January Transfer Round-up

Its the 1st of February and that means that the January transfer window has been shut. No worries though, as the activity on the last day was frantic. The protracted saga of Fernando Torres' transfer from Liverpool to Chelsea came through, at last. In doing so, Chelsea not only broke, but shattered the British transfer record previously held by Manchester United when they signed Rio Ferdinand from Leeds United for 30 million pounds (although Robinho was signed for more by Man City from Real Madrid).

Chelsea also added Brazilian defender, David Luiz, to their ranks, signing him from Benfica for around 25 million pounds. This has been a real on-off issue as an earlier bid was rejected by the Portuguese club. Luiz, 23, is a very skillful defender who has impressive physical attributes and has been likened by some to Inter Milan defender Lucio. Chelsea has been hot on the heels of the Brazilian for some time now and their perseverance has paid off.

The signing of these two players definitely brought some confidence to the team and also raised the mood of the fans. Torres will certainly bring some much-needed firepower to the Chelsea front-line. That begs the question as to who will make way for the Spaniard. At the moment, it looks like Nicholas Anelka will warm the bench because Chelsea tend to play better with Drogba on the field. It is very unlikely that Carlo Ancelotti will deploy the three together as they are in a similar mould. It remains to be seen whether Torres and Drogba can gel in time. They are without a doubt world-class players but the same was said when Anelka arrived from Bolton and it took a couple of managers a few years to make them gel.

Another problem is that whether 'Le Sulk' will be happy to be on the bench and if things are not going his way come the summer, he could be heading for the exit. The bottom line is that Fernando Torres will certainly complement the Chelsea attack and he will also bring more pace into the Blues game. The signing of David Luiz also gives Carlo Ancelotti a headache, albeit a good one. Now, he will most probably play Luiz alongside Terry but the Captain has not been at his best this season. That would mean that Ivanovic would make way for the Brazilian.

At Merseyside, the departure of Torres immediately brought Andy Carroll to the club. Hours before that, Liverpool completed the signing of Luis Suarez from Ajax for a club record fee of 26.5 million, which lasted for all of two hours. According to reports, Carroll was brought in from St. James for a whopping 35 million. That makes him the 7th most expensive player in football!. It does raise questions as to why Liverpool paid vast amounts of the for the former Toon hitman, but I think that he is a fantastic signing. He has already proved himself at Newcastle, being their talisman and has scored a number of goals this season. He will also add strength to the Liverpool game which was missing since the departure of Peter Crouch. His finishing skills is also impressive and he is arguably the best header of the ball in the Premier League (Drogba will has something to say about that).

On the other hand, the Kop have Luis Suarez to complement Carroll. He is an excellent finisher and played very well at the World Cup, though he is a temperamental player to say the least. He was recently banned for seven games by the Dutch FA for biting an opposing player (Premier League defenders, BEWARE!). All said, he is a very good striker and will be able to finish the chances that come his way. On the downside, players who have come in from the Eredivisie have not impressed bar Dirk Kuyt.

After all that has happened, we must not forget that there is a huge game coming up this weekend. Fernando Torres could make his Blues debut against, wait for it,...........Liverpool. Fantastic timing by Chelsea to grab him as he has been scoring goals for fun against Liverpool. It will be a mouth-watering game this weekend with up to four new players on display. Will Chelsea be able to handle the front two of Carroll and Suarez? Will Liverpool be able to keep 'El Nino' quiet? It all remains to be seen. I'm predicting a 1-2 scoreline in favour of Liverpool.

Cheers...

The Fight for EL NINO!!...

Most of us who are up-to-date with the football news will probably know that Abramovich's millions are after Liverpool and Fernando Torres. A bid of 35 million or so was initially rejected by Dalglish & Co. but Chelsea are intent on getting their man.

All of this has resulted in Torres handing in a transfer request which has been firmly rejected by Liverpool.

Chelsea really need Torres because of their aging squad. Both Drogba & Anelka are on the wrong side of 30 and there is no back-up. Of course, they do have Daniel Sturridge as reserve but he is not proven at the top level, yet. The latest is that Chelsea have offered 46.5 million plus Sturridge. It does sound tempting but whether Liverpool will accept losing their best player is a different matter altogether.

Torres will certainly bring much needed pace to Chelsea's attack which has been lacking this season. Anelka has lost a lot of pace which was the main weapon he had. Drogba does have impressive pace but, being 30, has also lost some of it, but his physical prowess is still his main threat. So, if Torres arrives, it will certainly be 'au revoir' for Nicholas Anelka. With Drogba & Torres up front, Chelsea will be dangerous team to play against. (Keep in mind, the same was said when Anelka arrived from Bolton, and they took two years to really perform together).

On paper though, they look deadly, but football is not played on paper as we know. For Liverpool, they have to keep Torres although they've just signed Luis Suarez, if reports are to be believed. On this side of the fence, the combination of Torres & Suarez will also be fantastic. Suarez will definitely be able to add goals to the Liverpool team. Some of the pressure will also be taken off Torres and Gerrard as well. Suarez will also bring energy to the Liverpool front-line and he is also a deadly finisher. The only thing is, he's unproven. The players who've arrived from the Dutch league have not been great bar Dirk Kuyt. Ryan Babel would've been good, but he was hardly given a chance. Huntelaar failed to impress at Madrid as well. Judging by the way Suarez played at the World Cup, he will certainly be good. He doesn't have blinding pace but makes it up for his positioning and anticipation.

The game he played against Real Madrid this season wasn't great though. He was marshaled well by the Madrid defence, but that could be a one-off.

Whatever the outcome, it will certainly be interesting to see because he would certainly complement both clubs.