Big Signings Start With a Bang

By Zain Alvi | 15th September 2009

emmanuel-adebayor-kolo-toure While Emmanuel Adebayor’s infamous lack of sportsmanship this past weekend has overshadowed Manchester City’s emphatic 4-2 victory over his former club Arsenal, it is impossible to overlook the strong impact he has made at the Eastlands already. Less than half a dozen games into the season, Adebayor is already a big hit with the Sky Blues faithful with an average of a goal per game thus far. However, the controversial Togolese striker is not the only new signing to have impressed at his new club.

Adebayor’s fellow new arrivals at City, Gareth Barry and another former Gunner – Kolo Toure – have also contributed immensely to the cause of their ambitious club. Meanwhile, City’s opponents from the weekend – Arsenal- have also benefited quite a bit from the incredible start taken at the club by Belgian international defender, Thomas Vermaelen. Sticking to the traditional “Big Four,” Liverpool have also surprisingly managed to get a great return on their investment in regards to the rather expensive signing of Glen Johnson. Few could have predicted that the England fullback would manage to justify his massive billing right away.

In continental Europe, the pattern remains quite similar, with high-profile signings enjoying a dream opening spell. For instance, Cristiano Ronaldo has managed to score in each of Real Madrid’s opening two La Liga outings, which should put him well on his way to shrug off some of the excess pressure that came with his ridiculous price tag.

Over at Real’s bitter rivals FC Barcelona, the club’s €69 million acquisition of Zlatan Ibrahimovic seems to be paying dividends already. After all, the powerful Swede has easily managed to overcome a mediocre pre-season by scoring in both of Barca’s opening La Liga games. The icing on the cake has been Ibra’s stunning chemistry with fellow forwards Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry. The Catalan giants’ influential midfielder, Xavi, has already hailed Zlatan as a “likeable” addition to Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning side.

Samuel Eto’o, the man who swapped clubs with Ibrahimovic, is also enjoying life at Inter Milan quite a bit. It seems as if the Cameroon striker picked up at the San Siro from exactly where he left off at Camp Nou. Jose Mourinho has reportedly gotten well over the departure of Ibrahimovic now that Eto’o has combined so effectively with fellow new signing, Diego Milito. In the midfield too, Inter have reportedly been very grateful to the creativity provided by Dutch star Wesley Sneijder, whose performances have been comparable to Brazilian play-maker Diego’s sizzling displays at Juventus.

Sneijder’s fellow Dutch departure from Real Madrid – Arjen Robben – has started his career in the Bundesliga in the most brilliant of ways. Robben’s brace inspired his underachieving Bayern Munich side to its first win of the season before the commencement of the international break. As we returned from the international break, it was more of the same as Bayern’s record league signing – Mario Gomez – led the team to a 5-1 thrashing of Borussia Dortmund away from home.

All in all, it seems that most clubs have already began receiving some value for the tremendous amount of money that was spent on football transfers this summer. Obviously, the journey to excellence is far from complete for most of these extremely expensive acquisitions. However, a promising start at the new club shouldn’t hurt anyone, right?

Who has been the signing of the summer in your eyes? Have your say below!