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SPENDING BIG

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The Premier league has been spending a lot of money on high-profile talent in this transfer window. They have spent in excess of £ 600 million, which is a record. This has primarily been spent on foreign talent rather than buying players from the local league. This has been criticised by Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp, who has been praised for his managerial abilities in recent years. He has managed to work with an unlimited budget at Dortmund, yet he has been hugely successful. Two high-profile transfers that have been criticised by Klopp are Mesut Ozil’s move to Arsenal and Gareth Bale’s move to Real Madrid.

Ozil was signed by Arsenal for £ 42 million in the final day of the transfer window, while Bale made his move to the Santiago Bernabeu a few days earlier for £ 85 million, which is a new world record. Even though Dortmund have also spent money in this transfer window, it has largely been because of the revenue generated from the sale of Mario Gotze. The sale of the 21-year-old to Bayern Munich fetched the club £ 35 million and all of it has been reinvested in new signings. Apart from that, Dortmund have spent very little money on new players.

“It’s insane what happens in England. 80% of the players, for whom the clubs spent €700m (£600m), I don’t even know. It doesn’t matter how much a player costs. The question is if you really want him and finally if you can pay. The amounts are crazy. The transfer of Ozil is incredible. That doesn’t happen often, €50m (£42.5m) on the last day. The story of this summer transfer window is of new records: a new record for Premier League spending as well as a new world transfer record fee,” said Klopp.

PLAYERS LINKED OUT

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After the relegation of QPR into the Championship, a number of their players have been linked with moves elsewhere. The club also has to sell some of its stars in order to reduce the wage bill, which could put the club in a turmoil. QPR were one of the big spenders in the Premier league last season. Julio Cesar was one of the big name arrivals from Inter Milan. The Brazilian shot stopper had suffered a huge dip in confidence in the last few years, which led to his departure from the San Siro.

However, he seems to have found his form once again as he has been named in the past few Brazilian national team squads. Cesar, though, is thought to be of the opinion that his chances of making it into the squad for the 2014 World Cup will be severely depleted if he continues playing in the Championship. Hence, he is likely to demand a transfer as manager Harry Redknapp admitted after the club was relegated at the end of last season. Redknapp said that it would extremely difficult for QPR to keep hold of Cesar given his stature in the game.

Now, Napoli are interested in signing him. Napoli are managed by former Inter Milan manager Rafa Benitez.

“It’s absolutely pointless. What’s the point loaning a player and then he comes back to you the following year on massive wages. He’s in his prime at the moment and wanted by many clubs around the world so now is the time really. We need to move on. If he wants to leave then he goes and we sell him. Napoli are not short of money. They’ve just sold a player for £54million so if they want him then they’ve got to do a deal,” said Redknapp regarding a loan move for Cesar to Napoli.

MARTINEZ NEXT?

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Wigan manager Roberto Martinez is all set to meet the Everton chairman in order to hold talks with a potential move to Goodison Park. Martinez has emerged as the frontrunner for the job in which he will be replacing David Moyes, who has done a stellar job for the past 11 years. Wigan chairman Dave Whelan recently revealed that he has given Everton the permission to talk with Martinez. This is not the first time Martinez has been linked with a move away from Wigan. He came extremely close to leaving the club in 2011 when he was interviewed for the Aston Villa job.

He recently led the club to FA Cup success after the win over Manchester city, but he also for his team relegated into the Championship. It has brought an end to the eight year spell in the Premier league for Wigan. Martinez said after the relegation from the final and that he will consider his future amidst interest from several clubs like Everton. He has also been linked with a return to Spain as well. The likes of Malaga are interested in making Martinez as their next manager.

Martinez has said that it is a privilege to be talking with the club like Everton.

“Roberto wanted permission to move. So I’ve given that. He feels he’s not the man to lead us back into the Premier League. I’ve got to accept what he feels. He loves Wigan and the fans. We have to move on now and want applications for the job. Roberto has resigned. We are going to release him. Whoever comes in for him must pay the remainder of his contract,” said Whelan. Everton are searching for a new manager after David Moyes is set to join Manchester United at the end of the season.