At 11:59pm yesterday, the summer transfer window officially closed. The much anticipated period of player purchases and sales between clubs in most parts of Europe ended and chief executives across the continent began to take stock in a bid to determine if they had done enough business to achieve set goals of their clubs for the season.
England, home of the lucrative English Premier League, naturally was the epicenter of all the moves as many players came into and left the league. In total, by the time of the close of the transfer window, the total outlay from Premier League clubs stood at a staggering £835 million- a new record- which dwarfed the £425 million spent by La Liga clubs, the £260 million spent by Italian Serie A clubs, the £250 million expenditure of Bundesliga clubs and the £100 million outlay by French Ligue 1 clubs.
Of the £835 million spent by Premier League club, only a meagre £32.3 million (3.8%) was spent on African players with Southampton’s purchase of Senegal’s Saido Mane for £11.8m from Salzburg being the biggest deal involving an African in the Premier League. Costing £1.8m less, Nigeria’s Brown Ideye’s £10m move from Dynamo Kiev to West Bromwich Albion which sailed through after some initial hitches was the second biggest involving an African in the Premier League. Senegal’s Cheikhou Kouyate’s £7m move to West Ham from Anderlecht was the third biggest signing involving an African with Hull City’s £3.5m buy of Mohammed Diame rounding up the four deals involving payments for African players.
Other African players moved during the window in England with Drogba, Mame Diouf and Eto’o joining Chelsea, Stoke and Everton on free transfers while Victor Moses, Oussama Aissadi and Christian Atsu both clinched season long loan deals with Stoke and Everton. South Africa’s Kagicho Dikgacoi also moved from Crystal Palace to Cardiff City for free while Burkina Faso wonderboy Bertrand Traore moved from Chelsea to Vitesse Arnhem on loan.
The total in transfer fees received by Premier League clubs for African players stood at a paltry £8m- the value of Demba Ba’s switch from Chelsea to Besiktas. In total, the value of monetary transfers involving African players in the Premier League stood at £40.3m.
While, it was a relatively quiet window for Africa in the Premier League, there was a bit more movement involving Africans in other parts of the world. The biggest African deal across the continent was Mehdi Benatia’s £24m move from Roma to Bayern Munich with the Moroccan becoming one of the most expensive African players of all time with only Michael Essien (£24.4m) and Emmanuel Adebayor (£25m) costing more.
Asides Benatia’s move, Ivory Coast’s Salomon Kalou finally moved away from Lille after months of endless speculation as he finally penned a three year deal at Hertha Berlin in Germany. Algerian World Cup star Yacine Brahimi also enjoyed a step-up and reward for his World Cup heroics with a £6.5m move to Porto where he has already begun to enjoy a fine start. Ivory Coast’s Serge Aurier sealed a loan deal from Toulouse to French powerhouses PSG with the option to purchase for £10m.
While some deals got over the line, other African stars were constantly linked with moves that never materialized. Ghanaians must have monitored Andre Ayew closely in this window as, given his fine form over the last few years and excellent World Cup showing, the star was widely expected to leave Marseille. A move to England appeared likely but Ayew will spend at least the next five months in France. Algeria’s Islam Slimani’s powerful play at the World Cup was also expected to be rewarded with a move away from Sporting Lisbon but the poacher will stay put as the club prepare for a return to the UEFA Champions League. As deadline day loomed, Burkina Faso’s Alain Traore looked set for a move to Monaco but like Ayew and Slimani, Traore will remain at his current club- Lorient.
Even as some clinched big money contracts, the story of the summer- somewhat, involved two Malian footballers. French club Guingamp were disappointed to sell Mali’s Mustapha Yatabaré to Trabzonspor and replaced him with his younger brother Sambou Yatabaré.
With all the deals concluded, we wish all the African stars in Europe the best and hope to cover their moves, if any, when the winter transfer window opens in January.
