The only place to start this week is to reflect on the summer transfer window. It was a crazy deadline day, and the stand-out deal was undoubtedly Enzo Fernandez’s £125 million move from Chelsea to Manchester City.
No matter what you want to say about Fernandez, he's still a good footballer, and Chelsea would be devastated to lose him. He's not a Rodri replacement, because he's not a number six — I think he's a number eight, or someone who can play higher up that can get forward and get you goals.
Clinton was speaking courtesy of Free Bets, home of the best betting sites in the UK.
'Deadline day disappointment but a good window on the whole for Chelsea'
They’ve also brought in Ayyoub Bouaddi, who’s a fantastic young player. And we all know Elliot Anderson’s qualities in the centre of midfield.
It leaves Man City with a very strong squad, especially when you consider that they’ll have either Rayan Cherki or Phil Foden in the number ten role. There’s lots of competition for places, and it’ll be fascinating to see how Enzo Maresca fits them all into his team.
Meanwhile, it was a disappointing deadline day for Chelsea, but they’ve had a very good window overall.
They’ll be gutted not to have got in a replacement for Fernandez, as I know they were trying to sign Manu Kone from Roma and their manager didn’t want to let him go.
And then you look at Lamine Camara, who's a good player from Monaco. It seemed like they only wanted to sell one of Folarin Balogun or Camara, and both of them have ended up staying at the club.
Chelsea have still got Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson who play in that position, but I feel like they've left themselves one player short in that position.
A player like Camara would have added the energy that they need in midfield. These are all good footballers, but he gives you that energy going from box-to-box.
Looking elsewhere, and the situation surrounding Malick Fofana was crazy. I know Sunderland’s owner went out to Lyon to convince the player to join. In that situation, I wouldn’t say he was forced to choose Sunderland over Crystal Palace, but I think it was inevitable that he would make that decision in those circumstances.
But I do think that if Palace wanted him, why didn't they just go in earlier? Why are you waiting until the last minute? That's what annoys me with clubs. If you want someone and you think that's your number one target, go and get them earlier in the window. It's crazy how clubs just wait until the end of the window.
Fofana is someone I’ve seen play a lot for Lyon. He’s an exciting player and is a good signing for Sunderland. It is what it is - it was a crazy situation watching it unravel.
If I’m looking at who I think has been the best signing of the summer in the Premier League overall, I’d have to pick Bruno Guimaraes’ move to Arsenal for £75 million. I think he'll be a fantastic signing. That’s closely followed by Youri Tielemans move to Manchester United for £35 million, which seems like the cost of a cup of tea in transfer terms these days!
But I still Man United have left themselves short after this window, and they ultimately failed to bring in a left-back. Crystal Palace brought in Ben Chilwell, and that would’ve been a great option. But he’s only a couple of years younger than Luke Shaw, and they probably wanted a young and hungry left-back.
The one they really wanted was Lewis Hall at Newcastle United and were desperate to get him, so that was a big disappointment for Man United.
I still feel they need to make improvements right along that backline with a new right-back, left-back, and probably a new centre-half too.
In previous windows, they've focused on attackers first and looked at their midfield in this window. I think their focus in the next window has to be in the defensive positions.
Those defensive weaknesses are probably why they won't challenge to win the Premier League at this moment in time.
But the transfer window will soon become a distant memory, as we turn our attention back to the games on the pitch.
The stand-out Premier League game this weekend has to be between Arsenal and Chelsea, which will be the first big test for Mikel Arteta’s side this season.
It will be a massive game, because Chelsea's front three will cause Arsenal's defenders a lot of problems, but Arsenal's attackers will cause Chelsea's defenders problems. So it's an interesting game.
I'm not working, I'll be sat in front of the TV, chilling and relaxing, watching the game. I think it'll be a fantastic match.
We will see where Chelsea really are against the champions, and see whether they are ready to make a title challenge this season.
