Great post
Greatest transfer windows of all time, which club can trump Madrid's summer 2009 window?
- Thread starter Fortitude
- Start date
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Our post Ronaldo window was horrific. Michael Owen, Antonio Valancia, Mame Diouf and Gabriel Obertan. If you lose the Ballon D'Or that is no way to respond.
Our 05/06 transfers rival that Madrid one. Evra, Vidic, Van Der Sar and Ji Sung Park for a combined £30m!
Our 05/06 transfers rival that Madrid one. Evra, Vidic, Van Der Sar and Ji Sung Park for a combined £30m!
Last edited:
Summer 2001 when we signed Ruud van Nistelrooy and Juan Veron felt massive at the time.
It has to be the year we bought Maguire, no doubt
That was horrific. Only SAF papered over that crack.
the summer we got Anderson, Tevez, Hargreaves and Nani was pretty good
I think it’s short-sighted to merely address this as the ‘greatest’ transfer windows in terms of purely short to medium term winning of cups/titles by influential players who‘ve been bought.
If you’re really trying to work out the most influential transfer windows of all time, you need to go beyond that and start looking at the transfers of players who actually changed the playing philosophy of the club.
I’m referring to windows which went beyond buying simply Uber-successful players and into the entirely different realm of buying individuals who subsequently had an impact as managers, club directors, eminence grises, symbols.
Which is where the transfers of di Stefano/gento to RM in 1953, Cruyff to Barca in 1973, dalglish to Liverpool in 1977, zidane to RM in 2001, Maradona to Napoli in 1984 in my opinion are more significant than the Dutch duo to Milan or ronaldo/benzema to RM. The others transcended to beyond just very successful players.
If you’re really trying to work out the most influential transfer windows of all time, you need to go beyond that and start looking at the transfers of players who actually changed the playing philosophy of the club.
I’m referring to windows which went beyond buying simply Uber-successful players and into the entirely different realm of buying individuals who subsequently had an impact as managers, club directors, eminence grises, symbols.
Which is where the transfers of di Stefano/gento to RM in 1953, Cruyff to Barca in 1973, dalglish to Liverpool in 1977, zidane to RM in 2001, Maradona to Napoli in 1984 in my opinion are more significant than the Dutch duo to Milan or ronaldo/benzema to RM. The others transcended to beyond just very successful players.
In 2020 we got Havertz, Thiago Silva, Mendy, Chilwell, Ziyech (...and Werner). 5 of the 6 started the Champions League final. Not a bad window considering everything.
Madrid also signed Kaka that summer which is mental! Kaka didn't hit it off at Madrid with injuries but what a transfer window.
Van Basten & Gullit in one summer would be my personal favourite (and Ancelotti as a bonus). Van Basten at his best was not far off peak Cristiano although his injury record lets him down & Gullit was on another level to Benzema (if both Cristiano & Kaká would've succeeded it probably would've been comparable). Although the longevity of Cristiano and especially Benzema is a bonus, of course.
Madrid's 2009 window was insane — Cristiano, Benzema as well as Xabi Alonso (he probably doesn't make it in Madrid's All-Time XI ahead of Redondo/Modrić/Pirri/Kroos but he has to be close). Signing Kaká for $75 mil has to be mentioned though, there have been many more expensive flops since then but it turned out to be an extremely poor transfer for them, considering the expectations & the price. But even with the inclusion of Kaká it's still like 9,5/10 window.
Chelsea in 04/05 have managed to completely transform the team by signing Drogba, Carvalho, Cech (as well as Robben, Ferreira, Tiago & Alex) — and, most importantly, Mourinho. We don't tend to include managers in those transfer assessments often but I can't ignore him. The fact that Chelsea went on to have one of, if not the best seasons by any team in Premier League history shows just how incredibly spot on their transfers were.
A slightly less impressive but one of the best transfer windows by any club has to be City's 2010 with Silva, Touré, Milner, Dzeko and even Balotelli. If Agüero would've came a year earlier it would've been a no-brainer.
Inter from 2009 is the very definition of short-term success & market shrewdness. To sign Milito, Eto'o, Sneijder, Lúcio, Motta & Pandev and finish the window with a positive transfer balance
A few of the more obscure ones:
Hellas Verona in 1984 had signed Hans-Peter Briegel and Preben Elkjær-Larsen that would lead them to one of the unlikeliest league titles of all-time. Larsen would finish 3rd, 2nd and 4th in 1984-1986 Ballon d'Or votes respectively.
Juventus in 1982 had decided to sell their Irish star Liam Brady to clear the space for 2 incoming foreign signings (which was the limit in Italy at the time), Michel Platini & Zbigniew Boniek — the pair will lead them to Juve's first European Cup (Boniek had dived for a penalty chasing Platini's trademark through-ball, Platini had calmly slotted it home). They were the only transfers of that summer, the very definition of quality over quantity. Platini is probably the greatest Juventus ever (even though the list of their stars is quite extensive — Sívori, Platini, Zidane, Del Piero, Nedved). Speaking of Nedved, that 2001 window by Juve was masterful — selling your best player & striker for a combined fee of $125 mil was supposed to hurt them... but they've signed Nedved, Buffon & Thuram
Inter's 1988 window was obviously overshadowed by AC Milan's Dutch trio but it was a masterful move to close the distance between them & their city rivals. Peak Lothar Matthäus & Andy Brehme (a pair that would win Inter the league title, beating both Dutch Milan & Maradona's Napoli only to follow that with the 1990 World Cup win with West Germany) for a combined fee little south of $4mil... Bianchi, Berti & Diaz that were signed in the same window played a big part in that league success as well.
Madrid's 2009 window was insane — Cristiano, Benzema as well as Xabi Alonso (he probably doesn't make it in Madrid's All-Time XI ahead of Redondo/Modrić/Pirri/Kroos but he has to be close). Signing Kaká for $75 mil has to be mentioned though, there have been many more expensive flops since then but it turned out to be an extremely poor transfer for them, considering the expectations & the price. But even with the inclusion of Kaká it's still like 9,5/10 window.
Chelsea in 04/05 have managed to completely transform the team by signing Drogba, Carvalho, Cech (as well as Robben, Ferreira, Tiago & Alex) — and, most importantly, Mourinho. We don't tend to include managers in those transfer assessments often but I can't ignore him. The fact that Chelsea went on to have one of, if not the best seasons by any team in Premier League history shows just how incredibly spot on their transfers were.
A slightly less impressive but one of the best transfer windows by any club has to be City's 2010 with Silva, Touré, Milner, Dzeko and even Balotelli. If Agüero would've came a year earlier it would've been a no-brainer.
Inter from 2009 is the very definition of short-term success & market shrewdness. To sign Milito, Eto'o, Sneijder, Lúcio, Motta & Pandev and finish the window with a positive transfer balance
A few of the more obscure ones:
Hellas Verona in 1984 had signed Hans-Peter Briegel and Preben Elkjær-Larsen that would lead them to one of the unlikeliest league titles of all-time. Larsen would finish 3rd, 2nd and 4th in 1984-1986 Ballon d'Or votes respectively.
Juventus in 1982 had decided to sell their Irish star Liam Brady to clear the space for 2 incoming foreign signings (which was the limit in Italy at the time), Michel Platini & Zbigniew Boniek — the pair will lead them to Juve's first European Cup (Boniek had dived for a penalty chasing Platini's trademark through-ball, Platini had calmly slotted it home). They were the only transfers of that summer, the very definition of quality over quantity. Platini is probably the greatest Juventus ever (even though the list of their stars is quite extensive — Sívori, Platini, Zidane, Del Piero, Nedved). Speaking of Nedved, that 2001 window by Juve was masterful — selling your best player & striker for a combined fee of $125 mil was supposed to hurt them... but they've signed Nedved, Buffon & Thuram
Inter's 1988 window was obviously overshadowed by AC Milan's Dutch trio but it was a masterful move to close the distance between them & their city rivals. Peak Lothar Matthäus & Andy Brehme (a pair that would win Inter the league title, beating both Dutch Milan & Maradona's Napoli only to follow that with the 1990 World Cup win with West Germany) for a combined fee little south of $4mil... Bianchi, Berti & Diaz that were signed in the same window played a big part in that league success as well.
Thanks for the correction then. Few clubs do good bussiness in the winter window though, I wonder why that is.
Just funny that you mentioned Sneijder and Eto'o then threw in Milito almost as an afterthought. Milito was Inter's best, 2nd best, 3rd best and 4th best player that season, and the best player in the world in general. If not for the world cup for which he wasn't even called up (
) it would have been an all time scandal when he would have been ignored for the Ballon D'Or a few months later Now you will be lucky to get Kerry Dixon out of retirement
Could use his jab and left hook for our next visit to Anfield.
Feel like Madrid's window this year is already halfway to being an all-timer just based off Mbappe on a free, interested to see who else they target
Tevez and Mascherano to West Ham.
I still believe that the 2009 window for Madrid represents the greatest transfer window in history, as it represented a monumental shift of power in Europe. Even though we had lost to Barca in 2009, you could argue that we were still one of the top 3 sides in Europe. Selling Ronaldo shifted all the power to Spain and allowed Madrid to form a foundation to further strengthen their squad with the signings of Modric, Varane, Kroos and Bale. Not only did they have the pull of being Real Madrid, they had arguably the best player on the planet. Game over.
In contrast, United had one of the most pathetic windows in history that summer, when you consider how good we were and how we failed miserably to maintain ourselves as a true European contender. Forget the oil clubs, what Madrid did that summer changed football for a decade.
In contrast, United had one of the most pathetic windows in history that summer, when you consider how good we were and how we failed miserably to maintain ourselves as a true European contender. Forget the oil clubs, what Madrid did that summer changed football for a decade.
I believe they'll end up with Mbappe, Haaland, Pogba and a CB. Madrid are a club with real ambition and they'll have enough sales of fringe players to help facilitate these moves.
Then the summer of 06 we signed Carrick. Fergie knew how to build a team.
Other mentions
Leicester City 2015: They signed Okazaki, Huth, Kante, Fuchs and Inler. All of them were important pieces of their only historic EPL championship squad. Kante later has become one of the best dmf/cmf in EPL history, Okazaki were tireless motor at front who had such an incredible work rate and Fuchs and Inler were the pieces that Leicester missing. Leicester at that was a team-oriented first and their players were very harmonious. No one acted like a star.
Liverpool 2018/2019: In previous season they had a problem in backline especially goalkeeper problem which was known around the world ( legendary Karius) and they really needed a defensive midfielder who could screen the ball. So, Liverpool signed Alisson Becker and Fabinho. Both of them were top class players before joining us and when they came to Liverpool, they probably upgrade us to another level during past few years. Three years later of great signing, we become UCL, League, Club World Cup and Caraboa Cup and in this season we still in the route of the rest 3 championships ( FA, UCL and EPL).
Other signings like Keita and Shaqiri, I would say it's not successful like many have thought due to a lot of reasons especially injuries but Keita is still a good reserves although he is a inconsistency player.
Inter 1997: Although it was not that much successful deal due to a lot of reasons especially injuries but based on their names they signed some amazing players like Simeone, Recoba, Sartor, West and the best player in the world " Ronaldo". They only won Uefa Cup in 1997/1998.
AC Milan 2001: They were in rebuilding process but they bought players like Pirlo, who later transformed to one of the greatest deep-lying playmakers of all time, Inzaghi, who was a top-class striker at that time. Both of them had played at Milan for 10 years and Rivaldo who was at declining stage but still had some great performances at that time. AC Milan during 2001-2003 had signed top players like Pirlo, Inzaghi, Nesta, Seedorf, Cafu and young Kaka mixed with players like Gattuso, Maldini , Shevchenko etc. and they had become one of the best teams in Europe during 2003-2008, won a lot of trophies and performed superbly in UCL although they got only 1 league title.
Real Madrid 2010: Di Maria, Khedira, Ozil and Carvalho were all top class players and they were such important pieces of Mourinho's era that beat Guardiola's Barcelona in league title . Di Maria, Khedira and Carvalho also helped Madrid to win their first UCL in 10 years in 2013/2014 season. Ozil left the club to Arsenal in 2013 but he performed best when he was in Madrid, he had linked with Ronaldo superbly and made many assists too.
Barcelona 2004: Players like Eto, Deco, Guily and Larson came to the club and that was the beginning of domination during 2004-2007 time spans. After 2008 when Guardiola came to Barcelona, it was different scenerios.
Barcelona 1973: One word "Johann Cryuff", this guy changed Barcelona forever and next year they signed some great players like Neeskens and Marinho Peres. Although he won only 2 titles at Barcelona, his legacy outside the pitch was the main reason why Barcelona has respected and admired him.
Leicester City 2015: They signed Okazaki, Huth, Kante, Fuchs and Inler. All of them were important pieces of their only historic EPL championship squad. Kante later has become one of the best dmf/cmf in EPL history, Okazaki were tireless motor at front who had such an incredible work rate and Fuchs and Inler were the pieces that Leicester missing. Leicester at that was a team-oriented first and their players were very harmonious. No one acted like a star.
Liverpool 2018/2019: In previous season they had a problem in backline especially goalkeeper problem which was known around the world ( legendary Karius) and they really needed a defensive midfielder who could screen the ball. So, Liverpool signed Alisson Becker and Fabinho. Both of them were top class players before joining us and when they came to Liverpool, they probably upgrade us to another level during past few years. Three years later of great signing, we become UCL, League, Club World Cup and Caraboa Cup and in this season we still in the route of the rest 3 championships ( FA, UCL and EPL).
Other signings like Keita and Shaqiri, I would say it's not successful like many have thought due to a lot of reasons especially injuries but Keita is still a good reserves although he is a inconsistency player.
Inter 1997: Although it was not that much successful deal due to a lot of reasons especially injuries but based on their names they signed some amazing players like Simeone, Recoba, Sartor, West and the best player in the world " Ronaldo". They only won Uefa Cup in 1997/1998.
AC Milan 2001: They were in rebuilding process but they bought players like Pirlo, who later transformed to one of the greatest deep-lying playmakers of all time, Inzaghi, who was a top-class striker at that time. Both of them had played at Milan for 10 years and Rivaldo who was at declining stage but still had some great performances at that time. AC Milan during 2001-2003 had signed top players like Pirlo, Inzaghi, Nesta, Seedorf, Cafu and young Kaka mixed with players like Gattuso, Maldini , Shevchenko etc. and they had become one of the best teams in Europe during 2003-2008, won a lot of trophies and performed superbly in UCL although they got only 1 league title.
Real Madrid 2010: Di Maria, Khedira, Ozil and Carvalho were all top class players and they were such important pieces of Mourinho's era that beat Guardiola's Barcelona in league title . Di Maria, Khedira and Carvalho also helped Madrid to win their first UCL in 10 years in 2013/2014 season. Ozil left the club to Arsenal in 2013 but he performed best when he was in Madrid, he had linked with Ronaldo superbly and made many assists too.
Barcelona 2004: Players like Eto, Deco, Guily and Larson came to the club and that was the beginning of domination during 2004-2007 time spans. After 2008 when Guardiola came to Barcelona, it was different scenerios.
Barcelona 1973: One word "Johann Cryuff", this guy changed Barcelona forever and next year they signed some great players like Neeskens and Marinho Peres. Although he won only 2 titles at Barcelona, his legacy outside the pitch was the main reason why Barcelona has respected and admired him.
I think Liverpool got John Barnes, Peter Beardsley and John Aldridge in one summer. Hard to beat in my opinion.
[/QUOTE]
[/QUOTE]
Add Pogba for free to that list and that's quite the window.
That was the summer where our downfall began.
Doubt he’d want that though. Imagine swapping playing for Real for us these past 10 year
That summer right there was an ominous sign. The fact we lost Tevez too because he was “too expensive” yet got £80m for Ronaldo. Never made sense and still doesn’t
Well to be fair to myself, I didn't know who Milito was before that seasonJust funny that you mentioned Sneijder and Eto'o then threw in Milito almost as an afterthought. Milito was Inter's best, 2nd best, 3rd best and 4th best player that season, and the best player in the world in general. If not for the world cup for which he wasn't even called up (
But no doubt he has had a fantastic career.The ballon'd or that year should have been contested by Sneijder, Milito and Iniesta TBH. But can't say Xavi and Messi didn't deserve to be there. It was one of the last few where there was great overall competition.