Tottenham Hotspur’s signing of James Maddison from the English Premier League has been voted the best deal of the summer transfer window.
The Athletic, a U.S.-based sports publication, released the results of a transfer market survey of 20 anonymous agents working primarily in the Premier League on Friday.
Tottenham paid a £40 million ($66.1 billion) transfer fee to Leicester City, who were relegated to the Championship last season, to acquire Maddison. Nearly half of the agents surveyed said it was the best deal of the summer.
Statistics are becoming increasingly important in the industry. Maddison has scored 30 goals and provided 24 assists in the Premier League over the past three seasons. Only six players have been directly involved in more goals over the same period. Maddison has two goals and two assists in his first four Premier League games in a Tottenham shirt.
Declan Rice, who joined Arsenal for £150 million from West Ham, came in second with three votes. Rather than focusing on Rice’s expensive transfer fee, agents focused more on what he would bring to Arsenal. “If Arsenal win the league, he’ll be well worth the money,” said one agent.
Since then, only two deals have received more than one vote: Judd Bellingham and Harry Kane.
The worst deal, meanwhile, was the signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea to London rivals Arsenal. Six people voted for it.
Arsenal spent £65 million to sign Haberth. Agents were not convinced.
“Haberth… I don’t understand, I don’t think we needed him,” said one agent. “The player who didn’t have to move far geographically from the agent who made that deal is the luckiest person in the world,” he said, adding, “When I watch him play (now), he looks like he lacks skill and confidence. Maybe (he) will prove me wrong, but for that kind of money, it’s a terrible contract.”온라인바카라
Moises Caicedo was the second worst deal with five votes. Chelsea’s £115 million deal for the midfielder from Brighton & Hove Albion was criticized as an ‘overspend’.