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“He sees him, he’ll know [Andy] Robertson on his shoulder, he’s a top player, but his desperation to get his team the winner, it’s the wrong decision at the wrong time. He missed a great chance in the first half as well.”

Omar Marmoush should have dropped deeper – Paul Merson

Marmoush played as the most advanced central player in the Tottenham side, with Conor Gallagher playing behind him in the No.10 role.

Striker Dominic Solanke was left on the bench, to be introduced later in the game.

Merson felt that rather than Gallagher starting in the 10, it should have been Marmoush who was dropped deeper.

The pundit said on Sky Sports: “I like Gallagher, but he’s a central midfielder. Surely you bring Marmoush deeper?”

Marmoush has played in that role a handful of times during his career, though not particularly often.

Gallagher, meanwhile, has played as a No.10 on 74 occasions during his career, scoring 10 goals and assisting 13 more during those matches.

While he’s largely been deployed purely as a central midfielder since he arrived in north London, the career history of he and Marmoush suggests that he Englishman is in fact the better option to play as an attacking-midfielder out of the two of them.

With a number of good midfielders in the Tottenham squad, Gallagher might indeed be required to play in the No.10 role more often instead of in a deeper role.

According to reports, Arsenal have already identified two top targets for the January transfer window after they looked to raid Tottenham Hotspur in the summer.

In the summer transfer window, Arsenal strengthened by signing Bruno Guimaraes, Ezri Konsa, Piero Hincapie and Christos Tzolis.

With these signings, Mikel Arteta‘s side are stronger in defence and midfield, but they are arguably weaker in attack than they were last season.

This is becuase Arsenal offloaded Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri and only brought in Tzolis, having missed out on several targets.

Morgan Rogers, Vinicius Junior and Bradley Barcola were among those whom Arsenal targeted but ultimately didn’t sign, so they are arguably short in attack until January at least.

READ: Arsenal’s predicted XI vs. Chelsea as Arteta forced into at least one change

And a report from Caught Offside claims Arsenal are already looking ahead to January with Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez and AFC Bournemouth’s Junior Kroupi on their ‘two-man shortlist for attacking targets in January’.

The report explains: ‘Alvarez remains the more ambitious option, sources close to the agents industry have informed CaughtOffside.

‘The Atletico Madrid forward can play as a striker, second forward or from wider areas, while his pressing intensity and experience of winning major trophies would make him an obvious fit for Arteta’s system. Arsenal explored a summer move, but Alvarez’s preference for Barcelona prevented negotiations from progressing.’

Inside story on Arsenal’s summer window revealed

BBC Sport, meanwhile, have shed light on how Arsenal’s summer transfer window unfolded, with several alternative targets to Vinicius Junior named as they targeted the Real Madrid star.

They explain: ‘In the meantime, however, Berta explored alternatives – Bradley Barcola, Kenan Yildiz, Yan Diomande and Nico Paz were admired. Anthony Gordon was a long-term target, but he had agreed before the World Cup to join Barcelona.’

In defence, it is stated that Konsa was always Arsenal’s ‘first-choice option’, but they also considered moves for Cristian Romero before he joined Atletico Madrid and his former Tottenham teammate.

The report claims:

‘In the event of not reaching an agreement for Konsa, it is understood Tottenham duo Cristian Romero and Micky van der Ven were identified as targets – but Arsenal’s north London rivals would not consider selling to them.’

Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi has given his verdict on Mykhailo Mudryk’s debut against Nottingham Forest following his move from Chelsea and has hammered Mathys Tel.

Spurs played out a goalless draw with Forest away from home at the City Ground in the Premier League on Saturday.

Forest had a goal controversially ruled out by VAR in the second half.

For Tottenham, it was their first point of the new Premier League season following defeats to Brentford and Newcastle United.

Against Forest, Tottenham manager De Zerbi included Tel in his starting line-up.

The 21-year-old French forward, who cost Tottenham £30million in transfer fees when they made his loan deal from Bayern Munich permanent in 2025, started on the left wing in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

READ: Evolution for De Zerbi crucial during Tottenham revolution as Spurs, Forest still wait for win

De Zerbi decided to take Tel off in the 74th minute and brought Mudryk on in his place.

It was the Ukrainian winger’s debut game for Tottenham following his loan move from Chelsea in the summer transfer window.

After the game, De Zerbi slammed Tel and gave his verdict on the display produced by Mudryk, who played his first game in nearly two years.

Roberto De Zerbi on Tottenham duo Mykhailo Mudryk and Mathys Tel

Football.London quotes De Zerbi as saying when asked about Mudryk: “He’s not ready yet.

“He’s working to reach the best physical condition.

“He needs time, he needs work.

“In that position, we have Mathys Tel, big potential.

“But also Mathys takes too many wrong decisions, and Mudryk.

“So, two big players, two big potential players.

“But anyway, if we want to score, I think Marmoush has 15 goals.

“Solanke, the chance header for Solanke, I consider a chance to score.

“It’s not a shot on goal.

“But how many shots did Nottingham have today?

“I think, anyway, it was a good game.”

We can’t say we weren’t warned.

Oliver Glasner and Roberto De Zerbi told the world on Friday how familiar each is with the other so no-one at the City Ground can be surprised to have witnessed Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur cancel each other out, leaving both sides still winless after three games.

That is a bigger problem for De Zerbi. Not only is what Tottenham have served up so far this season, after their most lavish summer, not a satisfactory return on their huge spend, there are too few signs of encouragement to think much better is immediately around the corner.

Tottenham were game at Forest. Both sides were. The intensity, especially through a frantic first half, made for a fascinating battle, but the quality was sorely lacking.

De Zerbi could point at Spurs’ robustness as a marker of improvement because, almost certainly, they would have lost this game last season. And making a team harder to beat is always the first step on the road from the depths Tottenham have plumbed to wherever it is they hope they are heading.

Of course, the new signings need patience while they settle in. But De Zerbi, nor any Premier League manager, has time for them all to ease themselves in gradually. ‘Underwhelming’ is perhaps as complimentary as we can be about any of them so far.

Four new boys, collectively worth around £285million, started against Forest but, in possession at least, none suggested they might break the stalemate at the City Ground.

For the money spent, De Zerbi is entitled to look at Sandro Tonali in games as tight as this to make a greater difference. The Italian managed a total of three accurate forward passes in and into the Forest half, none of which could be considered a key pass.

That has to be a concern when Tonali is the midfield’s most creative presence.

The £100million man was partnered by Rodrigo Bentancur, praised pre-match by De Zerbi for the “balance” he brings, while Conor Gallagher played as the no.10, with Mateus Fernandes again on the bench.

There is no suggestion of a fitness concern for Fernandes so Gallagher’s deployment is evidence that De Zerbi feels the need for a pragmatic approach at this stage of Tottenham’s transition.

But his attacking players, new and old, won’t thrive with the service they are currently receiving.

De Zerbi started with Savio and Omar Marmoush in attack, the ex-Manchester City pair joined by Mathys Tel. Which is unlikely to be a long-term arrangement.

Savio, we have to assume, is occupying the right-wing slot while Mohamed Kudus builds up his fitness. The Brazilian, courted for so long by Spurs, is infinitely more comfortable on the left, highlighted by plenty of positive approach play but nothing by way of end product. Yet still he carried a far greater threat than the anonymous Tel.

De Zerbi, while praising the performance, suggested his attack needed to make more of the openings they had but the forwards, while failing to record a shot on target, were fed thin gruel.

It is a challenge for the manager as well as his players. As Glasner said in pre-match: “De Zerbi has a clear way he plays with his teams. That makes it a little bit easier to prepare. The patterns are very obvious.”

Amid the revolution at Spurs, some evolution is necessary on the manager’s part too.

According to reports, Chelsea have been ‘offered’ the chance to sign midfielder Yves Bissouma following his exit from Tottenham Hotspur.

Chelsea are being presented with several opportunities to bolster their midfield department after missing out on AS Monaco star Lamine Camara on deadline day.

The Blues identified Camara as a leading target to replace Enzo Fernandez, who joined Manchester City on deadline day for around £125m.

Monaco reached an agreement with Chelsea to sell Camara on deadline day, but they dramatically pulled the plug at the eleventh hour after deciding to offload Folarin Balogun to Everton instead. Ultimately, though, neither player left the Ligue Un club.

And with Fernandez’s move still going through, Chelsea are somewhat short of options in centre-midfield.

READ: Big Weekend: Arsenal v Chelsea, Aston Villa, Matthias Jaissle, Bruno Fernandes, Our League-coded Serie A

With the English transfer window closed, Chelsea’s only option to strengthen their midfield before January is to sign a free agent.

Earlier this week, it was claimed that the Blues have been given the chance to sign former Liverpool star Georginio Wijnaldum following his exit from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq.

However, Fabrizio Romano has stated that Chelsea have ruled out a move for 35-year-old Wijnaldum.

Romano explained: ‘Chelsea will not sign Georginio Wijnaldum.

‘Club currently playing down all reports about the Dutch midfielder.’

Chelsea given the chance to sign Yves Bissouma

Now, The Sun are reporting that the Blues have been ‘offered’ Bissouma, who is still a free agent after leaving Tottenham after the expiry of his contract in the summer.

The report does not state whether Chelsea intend to sign Bissouma, but he will presumably be given the same answer as Wijnaldum as they wait for January.

Still, the report claims Bissouma has a clear ‘preference’ amid interest from two other clubs.

The report explains:

‘He also has Premier League experience and would have been happy to take a one-year deal with an option for another.

‘SunSport understands that Bissouma has interest from Ajax and Monaco, too although he would have preferred to stay in the Premier League.’

Looking ahead, Camara remains a possibility for Chelsea in January or next summer, but they could alternatively look at Bournemouth’s Alex Scott and/or Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton.

Tottenham are poised to offload an underperforming star for a handy fee within the next 24 hours, with a lucrative agreement on personal terms already struck.

Spurs presided over one of the most chaotic transfer windows in recent memory, culminating in a rather unspiring double raid on Chelsea for Tosin Adarabioyo and Mykhailo Mudryk (loan).

Mudryk rounded out the revamp in the final third, with Savio signed to play on the right wing and Omar Marmoush up front.

And with Dominic Solanke still on the books too, and no European football this season, third-choice frontman, Richarlison, will barely kick a ball if sticking around.

The English window has closed, though the one in Turkey remains open until September 4.

Roberto De Zerbi has publicly confirmed the Brazilian, 29, has asked to leave Tottenham on multiple occasions this summer.

Over the past 24 hours, Richarlison agreed lucrative personal terms with Turkish side Trabzonspor – where Mohamed Salah plays – with the striker primed to treble his salary if completing the move.

Fabrizio Romano wrote on X: ‘BREAKING: Richarlison has agreed to join Trabzonspor with salary agreed, x3 more than what he currently earns at Tottenham.

‘Spurs rejected two bids worth £15m and £20m; new proposal anticipated soon. Trabzonspor want Richy as priority.’

Trabzonspor have seen two bids for Richarlison turned down so far, with the first worth £15m and the second elevated up to £20m.

According to our colleagues over on TEAMtalk, the expectation is Trabzonspor do return with a decisive third bid, and this is now a deal that will be made.

READ NEXT: Gary Neville ‘surprised’ Chelsea did not sign ‘perfect’ £34m star from Tottenham this summer

Trabzonspor will sign Richarlison from Tottenham – sources

Their insider, Fraser Fletcher, wrote: ‘Tottenham are keen to offload the Brazilian, with Roberto De Zerbi not eager to keep a player who has already asked to leave – as the manager has admitted publicly.

‘After recent arrivals in north London, namely Spurs’ signing of Omar Marmoush, Richarlison has slipped further down the pecking order. Sources are confident he will be a Trabzonspor player within the next 24 hours.’

Doubling down on the claim Trabzonspor will seal a club-to-club agreement with Spurs, Fletcher went on to add: ‘De Zerbi’s stance has been consistent: players who want to leave must bring an “economic solution.”

‘Spurs would rather cash in than keep an unhappy forward. The remaining issue is the fee, not the player’s willingness.

‘If Trabzonspor raise their bid to a level Tottenham will accept, the move can be finished quickly. Sources around the deal believe that is close.’

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur star Richarlison has a ‘verbal agreement’ to join Trabzonspor after a move to Everton collapsed.

In this summer’s transfer window, Tottenham were incredibly busy and improved their squad by spending over £300m on signings.

The north London outfit looked to strengthen all over the pitch, with Savio, Omar Marmoush, Sandro Tonali, Matheus Fernandes and Jan Paul van Hecke among their most notable additions.

This business has made several players surplus to requirements, including forward Richarlison.

In the closing days of the summer window, Tottenham tried to offload Richarlison as part of a double deal that would have seen them sign Iliman Ndiaye.

Tottenham even reached an agreement with Everton for this double deal, but this fell through as Richarlison reportedly could not agree on terms for a return to the Toffees.

READ: Premier League transfer window winners: Brentford, Maresca, De Zerbi, Chelsea

This led to Man City hijacking the Ndiaye deal to sign him from Everton for £65m, while Tottenham turned to Chelsea winger Mykhaylo Mudryk as an alternative.

Richarlison eyes Super Lig transfer

Richarlison, meanwhile, remains in limbo, but he is trying to secure a move to Turkey. Their transfer window does not close until Friday night.

And journalist Joe Krishnan reported on Wednesday afternoon that Super Lig side Trabzonspor, who have already signed Mohamed Salah this summer, have made a ‘bid’ to sign Richarlison.

Krishnan has also shed light on how Spurs have responded to advances from Trabzonspor.

He said on X: ‘EXCL: Trabzonspor looking to sign Richarlison from Tottenham on a permanent deal.

‘Turkish club have held talks & submitted two bids above €10m – using Gabriel Jesus to Barcelona as a marker. Spurs want higher offers for unsettled 29yo.’

Turkish reporter Yagız Sabuncuoglu, meanwhile, is also reporting that Tottenham have received an ‘offer’ from Trabzonspor for Richarlison.

He has also stated that Richarlison is pushing for the move and has a ‘verbal agreement’.

He said on X: ‘EXCLUSIVE | Trabzonspor has made an offer to Tottenham for Richarlison. The player is warm to the offer but there is no agreement with Tottenham yet. Contacts continue!

He later added on X: ‘Richarlison has verbally agreed with Trabzonspor!

‘The Brazilian player wants to join Trabzonspor and is pressuring his club to accept the offer! Richarlison wants to leave Tottenham.’

However, The Athletic have since reported that Trabzonspor look likely to miss out on Richarlison.

They explained: ‘Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor have made an unsuccessful attempt to sign Richarlison in the past 24 hours.

‘After their failed effort, it is not clear whether Trabzonspor will make a further attempt to bring in the 29-year-old. While the transfer deadline in England has passed, Turkish clubs are able to buy players until Friday, September 4.’

Gary Neville has said that Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso should have signed Cristian Romero from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer transfer window.

Romero signed a new contract with Tottenham in the summer of 2025, but the Argentina international left the north London club this summer.

Atletico Madrid secured the services of Romero by paying Tottenham £34.2million for him.

Former Manchester United defender Neville believes that Chelsea should have signed Romero before he moved to Atletico.

The Sky Sports pundit has outlined the attributes that makes Romero perfect for Chelsea under Alonso.

Chelsea should have signed Cristian Romero

Neville said about Chelsea and Romero on The Overlap: “They conceded 60 odd goals Romero last season for Tottenham, I know he didn’t play all the time, but your eyes don’t deceive you about a player.

READ: Record-breaking Chelsea star already planning to leave in January after Xabi Alonso decision

“It sounds crazy. I wouldn’t mind him in my team.

“I am surprised Chelsea didn’t sign him.

“I am surprised Chelsea didn’t sign him.

“Now, they might not want to sell him to Chelsea, but I thought Chelsea might be perfect for him.

“Aggressive centre-half in a three, yeah, just surprised they didn’t sign him.”

Gary Neville gives Enzo Fernandez verdict

Neville has also given his verdict on Chelsea’s decision to sell Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City.

Man City signed the Argentina international midfielder from Chelsea on the final day of the summer transfer window.

Chelsea received £125million from Man City for Fernandez, making the midfielder the joint most expensive player in Premier League history, along with Alexander Isak, who cost the same amount when he joined Liverpool from Newcastle United in the summer of 2025.

Fernandez wanted to leave Chelsea this summer, and the presence of Enzo Maresca as the Man City manager played a key role in getting a deal done.

Maresca worked with the midfielder during his time as the Chelsea boss and wanted to bring him to the Etihad Stadium.

Neville said: “He is better than the other midfield players that have moved this summer, though, isn’t he?

“Is he better than Elliot Anderson? I think probably he is.

“He’s more proven, I think.

“He’s better than [Matheus] Fernandes and [Sandro] Tonali and [Bruno] Guimaraes, I think.

“So, from a point of view of quality, they have signed a top midfield player, haven’t they?

“You know, United – [Youri] Tielemans, [Carlos] Baleba, [Andrey] Santos – he’s the best one out of the lot that have travelled.”

It’s now two days since the end of the Premier League’s most absurd transfer window yet, and to be honest we’re still trying to work out how to even begin processing the sheer volume of nonsense.

Who won? Who lost? How to even define these things? Does any of it even matter? This was the summer when the Chelseafication of the transfer market was complete. A summer marked not just by the absurdity of the sums being thrown around in transfer fees but the sense that it didn’t even really matter.

There’s something distinctly housing bubble about it all, about how it doesn’t seem to matter what you do the value just keeps going up anyway. The sheer breadth of the money-spunking exercise has become its own defence mechanism. Spent £100m on a dud? Fear not, someone will soon be along to give you £80m for them anyway.

How do you try to apply reason to a world where Chelsea can spend £60m on Mykhailo Mudryk, watch him be quite crap for a while and then banned for another while, and then agree a deal that means this time next year they might turn a profit?

You can’t. But we have to try. So we’re going to attempt that by going back to the deep, dark depths of three weeks ago, just before actual Premier League football rudely intruded again, when we attempted to identify the 10 biggest problems or most conspicuously gaping holes across the Premier League as the transfer clock ticked, and see whether any of them actually got sorted. Or, again, whether any of them actually mattered at all.

Tottenham’s striker

Perfect place to start, isn’t it? Because the answer here is… kind of? Maybe? It’s suitably unclear anyway.

Spurs have added Savio, Omar Marmoush and Mykhailo Mudryk to their squad since then. They have not (yet) shifted either Dominic Solanke or Richarlison, who do appear to be the two remaining players at the club with the spikiest relationship with the spiky Roberto De Zerbi.

De Zerbi has already talked about a double-figure goals target for Savio this season and it does seem Spurs will have a collective approach to arriving at a suitable overall tally.

Marmoush does look like a smart addition, and the last striker to decide trying to compete for minutes with Erling Haaland at Man City was a futile, career-wasting endeavour has done all right.

But he’s not a pure number nine either. The lack of real links with such a player – the other big attacking targets that fell through for Spurs were Cody Gakpo and Iliman Ndiaye – suggest maybe De Zerbi doesn’t want one. Because he really did get given pretty much everything he did ask for.

Two Premier League games into the season, Spurs haven’t yet scored a goal or particularly looked like scoring a goal. So whatever this new-look attack is going to be, it does need to be it really quite soon to prevent an understandably if amusingly stuttering start for a club at last throwing its transfer weight around becoming another whole season of doom and despair.

Manchester City’s midfield

This was a post-Community Shield kneejerk and one should always be wary of a post-Community Shield kneejerk. Such things are dangerous enough after the actual football has started, never mind a friendly.

But it really did look in Cardiff like a midfield of Elliott Anderson and Mateo Kovacic wasn’t really going to work, and City duly responded as City now do by throwing another nine-figure sum at the problem to bring in Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea.

Fernandez was already guaranteed pantomime-villain status in the Premier League this summer after his World Cup antics with Argentina. Becoming the poster boy for a summer of such extreme and untethering largesse by moving from one of the Premier League’s two most notorious money-chuckers to the other represents a bold doubling-down on that status. There will be plenty who are willing him and City to fail, even if it does mean the previously well-liked Anderson becoming collateral damage.

Manchester United’s defence

The necessary surgery was completed on the midfield, but the risks of sticking with a creaking and ageing defence have already been on display in United’s first couple of games in which a pair of promoted teams have helped themselves to four goals against a defence that four years ago was shipping four at Brentford.

There’s going to be an awful lot of strain on that defence when the two-game-a-week schedule kicks in. A lot has been staked on Luke Shaw remaining fit and reliable for pretty much the entirety of the next four months.

Liverpool’s fitness

A lot of this summer’s focus has landed inevitably upon City and Chelsea and Spurs where the most outlandish behaviour has generally been to be found.

So what then to make of Liverpool ending up with the summer’s biggest net spend of the lot when the music finally stopped? And also ending up with a squad that doesn’t really look any better than last season’s.

Bradley Barcola is a thrilling and brilliant but enormously expensive addition to their attack, but Liverpool are still going to need a couple of the thus far underwhelming thrilling and brilliant but enormously expensive additions to their attack from last summer to really kick on if it’s going to mean anything.

As for the specific issue of fitness, Liverpool have scored two late equalisers in a pair of 2-2 draws to start the season. So maybe they’re fine. Or maybe there are deeper issues, because this time last year they were busy scoring last-minute winners that turned out to be masking some significant issues. Maybe it’s just a coincidence. Maybe it’s all just a bunch of stuff that happened. Maybe none of it means anything at all.

Chelsea’s goalkeeper

Yes! Finally, a clear and decisive tick. This was an obvious problem before a ball was kicked. Became an even more obvious problem in the first game of the season. And was then addressed.

In a summer where nobody agrees on anything, let us all revel in the common ground that Emi Martinez is better than Robert Sanchez.

Thank you, Chelsea, for providing this unifying moment.

Obviously, this was the perplexing summer of 2026 so now the worry instead lies in midfield where the departure of Fernandez without replacement does raise a fresh concern. The absence of European football does mean Chelsea can probably muddle through to January with what they’ve got.

As long as Moises Caicedo remains upright, then a rotating supporting cast of your Romeo Lavias, Valentin Barcos and Reece Jameses might be enough until Chelsea get another chance to throw £80m at the problem in January.

The alternative, of course, is the desperate but always entertaining option of taking a punt on the Free Agent Lucky Dip.

Given Spurs’ enduring fondness for Chelsea cast-offs, flops and unwanted spare parts, there would be something particularly delicious in the Blues opting for Yves Bissouma or, if you really want to unleash the most banter option of all, Tanguy Ndombele as a suitable warm body just to fill a squad place until the new year.

Aston Villa’s midfield

Another welcome one where we can at least point to specific action taken with the arrival of the vastly experienced Leon Goretzka as a free agent following his Bayern Munich exit an under-the-radar bit of late-August business that might end up looking very canny indeed just as soon as everyone realises it happened.

Villa have endured another summer of upheaval and had to do it all while carefully balancing the chips they must carry at all times on both shoulders, but while there’s been far more change than you’d really like to ideally see we do think they’ve come out of it all… okay. They’ve done some really smart business all over the pitch despite the undeniably disconcerting and disorientating effect of having so much of the spine that has underpinned their recent success – Martinez, Konsa, Tielemans, Rogers, Watkins – ripped out.

We’re certainly more confident that their goalless, pointless start to the season is more of a blip than certain other goalless, pointless starts to the season anyway.

Newcastle’s Newcastle

Forget about this one. Turns out Matthias Jaissle is actually a genius and everything is fine actually.

The only possible spanner in the Newcastle works now is the undeniable fear that taking four points off Liverpool and Tottenham to start the season has actually told us a lot more about Liverpool and Tottenham than it has about Newcastle.

We’ll know far more about the true value of those two fine results after they play a less silly club. Bournemouth this weekend looks ideal.

Fulham’s manager

Alvaro Arbeloa, the Temu Xabi Alonso, is already the Sack Race favourite despite Tottenham’s struggles and the fact Mr Marinakis hasn’t sacked a manager in weeks and must surely be itching to go again.

We understand the reasons why both thought it might be time to move on, but Fulham and Marco Silva really did feel like one of those rare alignments of the right manager for the right club at the right time.

That’s definitely a contributing factor in why Arbeloa always felt to us like the flimsiest of the various managerial newcomers that we’ve got up and down the Premier League this season.

Coventry’s Sky Bet vibe

Yeah, they still absolutely whiff of the Sky Bet unfortunately. And having lost to Hull their fixture list now comes with a worrying look. They’ve got Man City, Brighton, Forest and Newcastle over the next month or so and could already be starting to look adrift before the respite offered by a trip to Dr Tottenham in late October.

While the focus has inevitably been on the money spent by the biggest beasts, in its own way the clearest indicator of just how daft it’s all got is just how hard and expensive it is to de-Championship a promoted team in these game’s-gone days.

Coventry have spent £150m just to end up with a squad that looks at best like Championship Deluxe.

Crystal Palace’s defence

Still very much in ‘Fear for them’ territory here after a pair of defeats, including the sight of a very much work-in-progress Man City stomping all over them last Friday night.

Have brought in Axel Disasi on loan from Chelsea because apparently at some point all Premier League teams are obliged to bring in Axel Disasi on loan from Chelsea. There’s a rota system in place.

They’ve also got Honest Ahanor on loan from Chelsea but not actually from Chelsea because that’s not allowed. He’s joining Chelsea next summer but is technically on loan at Palace from Atalanta this season. It’s a transfer that makes us feel a bit queasy, and it being about a player quite literally called ‘Honest’ does feel a touch on the nose. Sure, it’s not the only one, but it does appear to be a deal quite openly sticking two fingers up to the rules as it gleefully gallops through the loophole it’s found.

The Chelsea-flavoured feel is complete with the return of Ben Chilwell, who spent time on loan with Palace a couple of seasons ago and arrives now from Strasbourg.

Easy to just roll your eyes at it all, but we have years of transfer-window experience now and let us tell you that football clubs only sign an injured Ben Chilwell on deadline day when they are very distressed.

Chelsea legend John Terry insists that Tosin Adarabioyo told him he was “gutted” after Xabi Alonso informed the defender he wasn’t in his plans.

Alonso’s side didn’t bring in any players on deadline day but Marc Guiu (£14.6m, RB Leipzig), Deivid Washington (undisclosed, Strasbourg), Dario Essugo (loan, Strasbourg), Mykhaylo Mudryk (loan, Tottenham), Tosin (£10m, Tottenham) and Enzo Fernandez (£125m, Manchester City) all completed moves away from Stamford Bridge.

Tosin had only been at Stamford Bridge for a couple of years after joining Chelsea on a free transfer in 2024 from west London rivals Fulham.

But the writing had been on the wall for his future at Chelsea with Alonso leaving him out of his first three matchday squads of the new season.

And Terry revealed that he spoke to Tosin after his £10m move to Tottenham was confirmed with the Manchester City academy product “gutted” to be told he wasn’t part of Alonso’s plans.

Terry said in an interview with GBFC: “I was speaking to Tosin the other day and I was like, ‘What did the manager say?’ And he was like, ‘I’m just not in his plans.

READ: Chelsea pulled off ‘signing of century’ this summer as Crouch makes bold Blues vs Arsenal prediction

“He said, ‘Listen, fully respect it. I’d love to kind of prove him wrong here, but I’ve been told I’d need to find another club and he’s going, I’m gutted because I’ve only been here a couple of years’.

“So he’s obviously disappointed with that, Tosin, but the manager makes it really clear, so honest with the players, there’s no kind of grey area in there at all.

“He’s made it clear that he really likes Josh Acheampong at the moment, and that he’s played a couple of games as well and seems like he’s the future.

“He’d rather have him around than Tosin, so allowing these players to go is right, because what people don’t see as well, when you’ve got a first team dressing room of 24, 26 players in that room, up the corridor, there’s a dressing room for the maybe eight or 10 players that don’t want to be there, that want to be out playing elsewhere, that have to train with a different coach, completely separate away from the [under] 21s and completely separate away from the first team.”

Terry continued: “You have to eat at different times. You’re treated so differently; it’s horrible. I’ve seen it, I’ve tried to change this even when I played. I really didn’t like it in the building.

READ: Chelsea reach decision on signing Georginio Wijnaldum after Lamine Camara reacts to transfer collapse

“I tried to integrate the group, but then kind of post-retirement, you fully understand they’re my 24, 26 players; I need to work with these; they have to be my full focus.

“I can’t worry about Tosin and Mudryk and these guys that are kind of in and around it, that are not in my plans at all.

“So I really like how cutthroat it is. And I know that probably sounds harsh as well, but I think players, especially today, really appreciate the honesty.

“And Tosin gets his deal, which allows him to play regular football and also for Mudryk an opportunity to play week in, week out as a loan for the season and then see where that ends up at the end of it.”

Chelsea left short in one area – Terry

On Chelsea’s overall business, Terry added: “I just feel that’s the one position we’re probably left short.

“Everywhere else, I think I’m happy. But in terms of that, it feels like we’ve kind of missed one, I feel, in the market. You spoke about Adam Wharton, who I’m a big fan of as well.

“Jordan Henderson, I still think he has a big part to play at our club. Now, that’s probably not starting week in, week out. But in terms of, again, being that Enzo, driving those standards and being around, and it’s not just the puppet to be here and kind of be those clapping and kind of wishing players well.

“He’s still a top, top player and still will offer a lot for us. But I do think we’ve missed one in terms of that [midfielder]. But I just think overall, I’m really happy in terms of the market and the window we’ve had.”