just over two weeks until the 2014 market
closes, how are Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus,
Chelsea and Europe's biggest sides faring?
The summer transfer window
is whizzing by and numerous
clubs claim to have
completed their business
already, while others are still rooting around for
bargains as the main European deadline approaches
on September 1.
But who's sitting smug with their top targets securely
in the bag, making their rivals drool with jealousy?
And who's made wince-worthy moves or are
watching their meticulously-planned hopes being torn
to shreds by misfortune or misplaced loyalty?
Goal takes a look at the most notable winners and
losers in La Liga, the Premier League, Serie A and
beyond with just over two weeks left before the
window slams shut.
LA LIGA
WINNERS: Real Madrid
So far, so very excellent for Real Madrid in the
transfer window. Head coach Carlo Ancelotti has
brought in one of the world’s best midfielders in Toni
Kroos, who was a key part in Germany's World Cup
success. The tension seen in the goalkeeping position
last season has been alleviated somewhat after Diego
Lopez left to join AC Milan, but Keylor Navas - one of
La Liga's standout performers last season - has
arrived from Levante to provide competition for
captain Iker Casillas.
Still to sort out are the futures of midfield outcasts
Sami Khedira and Angel Di Maria, but the signing of
the World Cup’s best young player, James Rodriguez,
adds further freshness to an already outrageous
forward line. If rumours of a Radamel Falcao move
this summer prove to true, the European champions
might just have the strongest (and certainly the most
expensive) squad in their illustrious history.
LOSERS: Barcelona
Barcelona will need to adapt to a new coach, new
players and possibly even a new formation this
season as Luis Enrique toys with the idea of using
three at the back. At long last, two central defenders
have been brought to Camp Nou, but Thomas
Vermaelen is currently injured and Jeremy Mathieu is
31 in October. For the money spent, the Catalan club
surely could have done better.
Ivan Rakitic looks a good acquisition in midfield, but
players from outside La Masia struggle to adapt to
Barca’s playing philosophy, so that could take time to
work out. The side's marquee signing, Luis Suarez, is
banned for four months and misses the first eight
games of La Liga which could come back to bite
Barca. In goal, meanwhile, Claudio Bravo is prone to
mistakes and Marc-Andre ter Stegen is still very
young. Add in their fruitless and frustrating pursuit of
Fiorentina's Juan Cuadrado and the jury is very much
out on Barca’s dealings this summer.
- By Ben Hayward
PREMIER LEAGUE
WINNERS: Chelsea
What a difference a summer makes - earlier in 2014,
manager Jose Mourinho was claiming Chelsea were
the little horses in the Premier League title race while
now he's proclaiming a decade of English domination
at Stamford Bridge . Although 10 years might be over
the top, certainly the Blues are the early favourites to
topple Manchester City as champions this season
following a transfer window which has seen an
already strong squad burst at the seems with quality.
Thibaut Courtois returns after three outstanding years
at Atletico Madrid, where he matured into one of the
best goalkeepers on the planet. Mourinho has brought
two of the Belgian's team-mates along with him to
Chelsea; star Spain striker Diego Costa and
formidable Brazilian left-back Filipe Luis. One of the
coups of the summer was the return to London from
Barcelona of former Arsenal midfielder Cesc
Fabregas, who will form an enticing partnership with
Nemanja Matic. Expectations are high and the
pressure will be intense, but that's the way Mourinho
has always liked it.
LOSERS: Southampton
Everything looked rosy for Southampton at the end of
2013-14 when Mauricio Pochettino guided the club to
eighth place - their highest-ever Premier League
finish. But money talks and Saints fans were soon
facing the grim reality of modern football when you're
not a big club; cashing in on success. Pochettino was
quickly poached by Tottenham but it's the graveyard
of transfer departures which could haunt the
prestigious south coast club.
Top talents Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Dejan
Lovren joined Liverpool for around €61m in total, Luke
Shaw left for Manchester United as the most
expensive left-back of all-time, while Calum
Chambers was hoovered up by Arsenal, who have a
history of mining Southampton's youngsters (see
Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain).
Incoming signings Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic,
Fraser Forster, Shane Long and Saphir Taider
represent a big downgrade on the proven team that
was torn apart. It could be a rocky ride in 2014-15 for
new coach Ronald Koeman. - By Miles Chambers
SERIE A
WINNERS: Lazio
In truth it has been a miserable summer for Italian
clubs in terms of incoming transfers, with Serie A
moving further behind the big-spending Premier
League and the Clasico giants in Spain. But two clubs
who can be happy with their work in the market so far
are Roman duo Roma and Lazio. The former overpaid
on Juan Iturbe, but have strengthened their squad and
thus far retained their star players. If Mehdi Benatia
and Kevin Strootman remain when the window shuts,
they will do well in the Champions League.
But it is rivals Lazio who have done the best business
in Serie A, albeit at a lower level. The Biancocelesti
signed the highly rated centre back Stefan de Vrij,
who enjoyed a fantastic World Cup with Netherlands,
and also snapped up Marco Parolo and Dusan Basta,
as well as prolific Nantes striker Filip Djordjevic on a
Bosman. Most importantly, they kept hold of their
three star men; Miroslav Klose, Antonio Candreva and
wonderkid Keita Balde Diao. They could return to the
Europa League this season.
LOSERS: Juventus
It has been a tumultuous summer for Juventus, who
lost the inspiration behind their three-year Scudetto
winning streak - Antonio Conte - with the much-
maligned Massimiliano Allegri his replacement. The
Bianconeri have completely failed in their objective of
signing a top class winger who would allow them to
switch seamlessly to a 4-3-3 formation, missing out
on both Cuadrado and Alexis Sanchez - the latter of
whom was very buyable before the World Cup.
CEO Giuseppe Marotta has brought in the likes of
Alvaro Morata, Patrice Evra, Roberto Pereyra and
Romulo, but none of these players will improve the
first XI. At best Juve have moved sideways, but with
Andrea Pirlo and the defence a year older - and Conte
gone - they have possibly moved backwards. The
chance to close the gap on the European elite, barring
a late coup, has been lost and even their domestic
dominance may be under threat from Roma. And
disappointment could yet turn into disaster if Arturo
Vidal leaves. - By Carlo Garganese
REST OF EUROPE
WINNERS: Borussia Dortmund
Every season you will hear pundits suggest that this
summer Jurgen Klopp may have to watch his
awesomely assembled talent disperse across the
continent. But every summer Borussia Dortmund defy
the odds, shedding one star player (this time time
Robert Lewandowski to Bundesliga holders Bayern
Munich) but holding on to every other key man. Losing
your main striker to your biggest title rivals might look
bad at first glance, but BVB's comfortable victory over
Pep Guardiola and Co. in the DFL-Supercup shows
that they are far from disillusioned at Signal Iduna
Park.
It helped that Dortmund knew Lewandowski was
going in January, allowing them to lay down plans to
replace him without entering panic mode. Cue the
signing of two forwards in stellar form; 2013-14 Serie
A top goalscorer Ciro Immobile and Bundesliga
breakthrough Adrian Ramos. Young Germany
prospect - and new World Cup winner - Matthias
Ginter provided much-needed defensive bolstering,
while midfielder Nuri Sahin's permanent return from
Real Madrid was the icing on the Schwarzgelben
cake. - By Enis Koylu
LOSERS: Monaco
When Monaco went on a mega-money spending
spree in the summer of 2013 after being promoted to
Ligue 1, it looked like Paris Saint-Germain might have
some serious contenders for the French
championship. Finishing runners-up helped bolster the
train of thought that Monaco were Europe's next
super-club. However, since the final game of last
term, it all seems to have fallen apart at the Stade
Louis II. The harsh sacking of Claudio Ranieri raised a
few eyebrows but it is this summer's transfer
business which has set off alarm bells.
Losing World Cup wonderkid James Rodriguez to Real
Madrid for an estimated €80m need not have been a
catastrophe if owner Dmitry Rybolovlev had invested
it back into the squad, but this has not transpired.
Instead they have moved for flops like Maarten
Stekelenburg on loan and sold top goalscorer
Emmanuel Riviere for less than €8m. Star striker
Radamel Falcao continues to be linked with a move to
Real Madrid, too. Whether or not billionaire
businessman Rybolovlev has already burst his
Monaco bubble remains to be seen, but what is clear
is that the Monte Carlo-based outfit are unlikely to
challenge PSG this season.
- By Miles Chambers
LOSERS: Feyenoord
Feyenoord always knew that it was going to be a
difficult summer for them, with several players
expressing their desire to move to a bigger league at
the end of the 2013-14 campaign. Few fans would
have expected to see four key men leave before the
start of the new season, however. Daryl Janmaat
departed for Newcastle United, Stefan de Vrij joined
Lazio, Bruno Martins Indi signed with Porto and
Graziano Pelle followed head coach Ronald Koeman to
Southampton.
The Eredivisie giants signed experienced defenders
Khalid Boulahrouz and Luke Wilkshire, while they also
secured the services of promising winger Bilal
Basacikoglu from Heerenveen. But the Rotterdam
outfit’s fans are by no means satisfied with their
transfer activity so far as they have yet to sign an
adequate replacement for Pelle. Strikers such as Bas
Dost, Duvan Zapata and John Guidetti have all been
heavily linked with a move to De Kuip, but Feyenoord
have been unable to lure any of them to Rotterdam.
- By Stefan Coerts

Barca is d chief loser with the signings which are questionable,soton only God will save them from the murky waters of relegation.
Mou won't have d no "striker" excuse this time around.
Feyernord is basically a "selling" club.
Finally arsenal will only fill up the number in the epl race.