SUMMER TRADING POST - PART THREE

Ferguson and Keegan - busy week.

Premier League clubs squeezed every last second out of the transfer window before it was slammed firmly shut at midnight on Monday, with the two biggest deals of the summer being done with only minutes to spare.

Robinho and Manchester City have grabbed the headlines but over £500million has been spent by the top flight clubs since July 1 as the big boys prove that perhaps the credit crunch is yet to take full effect on the game.

Here, Ian Watson continues his analysis with Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Portsmouth and Stoke next up.

MANCHESTER UNITED - approx net spend: £24.95m

Alex Ferguson left it late to land Dimitar Berbatov but the manager had no choice. He knew if he failed to sign the Bulgarian, Manchester United could kiss goodbye to any hope of retaining their domestic and European crowns.

Following last season's successes, the United squad was hardly in need of an overhaul, but with Chelsea strengthening, the addition of a front man was critical.

Because of Tottenham's stubbornness and Manchester City's apparent late bid, Ferguson has paid over £5million more than he initially wanted to. So it's a good job Berbatov is worth it.

The former Spurs man is exactly what United need. The Red Devils have done away with the traditional 4-4-2 in recent years in favour of a less rigid 4-2-3-1 and while they are top-heavy with candidates to fill the three roaming slots, the role of the central striker has been a problem.

Berbatov is comfortable playing with his back to goal, more so than Wayne Rooney, but also has that bit of creative imagination and flair that has drawn comparisons with Eric Cantona. Berbatov will prove to be a very successful pivot around which Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo can run riot.

Ferguson also brought about a very successful conclusion to the tedious Ronaldo affair. No doubt last season's 42-goal man will depart for Spain sooner rather than later but another one or two years with the world's best player in the ranks is obviously better than none for the champions.

PORTSMOUTH - approx net profit: £1.3m

Portsmouth, like three quarters of the rest of the Premier League, are not exactly rivalling Manchester City or Chelsea in the financial stakes, so Harry Redknapp probably couldn't believe his eyes when the fax arrived from Inter Milan offering nearly £13million for Sulley Muntari.

The Ghanaian is good, but not that good and the money from his sale allowed Redknapp to rescue Peter Crouch and Younes Kaboul from the benches of Liverpool and Tottenham respectively.

With the traditional 'little and large' strike force, Pompey cannot afford to fall into the trap of playing too direct because that isn't playing to Crouch's strengths. For someone so tall, Crouch is shockingly bad in the air, seemingly reluctant to attack the ball with any real determination.

What Crouch lacks up for in aerial prowess he makes up for in intelligence and once they have got their obvious teething problems out of the way, the pair will be good for 30 Premier League goals between them.

Kaboul and Armand Traore further bolster a formidable-looking back five which will ultimately see Pompey in the race for fifth come the end of the season, with Aston Villa and Manchester City. No small feat for Redknapp when you consider that Martin O'Neill and Mark Hughes have both had over £40million more to play with this summer.

MIDDLESBROUGH - approx net spend: £0.7m

Steve Gibson has always backed his manager with cash but this summer, Gareth Southgate has clearly had to operate on a sell-to-buy policy.

And to be fair to Southgate, he has done okay given the constraints placed upon him. Arsenal robbed him of £3million for Justin Hoyte, but he in turn mugged Aston Villa for £5million, giving them only Luke Young in return.

His other two puchases, Didier Digard and Marvin Emnes both appear to have been brought in with a view to the future rather than making any kind of immediate impact.

Mark Schwarzer has departed for pastures new after 11 years at the club which left a void that needed to be filled. Fair play to Southgate, he has given young stoppers Ross Turnbull and Brad Jones an opportuntiy to battle it out amongst themselves, a brave decision not many more experienced managers would have had the courage to make. Brave, but perhaps foolish. Steve Harper, who had he left Newcastle before now would be in the England squad, has wasted away on the bench at St James' for too long and if given the guarantee of the number one jersey just down the road from his native Tyneside, the 33-year-old might just have been tempted had he been approached.

Boro, like Newcastle are in no danger of making an impression at either end of the table. Southgate's lack of funds have seen Boro do nothing more than consolidate and the best they can hope for is to finish the season as the top north east team. A title they could claim even with a bottom half finish.

NEWCASTLE - approx net spend: £3.65m

The key issue is not who Newcastle have signed, rather who is doing the signing.

Kevin Keegan has clearly had nothing to do with the five signings this summer, hence the reason the Magpies are again, managerless.

But that is no fault of the Toon's new recruits, so the fact that they were signed by one of football's most detestable men who just happen's to be executive director at St James' must not be held against them.

In fact, the early signs from Jonas Gutierrez, Danny Guthrie and Fabricio Coloccini are actually quite encouraging.

Gutierrez was especially impressive on his Premier League debut, putting in a man-of-the-match performance at Old Trafford. He's quick, hard working and uses the ball well.

Gutherie, while never likely to make any impression on the Liverpool midfield, looks neat and tidy while Coloccini appears to be your achitypical Argentine defender. Strong, decisive, no-nonsense, good in the air, everything a centre back should be.

The two deadline day signings, neither I nor the most ardent Toon fans have heard much of, but if nothing else, Ignacio "Nacho" Gonzalez and Xisco have given the Geordie faithful a great chance of topping last season's terrace anthem of the year, the Happy Days homage to Habib Beye.

The sale of James Milner without Keegan's approval was obviously one of the final straws for the ex-Toon boss, leaving aside the fact that Milner was desperate to leave anyway. The former Leeds United youngster's form had plateued at St James' Park, never really having forgiven United for stopping a permanent move to Villa Park at the very last minute during Glenn Roeder's reign.

Whoever comes in at Newcastle, it won't matter this season. Like their north east rivals, the Toon have a little too much quality to get dragged into a relegation dogfight, but nowhere near enough to bother the European chasers.

STOKE CITY - approx net spend: £21.3m

In fairness to Tony Pulis, the Stoke boss has shown no lack of ambition in the transfer market, and his purchases have made the Potters the most likely of the three promoted clubs to retain their Premier League status come May. That, though, is probably more of a reflection on the lack of success Hull and West Brom have enjoyed in the window rather than anything the Potters have done.

Pulis has admitted to having difficulty pursuading Premier League players to leave the comfort of their current club to take a chance on the Potters. Jermaine Pennant for example was the subject of a successful bid by Pulis but the winger was too comfortable picking up his fat pay-cheque to sit on the bench at Liverpool to come down and prove himself at Stoke.

So the alternative is to cherry pick from the Championship's better players who may or may not have the ability to make the step up in class. The minimum Pulis will get out of Seyi Olifinjana, Andrew Davies, Michael Tonge and Tom Soares is hunger, but the jury remains out on whether they have the ability to cut it in the top flight.

Dave Kitson, touted for an England call-up only last winter, is clearly comfortable playing in the Premier League but the striker will have to better his tally of 10 league goals last season for Reading to justify Pulis' £5.5million investment.

I still think Stoke are lacking creativity in midfield. Olofinjana, Amdy Faye and Rory Delap will do the dirty work and stop other teams from playing but apart from Liam Lawrence on the right, Kitson and Ricardo Fuller may well find any kind of decent service in short supply.

If indeed the plan is to play four centre-halves accross the back, then their supply line from wide is restricted further still.

There is only so far shape and organisation will get you at this level but Stoke have given themselves a chance this season and I suspect Pulis will once again be splashing the cash come January.