By Graham Thomas
The summer transfer window used to be a frothy cocktail – all foam, sprigs of mint and mini-umbrellas – before the start of the new football season.
But this year’s is more like a flat pint of lager served in a plastic cup. Low on fizz, energy and sparkle.
Last year, clubs spent a record £1.95 billion on players but this year the market has dampened, not least because of the points deductions handed out last season to Everton and Nottingham Forest for breaking the profit and sustainability rules.
Premier League clubs have been wheeling and dealing, but the eye-catchers have tended to be not because of the price tag, but because of the age of the player.
Lots of home grown young players have been flogged so that clubs can stay within the overall limits.
That cautious approach has fed down into the EFL and affected the thinking of clubs in Wales, as everywhere else.
Cardiff City, Swansea City and Newport County have done deals, but very little money has actually changed hands.
In fact, of the 15 new recruits made by the three clubs, only three of them have involved transfer fees, or four if you include the loan fee of £500,000 paid by Cardiff City to Hertha Berlin for striker Wilfried Kanga.
Newport County are also priced at 40/1 to lift the League Two title.
Cardiff City
Cardiff have made four signings so far – three free transfers and the loan deal for Kanga.
As with much of the Bluebirds’ recruitment in recent years, they have gone for experienced players whose careers – for whatever reason – have stalled.
The hope is they can be revitalized under manager Erol Bulut, although the experience of striker Famara Diedhiou last season – following a number of others – proves this is a hard trick to pull off.
Calum Chambers has arrived from Aston Villa, where the 29-year-old former Arsenal player made only five first team appearances last season.
Chambers was once an England international but that was a decade ago and having been squeezed out of the first team reckoning at Villa, Cardiff will hope he still has muscle memory of more successful times.
Wilfried Kanga is 27 and comes with the advantage of having played regularly last season on loan in Belgium, where he scored 12 goals in 32 appearances for Standard Liege.
Chris Willock was out of contract at QPR, but the 26-year-old played 39 games in the Championship last season.
Anwar El Ghazi is an interesting addition – not just because he has Premier League pedigree with Everton and Aston Villa, but also because he has not played since last October after a dispute with German club Mainz over a social media post.
Swansea City
Swansea have signed three players so far, two of them permanent cash deals and the other on a free transfer.
Their policy differs to Cardiff, with younger players signed on permanent deals, with an obvious view to potential profit from sell-on fees.
Goncalo Franco, 23, has moved from Portuguese club Moreirense for £2m, a midfielder who played 33 matches in Portugal’s Liga last season.
Eom Ji-Sung, 22, is a South Korean striker, who can also play on the wing, and has agreed a four-year-deal after the Swans paid around £1m.
Lawrence Vigouroux is a goalkeeper, signed from Burnley for an undisclosed fee, and at 30 is the oldest of the club’s intake. He has UK and Chilean citizenship.
Newport County
Newport have gone through their usual big clear-out, followed by the big hire, this time under their new Portuguese manager Nelson Jardim.
Seven players have so far arrived at Rodney Parade – all on free transfers.
Three of them have left Welsh clubs. Midfielder Joe Thomas has arrived from the Swans, Cameron Antwi, another midfielder, has moved from Cardiff, while a third midfelder, Kai Whitmore, was at Haverfordwest.
Added to the home trio are Anthony Driscoll-Glennon, a left back from Grimsby, centre-back Ciaran Brennan from Sheffield Wednesday, and Jacob Carney, a goalkeeper signed from Castellon.
