English Football Transfers
European Transfers 2008-09 Season
Arsenal
Despite offloading several high-profile players, including Alexandre Hleb, Gilberto Silva, Mathieu Flamini and Jehns Lehmann, Arsenal only made a few important signings. The addition of Mikael Silvestre and Samir Nasri will be important for the side, although it seems that they are lacking sufficient depth to win a title this season.
Reinforcements:
Mikael Silvestre (Manchester United), Samir Nasri (Marseille), Amaury Bischoff (Werder Bremen) and Aaron Ramsey (Cardiff City)
Departures:
Alexander Hleb (Barcelona), Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan), Jens Lehmann (Stuttgart), Armand Traore (Portsmouth), Justin Hoyte (Middlesbrough), Nacer Barazite (Derby County) and Philippe Senderos (AC Milan).
Chelsea
After having sold large part of their squad it seemed that Chelsea would capture Robinho, but the Brazilian superstar joined Manchester City instead. Still, the signings of Deco and Jose Bosingwa will be very important this season. Chelsea will be hoping to pick up some silverware this season after losing the final of the UEFA Champions League to Manchester United.
Reinforcements:
Deco (Barcelona) and Jose Bosingwa (Porto)
Departures:
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Tal Ben Haim (Manchester City), Claude Makelele (Paris St-Germain), Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan), Steve Sidwell (Aston Villa), Ben Sahar (Portsmouth), Hernan Crespo (Inter Milan), Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart) and Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen)
Liverpool
Liverpool may have sold a number of important players, including Peter Crouch, John Arne Riise and Harry Kewell, but in has come lots of quality. The signing of Robbie Keane was without doubt their most important purchase, and the Irish international is expected to boost their already impressive attack this season.
Reinforcements:
Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Andrea Dossena (Udinese), Albert Riera (Espanyol), Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund), Diego Cavalieri (Palmeiras), Vitor Flora (Botafogo), Emmanuel Mendy (Real Murcia), David Ngog (Paris St-Germain) and Peter Gulacsi (MTK Hungaria)
Departures:
Harry Kewell (Galatasaray), Steve Finnan (Espanyol), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth), Scott Carson (West Bromich), John Arne Riise (Roma), Andriy Voronin (Hertha Berlin), Anthony Le Tallec (Le Mans), Danny Guthrie (Newcastle United) and Jack Hobbs (Leicester City)
Manchester City
One of the biggest and most controversial transfers of the entire Summer was that of Robinho. The Brazilian left Real Madrid on sour terms but instead of Chelsea decided to join Manchester City, to the shock of millions. City made a couple of other important signings like that of Jo, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Argentine international Pablo Zabaleta.
Reinforcements:
Robinho (Real Madrid), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), Jo (CSKA Moscow), Vincent Kompany (Hamburg), Tal Ben Haim (Chelsea) and Pablo Zabaleta (Espanyol)
Departures:
Andreas Isaksson (PSV Eindhoven), Vedran Corluka (Tottenham Hotspur), Rolando Bianchi (Torino), Bernardo Corradi (Reggina), Sun Jihai (Sheffield United), Geovanni (Hull City), Emile Mpenza, Paul Dickov and Georgios Samaras (Celtic)
Manchester United
The European champions only made two new signings, but one of them is likely to be a huge investment. Dimitar Berbatov is a great talent and is likely to play a key role for the side this season. There weren't many big losses at Old Trafford. That of Mikael Silvestre was perhaps the most significant. United also managed to hold onto Cristiano Ronaldo, despite the players wishes to join Real Madrid.
Reinforcements:
Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham Hotspur) and David Petrucci (Roma)
Departures:
Mikael Silvestre (Arsenal), Louis Saha (Everton), Lee Martin (Nottingham Forest), Chris Eagles (Burnley), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Danny Simpson (Blackburn Rovers) and Fraizer Campbell (Tottenham Hotspur)
http://european-football.suite101.com/article.cfm/european_football_transfer_market
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