Defender Merry Go Round Causes Excitement

By Brian Lofrumento | 28th August 2009

Defender Merry Go Round Causes Excitement | read this item

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sylvain-distin This summer may have seemed a bit boring as far as transfers go, but things are finally heating up. Manchester City and Real Madrid were the overwhelming big spenders during the blistering hot summer months, but with only a few days remaining the “smaller” clubs are working hard to fill out their squads for the fall and winter.

Yesterday saw a flurry of defenders move clubs, and they were some pretty big names.

City captain signs for Villa

It was only a matter of time before City’s squad got too big, and surprisingly enough it’s their [former] captain that finds himself surplus to requirements. Central defender Richard Dunne has completed a deal that sends him to Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa, and this is only a good thing for the Villans.

Dunne is a class defender that is tough as nails and has pace and experience to boot. He has seen his position at City disintegrate, though, after Joleon Lescott’s arrival signalled a new partnership between Lescott and fellow summer signing Kolo Toure.

The 29 year old spent nine years at City and hopes to enjoy a good few years with Villa.

Everton replace the departed Lescott

While Dunne’s move was prompted by Lescott’s arrival, the former Everton man’s departure sparked more movement around the Premiership. Portsmouth’s pacy and talented Sylvain Distin has agreed a deal at Goodison Park that sees Everton pick up a Premier League quality defender at an affordable price.

Distin may be 31 years old, but with Lescott’s distraction causing havoc in the Everton camp it’s surely better to move on. David Moyes is tying the defender up to a three year deal pending the results of a medical.

Warnock leaves Ewood Park, replaced by Chimbonda

Aston Villa further strengthened their back line on Thursday by clinching a deal for Blackburn defender Stephen Warnock. The self proclaimed Quasimodo lookalike signs a four year contract with Villa.

Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce wasted no time in replacing the defender/midfielder as he brought Pascal Chimbonda in from Tottenham.

Will these players succeed at their new clubs? Have your say below!

Zain Alvi says:

August 28, 2009 at 8:10 pm

It’s great to see an article up on this subject as it really did create quite a buzz yesterday. Aside from Robben and Sneijder’s high-profile departures, which still kept Real Madrid at the helm of the news (actually, I think the CL group stage draw gets that honor), this defender merry go round was pretty entertaining too.

I can’t help but feel that Chimbonda is not an ideal replacement for a player as important as Warnock, especially when the other full-back the Rovers signed was the aging Michel Salgado. On the other hand, I can see Villa benefit A LOT from their spending and Everton also did a great job of acquiring Distin, a player who has consistently proven his quality in the Prem.

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