Not anymore that is.

It’s been a whirlwind of a day in England as footballers across the country have been scurried back and forth to sign deals on the transfer deadline day. While there was no major signing on a par with Robinho or Carlos Tevez, in recent years, there was today plenty of activity in the window.

As there is anytime business deals are done, there are winners and there are losers.

Here are my picks for the seven winners today and the three losers:

Winners

  1. Arsenal: The news that Arsenal fans were hoping for has finally happened. The much-needed recruitments to save Arsenal’s season have arrived. Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker, Yossi Benayoun and Andre Santos have joined the club, while moaner Niklas Bendtner has joined Sunderland on loan. Arteta will be a breath of fresh air at Emirates Stadium, while the lanky Mertesacker will add much needed stability to Arsenal’s defense. Plus don’t forget about yesterday’s signing of striker Park Chu-Young by Arsenal.
  2. Stoke City: Peter Crouch, Wilson Palacios and, ahem, Cameron Jerome will definitely add strength to Stoke City’s chances in the Europa League as well as their push up the Premier League.
  3. QPR: Shaun Wright-Phillips and Anton Ferdinand will be welcome additions to a side that just last week picked up Joey Barton. QPR now must stay up this season.
  4. Chelsea: Signing Raul Meireles was definitely a last minute coup for Andre Villas-Boas. He’s a class player that I rate highly, who deserved more playing time at Liverpool. Whether he’ll get that at Chelsea is doubtful, but it’ll be interesting to see where AVB slots him into the side.
  5. Bolton Wanderers: Owen Coyle’s side picked up a few decent players on transfer deadline day including David N’Gog (from Liverpool) and Gael Kakuta (from Chelsea, on loan). Plus Bolton managed to keep Gary Cahill at least for another six months.
  6. Blackburn Rovers. Steve Kean’s side managed to keep Christopher Samba as well as picking up quality defender Scott Dann and tricky striker Yakubu, while releasing El Hadji Diouf (good riddance).
  7. Tottenham Hotspur: Many Spurs fans may be complaining tonight, but they’ve kept Luka Modric and offloaded Alan Hutton, Wilson Palacios, Peter Crouch and Jermaine Jenas. Sure, a star striker would have been a great late addition, but if Adebayor can start banging in the goals, Tottenham supporters will breathe a huge sigh of relief.

A honorable mention for the winners section is FOX Soccer for their wise decision to show 10 hours of live Sky Sports coverage today.

Losers

  1. Everton: The Toffees have signed Argentine striker Denis Stracqualursi on a season-long loan, but they lost their best player Mikel Arteta for a fee that’s believed to be £10 million. That transfer fee is an absolute bargain for a class player like Arteta, and it shows what a financially unstable position Everton is in. With the deal being done at the eleventh hour, Everton didn’t have time to use the money to buy a top class player, but they did get Royston Drenthe from Real Madrid on a season-long loan. He’s no Arteta, so expect Everton to have a tough time this season.
  2. Liverpool: Losing such a key player as Raul Meireles was a huge loss for Liverpool. Craig Bellamy was a good addition, but his best years are past him. Meanwhile, getting rid of Christian Poulsen and Joe Cole is a welcome relief, but still, losing Meireles is a massive blow for the Reds.
  3. Swansea: The two positions that Swansea needed to fill the most — a creative midfielder and striker — have gone unanswered. Swansea picked up Fulham defender Rafik Halliche on loan as well as left back Federico Bessone from Leeds, but based on today’s dealings, it’s going to be a long season for the Swans. In contrast, fellow promotion side QPR today signed a boatload of players who will be earning massive wages. We’ll have to wait and see which one wins out in the end — fiscal responsibility or splashing the cash.

As always, your input is welcomed. Please share any feedback you may have in the comments section below.