Here is the full list of all the deals that Portsmouth did over the summer:
Ins
Peter Crouch (Liverpool) - £11,000,000
Younes Kaboul (Tottenham) - £5,000,000
Jerome Thomas (Charlton) - Nominal
Omar "OJ" Koroma (Banjul Hawks) - Nominal
Glen Little (Reading) - Free
Ben Sahar (Chelsea) - 6 Month Loan
Armand Traore (Arsenal) - Season Loan
Nadir Belhadj (Lens) - Season Loan
Jon Stewart (Weymouth) - Free
Outs
Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan) - £12,700,000
Pedro Mendes (Rangers) - £3,000,000
Linvoy Primus (Charlton) - 3-6 Month Loan
Martin Cranie (Charlton) - Season Loan
Asmir Begovic (Yeovil) - 3 Month Loan
Joel Ward (Bournemouth) - Season Loan
Danijel Subotic (Zulte Waregem) - Season Loan
Omar "OJ" Koroma (Norwich) - Season Loan
Jean-Francois Christophe (Southend) - 1 Month Loan
Approx. Net Spend: £300,000
So the summer has seen us fork out a record fee for a proven Premier League striker who should score regularly when settled in and also spend a fair wad on what you might call a "rough diamond" of a defender.
To balance the spending Pompey have been forced to sell Sulley Muntari for a club record fee and had to offload Pedro Mendes to Rangers as no other fringe players were willing to move or simply weren't wanted. So we've arguably our second and third best midfielders sold yet nobody was brought in to replace them.
That might not be so much of a problem now that we are playing a different system and that Stephen Appiah may still arrive if he can resolve his situation at Fenerbahce. If that system fails to work long-term and we don't bring in any replacements, however, then we could be in trouble.
Looking at the more typical "Harry Redknapp" signings and the low-key additions of Glen Little and Jerome Thomas gives us extra cover on the wings which is even more welcome now that Niko Kranjcar is injured and John Utaka just isn't starting games for some reason.
Are they good enough for a side who should challenge for Europe this season? I think Little may surprise people because he can actually cross a ball whilst Thomas has looked bright when he has been subbed on but I still have my reservations.
I'm happy with our other two wingers that have been added to the squad. Armand Traore looks like a shrewd bit of business whilst my Lens supporting friend assures me that we have a winner in Belhadj so I will trust her judgment there.
The most important thing about this window is that we kept hold of the rest of our best players. I, like many other Pompey fans were crossing their fingers that nothing would come of the "Diarra to Spurs" rumour and thankfully our most talented player has stayed. Kranjcar's injury may also have been a blessing in disguise to keep potential suitors away.
That is not to say that they won't come back in January and I forecast another ton of speculation regarding the Croatian as well as Diarra considering that we still haven't offloaded fringe players such as Hughes, Djimi Traore or David Nugent and still need to recoup some of the money spent when Gaydamak first arrived.
There have been other outgoings from the squad too but they should be more beneficial than a hindrance. It makes sense to loan out Martin Cranie and Linvoy Primus to Charlton so they can regain fitness whilst the youngsters need some experience so sending them to lower leagues/abroad should provide that.
Overall I'm relatively happy with the summer's transfer deals. I'm slightly disappointed that we've had to sell to buy despite being "promised" a major impact in the transfer window by Peter Storrie.
We've strengthened the main areas where we were weak last season with plenty of wingers coming in (whether that is quanitity over quality will soon be known) whilst we now have two excellent strikers and adequate backup.
If anything is going to be our downfall this season its going to be our lack of creativity and quality in the centre of the park that you need to open up the most stubborn defences.
We also have to hope that our best players won't be poached when January arrives....