This time last year the football blogs and shows were buzzing with the likes of transfers from Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres, and Andy Carroll. We really didn't see a lot of movement from superstar names today, but some good snatches of guys who are probably right under that top tier. Here's my take on just a few of the moves, and non-moves.
QPR sign Cisse and Zamora--
Nobody would question the fact that QPR intended to load up once they hired the ambitious Mark Hughes as manager. That turns out to be exactly what they did. In total they brought in 6 players during the window, making them the most active EPL team. On deadline day they brought in Djibril Cisse from Lazio, where he had just landed over the summer. They completed their new strike force by signing Bobby Zamora away from Fulham about 20 minutes before the deadline expired. I like the Zamora move, Cisse is a bit of a gamble I think. He was not having a good year at Lazio. Of course, it's a lot harder to score goals in Italy. Will these moves keep QPR up? Signs point to yes.
Everton sign Jelavic, get Pienaar on loan--
Toffees fans were heartened at the end of the transfer window as Everton put the finishing touches on two deadline day deals. First they signed away striker Nikica Jelavic from Glasgow Rangers, who was leading the SPL in scoring. Right at the death of the deadline, they also got Steven Pienaar back from Spurs on a loan deal to the end of the year. Put these with the arrival of Gibson earlier in the window, and you've got some real solid moves. Too bad they have to send Landon Donovan back.
Spurs acquire Saha, dump Pavlyuchenko--
Probably the surprise move of the day was Tottenham acquiring Louis Saha from Everton. This is rumored to be part of the deal that sent Pienaar back to Everton on loan. They also got rid of want-away Roman Pavlyuchenko, who made his way to Lokomotiv Moscow. Saha's body and confidence are about as fragile as a Fabrege egg, as Everton supportes will attest to, so we'll see what happens on this. Could be a shrewd pick up.
Chelsea sign Belgian international De Bruyne--
In the earliest of the deadline day deals, Chelsea announced that they had finally succeeded in signing Belgian International winger Kevin De Bruyne from Genk. This appears to be a deal more for the future, as Chelsea immediately loaned him right back to Genk for the rest of the season.
No big EPL names to MLS--
I had to throw this in here because the MLS rumor mill has bugged the living crap out of me all month, probably because I'm a Chelsea fan. The biggest rumors concerned folks like Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard coming to play for the Galaxy. Now of course that got a lot less likely once Beckham re-signed, but still. Our league seems to delight in connecting every aging Euro star to MLS, and it annoys me. We need to be less of a retirement home and develop more of our own talent. that being said, Portland did acquire former Rangers man Kris Boyd, but as I pointed out on the twitter feed yesterday, Boyd had only 12 goals since leaving Glasgow, where he had better people around him than he will in Portland, so I'm not keen on handing any trophies the Timbers' way just yet.
Carlos Tevez stays put, still playing golf--
The biggest name actually up for grabs this month was City malcontent Carlos Tevez, who hasn't played hardly at all for the Citizens. A deal was almost reached with AC Milan earlier this month, then Inter Milan joined the fray as well. However, the window closed in Italy at 7 PM Italian time and no move had been made. Later on there was a twitter hoax as someone tweeting as Aston Villa's official twitter confirmed that Villa had signed him and Florent Malouda from Chelsea. Malouda is still with Chelsea, Tevez is still playing golf, and Villa fans are bent out of shape.
Of course many more moves were made on deadline day, and there were about 89 million dollars spent (USA) in England. However, the window has now slammed shut, and teams will have to play their hands for the rest of the season.