer window has set a new record of £870million (€1.2bn), according to industry experts.
Clubs spent about £80million on transfer deadline day on 1 September, taking the total outlay past the £835m spent in last year’s summer transfer window.
However, it is the players that didn’t get their dream move that have been grabbing all the headlines.
The high profiled summer transfers of Saido Berahino from West Brom to Tottenham, David De Gea from Manchester United to Real Madrid, John Stones from Everton to Chelsea and Jonathan Walters from Stoke City to Leicester City failed to materialise, despite the strong wishes of the players.
While De Gea resisted the urge to file an official transfer request, Berahino, Stones and Walters tried to force through their dream moves by handing in transfer requests.
With reputations and relationships considerably damaged, where do De Gea, Berahino, Stones and Walters go from here?
Saido Berahino- West Brom to Tottenham
West Bromwich Albion’s Saido Berahino has claimed he will never play for the club again after failing to secure a last-minute transfer to Tottenham Hotspur on a frenetic deadline day.
England Under-21 striker Berahino was the subject of four failed bids from the London club and reacted angrily on Twitter, saying he would not play for the Midlands outfit again under chairman Jeremy Peace.
“Sad how I can’t say exactly how the club has treated me, but I can officially say I will never play (for) Jeremy Peace,” he said.
While Peace responded by saying he made it clear to Spurs that West Brom would not accept a bid for Berahino so late in the window, he admitted the player had been unsettled by what he called Tottenham’s “antics.”
It is evident that the failed transfer has left a bad taste in the mouth of Berahino, Peace and the West Brom faithful. The relationship between the player and club appear damaged beyond repair, leaving only one likely outcome; that being West Brom biting their lip and Berahino moving on to pastures new.
