Man City dominated transfer window with £120m big-name deals

The summer transfer deadline passed yesterday afternoon without any of the marquee signings that have characterised the last two windows closing, such as Manchester City gazumping Chelsea for the signature of Robinho last September for £32.5m, or the endless machinations that plagued Andrei Arshavin's move from Zenit St Petersburg to Arsenal in February 2009.

Indeed the biggest deal of the day in strictly cash terms appears to have been the previously unheralded Johnny Heitinga's move from Atletico Madrid to Everton for £6m, scarcely a deal to get the pulse racing on what is supposed to be one of the most exciting days in the football calendar.

But look at the window over the whole summer, and some pretty serious business has taken place, mostly, as expected, in Manchester. Man City boss Mark Hughes has made a serious attempt to dent his billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan's fortunes with an outlay of more than £120m over the close season on Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Sylvinho and Joleon Lescott.

City certainly paid over the odds for many their summer captures - the £25.5m for Tevez seemed to be the cost of bragging rights over the Argentinian's former club Man Utd, while the deals for Barry (£12m) and £17.5m man Santa Cruz were widely mocked. And Hughes lost any second club status for the previously admired City with his ruthless pursuit of Everton's Lescott - Goodison Park manager David Moyes called the way the £23m transfer was handled "disgusting".

But the signing of Adebayor, hated at his former club Arsenal for indifference to the cause, appears to have been a masterstroke, albeit a £25m one, as the Togolese hitman has scored in each of City's Premier League games to date this season.

Across town at Old Trafford the business was just as eye-catching - remember Cristiano Ronaldo's departure to Real Madrid for a world record £80m anyone? Alex Ferguson spent the summer maintaining that he didn't need to enrich his squad beyond a like-for-like winger (Antonio Valencia, £18m from Wigan) and some savvy business saw him pick up Michael Owen on a free from Newcastle.

However a disappointing start to the season - defeat at new boys Burnley and a general feeling on the pitch that Ronaldo's goals and all-round excellence - have ensured that a few voices of complaint are being raised among the faithful. Ferguson could return to the window in January intent on some serious business.

Moving south, Chelsea, whom one could usually depend upon to splurge the cash on an over-rated foreigner looking for a final payday, were suspiciously quiet. New boss Carlo Ancelotti was said to be keen on bringing former AC Milan charges such as Andrea Pirlo to the Londoners, and Bayern Munich's wantaway winger Franck Ribery was said to be high on his list.

But no one came, beyond Yuri Zhirkov from Russia (£18m) and Daniel Sturridge from Man City on a free, and with four games gone Chelsea are top of the table with a 100 per cent record. An endorsement of good management of one's resources, perhaps.

Arsene Wenger was another who was happy with what he had, thanks, only moving early for defender Thomas Vermaelen (Ajax, £10m) and happily accepting almost £40m of Dubai oil money for Adebayor and Toure. Eternal rivals Spurs - led by wheeler delaer incarnate Harry Redknapp - bought Peter Crouch from Pompey (£10m) and saved £8m defender Sebastian Bassong from Championship obscurity with relegated Newcastle.

So while few headline-grabbing last-ditch moves, usually the sign of a crisis club over-reacting to early season results, a summer packed with intrigue. ·