Premier League Notebook Heading into Week 21
The biggest deal of the January transfer window will soon be completed. Wilfried Bony is set to leave Swansea City for Manchester City for around £30 million within the next few days, although it might not be until the end of the month (or the start of February) before Bony actually makes his debut for the club.
In reaching the deal, however, City are rectifying perhaps the biggest mistake of the summer transfer window—serving as a reminder that sometimes the most important transfer deal is not the player who comes in but the one who leaves.
City could perhaps never have known they would suffer such a horrible injury crisis to their forward players toward the end of 2014. Nevertheless, the decision to offload Alvaro Negredo (on loan initially, with a permanent deal to come in the summer) left Manuel Pellegrini perilously short of options a few months down the line.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
It has become accepted wisdom that elite sides, or at least ones looking to compete domestically and in Europe, need four top-class strikers to rely on. Even if a side often plays with only one striker (as Pellegrini tends to do with City), it is generally necessary to have four players vying for that spot—just two injuries at the same point in time would leave the club short of flexibility and rotation options in a crucial position.
Considering Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic are hardly the most hardy of forwards, allowing Negredo to leave was a risky move that has proved misguided—on the pitch, at least.
Of course, part of the reason for Negredo's departure was Financial Fair Play related—if, as seems likely, the club had deemed Negredo not quite up to the required standard after a hit-and-miss first season, then the chance to shift his wages from the balance sheet (and recoup much of their outlay on him down the line) was a prudent economic decision, if a sketchy footballing one.
But the spate of injuries to City's forwards as 2014 drew to a close—a run that eventually saw James Milner picked as a false nine—underlined that City are a striker short. With the season now heading toward the point at which trophies are decided, buying another forward became a priority.
In light of that, the Bony signing makes a lot of sense. The Swansea striker has nine Premier League goals already this term, and he offers a combination of physicality, technique and finishing ability that none of City's current strikers present in the same combination (Dzeko is similar but less refined).
If anything, the Ivory Coast forward is an improved version of Negredo, one with a longer, more reliable track record in English football.
If Negredo was sold in part because of FFP issues, then it would seem to follow that Bony's arrival will create those issues once again. It is not so much the transfer fee that is the problem (Negredo's sale means the club can buy Bony and still fit under UEFA's imposed sanctions), but the salary could cause problems down the line (although Bony is not likely to demand to be one of the club's highest earners).
It seems inevitable that at least one or two players will have to leave to help the club's FFP situation, either now or in the summer. Matija Nastasic has already been linked with a move away—to Schalke, per the Daily Mail's Simon Jones—while Frank Lampard, Martin Demichelis and James Milner are all out of contract in the summer, per Transfermarkt.
If Nastasic leaves, along with two of the three aforementioned players, then City should have little problem fitting Bony's signing under their FFP restrictions. His arrival gives them the attacking options they need to contend in the Champions League (although another player, possibly Jovetic or Dedryck Boyata, will have to be unregistered from their squad) and Premier League, notably upgrading the attacking quartet that helped them win the title last season.
The club had to ride out a difficult patch thanks to Negredo's departure, but with Bony coming in, Chelsea and others will be more wary than ever of City's threat.
Week 21 Fixtures
All games 3 p.m. GMT (10 a.m. ET) unless otherwise stated.
Saturday
- Sunderland vs. Liverpool (12:45 p.m.)
- Burnley vs. Queens Park Rangers
- Chelsea vs. Newcastle United
- Everton vs. Manchester City
- Leicester City vs. Aston Villa
- Swansea City vs. West Ham United
- West Bromwich Albion vs. Hull City
- Crystal Palace vs. Tottenham Hotspur (5:30 p.m.)
Sunday
- Arsenal vs. Stoke City (1:30 p.m.)
- Manchester United vs. Southampton (4 p.m.)
What to Watch for This Week
Szczesny Sr. Shows Son's Penchant for Gaffes Runs in the Family
After reports emerged that Arsenal No. 1 Wojciech Szczesny had been caught smoking in the showers following the recent defeat to Southampton, a bad week for the goalkeeper was made somewhat worse when his father decided to wade in.
Wojciech Szczesny Sr., himself a goalkeeper back in the day, had a few things to say to Polish newspaper Przeglad Sportowy. As translated by The Guardian:
"What the British papers wrote about my son smoking under the shower after Southampton game, this is b------s. It doesn’t surprise me as they are known for making stuff up. I have heard Wojciech smokes sometimes, but he’s not that stupid to smoke in the dressing room.
He made a mistake for the first [Southampton] goal, coming too far from the goal, but please look at the Arsenal defence—how these guys are playing is a disaster, but for some reason, nobody pays any attention to it.
Laurent Koscielny should immediately have run [back] to protect Wojciech, and Per Mertesacker should have stood in the goal.
Unfortunately, they did not do that and gave him zero support, and in that situation Mertesacker showed the agility of a rhinoceros.Wojciech is often paying for [the mistakes], and that he really cares. He needs someone who will critically analyse every game with him but also remain positive.
Someone should support him but the coaching staff at Arsenal are not doing that; meanwhile, the entire defence this season is an embarrassment.
"
Szczesny Sr.'s comments can hardly have helped his son's current situation (although his description of Mertesacker is somewhat amusing). Summer signing David Ospina played against Hull City in the FA Cup and could well be set for an extended run in the team. If that is the case, it will be really interesting to hear what Szczesny Sr. has to say...
Reid Disappointment Just One Setback as West Ham Push for Greater Glory
Sam Allardyce has this week expressed his belief that defender Winston Reid will leave West Ham when his contract expires this summer, per BBC Sport.
According to the boss, the defender has rejected all offers of an extension, leading Allardyce to believe that he has already agreed a deal elsewhere—which, if it is with another Premier League side, would technically be against league rules.
Reid, who has been a cornerstone of West Ham's defence almost since arriving at the club, would undoubtedly be a big loss, but in the grand scheme of things, the club can perhaps have few complaints.
Twelve months on from Reid's likely departure the Hammers will be moving into the Olympic Stadium, a switch that—as Matt Dickinson astutely notes in Friday's Times (subscription required)—should bring a handsome financial return.
West Ham have had to pay relatively nothing for what will be a brilliant new ground, while they are also able to sell their current Upton Park home to developers for a vast sum.
Compare that with Tottenham, who are going to have to finance their new stadium almost entirely themselves, and you wonder if the clock is also ticking down to a game-changing move that will suddenly give the Hammers the financial power to be catapulted toward English football's elite.
Can QPR Finally Win Away?
Out of the relegation zone thanks to the strength of their recent home performances, QPR still need to get off the mark away from Loftus Road.
The weekend visit to Burnley (19th in the table) seems about as good a chance as any for Harry Redknapp's side to end that particular hoodoo. Having mostly travelled to teams in the top half of the table in the first half of the campaign, they really need to make the most of these "easier" away trips.
Redknapp has signed forward Mauro Zarate on loan already this month, while Burnley have completed a permanent deal for defender Michael Keane. Those two deals seem to sum up the sides' conflicting approaches to securing Premier League survival. After winning the meeting between the two at Loftus Road, QPR could make a real statement by doing the double at Turf Moor.
Video of the Week
Player to Watch
Bafetimbi Gomis
Wilfried Bony's impending £30 million move to Manchester City might not be completed this weekend, but either way, there is no chance of the Ivory Coast striker playing for Swansea against West Ham (he's set off to meet up with his international team-mates ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations).
Barring a major change in circumstance, Bony has almost certainly played his last game for the Welsh club—a new challenge now awaits.
"Wilfried could well be the difference in the title race, that's what City see in him," Swans manager Garry Monk said, per Andrew Gwilym of the Daily Express. "I can see why their interest is there, he gets you goals. He can improve on certain things but the bottom line is he is a goalscorer and it's obviously what they want him for and that can be key."
The sale of one star player usually means the chance for another to impress, and in this case, it is Bafetimbi Gomis who could be given an opportunity. The French striker has not had many chances to impress since joining the club in the summer—Bony's form has had a lot to do with that—but he will now be expected to step in and fill the void.
The players are very similar, although Bony is undoubtedly a more clinical finisher. Gomis had also been linked with a move away from Swansea this month—to Crystal Palace, per Tom Allnutt of Press Association (via the Daily Mail)—but Monk is confident he will not depart.
"You look at the clubs he has been linked with, why would you move sideways or backwards?" Monk noted. "That is not a logical step. It is likely he will be our main striker and I am looking forward to it."
Nevertheless, Gomis cannot afford to squander his chance to impress. Swansea signed Nelson Oliveira on loan from Benfica in December, a move that, in hindsight, underlines the fact Bony's departure has long been on the cards.
Starting against West Ham, Gomis might get his wish for greater first-team involvement, but he should be aware that Oliveira is waiting in the wings if he does not hit the ground running—and Monk will also soon have nearly £30 million burning a hole in is pocket.
Game of the Weekend
Crystal Palace vs. Tottenham
Crystal Palace became the first Premier League club to sack their manager this season, making the leap before anyone else in a bid to preserve their top-flight status.
It looks like a timely decision; Neil Warnock was clearly failing to bring the best out of a squad that overachieved so handsomely last season, and in Alan Pardew, the club has found a replacement of greater pedigree than many will have anticipated.
Nevertheless, the ex-Newcastle manager's task looks far from easy. Without Mile Jedinak for the next month or so, Palace are without arguably their most important defensive player for a crucial period of fixtures—hardly a recipe for instant success.
The return of Glenn Murray from his loan spell at Reading at least gives Pardew a striker who can lead the line, even if the forward's ability to score goals at Premier League level remains in doubt. Of more importance to Pardew is restoring the side's defence to the one that was so stubborn under Tony Pulis—that, more than the club's goalscoring, could be the key to their hopes of survival.
On Saturday, they face Tottenham, with whom they drew 0-0 only a few weeks ago. Since then, Spurs have continued to go from strength to strength. Just two points off fourth (and one point ahead of archrivals Arsenal), Spurs entered 2015 with a very real prospect of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
That pursuit will not be defined by away games against Crystal Palace, but continuing the canny habit of winning away games in the final few minutes the club had over the final months of 2014 would be a fine start to the year for Spurs.
