Cricket legend Andrew Flintoff to become a professional heavyweight boxer with debut fight in November

Former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff has announced his intention to become a professional boxer and make his debut in Manchester in November.

The 34-year-old Flintoff is planning to fight in a heavyweight bout at the city's MEN Arena on November 30, although he must first be granted a license by the British Boxing Board of Control.

Flintoff is being trained by former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan and McGuigan's son Shane, and his preparations are set to be turned into a two-part television documentary.

Flintoff said: "This is an amazing opportunity to try a sport that I love, to be tutored by a man I respect and admire and, at the age of 34, the chance to become a professional sportsman again.

"It's a huge challenge – probably the biggest I have ever undertaken, especially in such a short time-frame.

"I have a long road ahead and a lot of work in front of me. The stakes are high."

McGuigan added: "It is an enormous undertaking to have a professional fight having no experience whatsoever. It is even more demanding when you're a legend in another sport.

"The pressure for Freddie, myself and my son is phenomenal given the little time we have. But I'm convinced Freddie will make a successful pro debut as a boxer."

Robert Smith, the general secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control, said Flintoff had not yet applied for a licence, and the Board had not received an application for the show in question.

However, the license application process normally lasts anything up to six weeks, giving Flintoff enough time to apply in the near future and fight – if his application is successful – on the November date.

Smith said: "Andrew Flintoff has not applied, nor has he been interviewed by anyone from the British Boxing Board of Control.

"An application can take three to four weeks or longer depending on the circumstances. He will have to pass medicals and there are measures in place to see whether an applicant can actually box."

Flintoff's preparations for the fight are to be documented in a two-part programme called 'The Gloves Are Off ...' to be showed on Sky 1 and the bout at will also be shown on boxing channel Box Nation.

Flintoff would not be the first professional sportsman to undertake a boxing career with no experience. Former Sheffield United footballer Curtis Woodhouse made his boxing debut in 2002 and has won 16 of his 20 contests.

Smith added: "It is quite unusual. We haven't had many people apply with no experience at all, but there is a history of footballers and rugby league players taking up boxing, and Curtis Woodhouse has done so very well."

Nokia Lumia 920 - first impressions

Nokia is pinning its hopes on its new Lumia handsets with Windows Phone 8 but how good are they? Matt Warman tries out the Lumia 920.

The fresh Nokia Lumia 920 mobile phone is the most excellent the company has ever made – its 4.5” screen curves round a pleasantly solid body that surround a camera that’s so clever it can even work out when public walked in front of your shot, or add some moving fundamentals to still photographs. Its maps now flawlessly add content from the web to show the street you’re walking down in splendid ‘augmented reality’. Wireless charging means that even your bedside table or desk will look neater thanks to Nokia.

There is, of course, a ‘but’ – the operating system, Windows Phone, is struggling to attract users and Microsoft’s overall market share is still falling. Nokia couldn’t get its act together to release prices or release dates for its latest, lovely handset. That basic blunder is not one that Apple will make when it announces the iPhone 5 next week, or that Samsung makes when it launches important new products.

The Windows Phone 8 software remains excellent – its start screen has been upgraded to use space more effectively, live tiles continue to offer constant updates. Nokia itself has worked hard with partners to build apps that provide real enhancements for the camera, and the package comes together to make sure consumers feel that they’re always using one coherent device rather than a phone that is constantly having new apps bolted uncomfortably onto it.

Offline maps, too, work so well that the satnav is even more redundant than it was before, because they’re built in properly to the phone. In the short time I had hands-on with the phone, all the camera features worked effectively, and the wireless charging is a neat addition, but of course still relies on users being near to a charger, albeit one that is now wireless in its connection to the phone.

The biggest challenge Nokia faces in the UK is not that there aren’t many users who will soon be buying their first smartphone and could be tempted by a Windows Phone. In an objective world, it would probably be the most tempting on the market. The real problem is that to attain the critical mass Windows Phone needs, it must, led by Nokia, steal users from Android and Apple. While that ought to be perfectly possible, it’s hard to see anybody managing, even with pockets as deep as Microsoft’s. The Windows maker can’t afford to fail, but it will need many more devices at least as good as the 920 to reach its goal.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew handed two-match touchline ban for pushing assistant referee

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has been given a two-match ban and fined £20,000 after accepting a charge of improper conduct for shoving assistant referee Peter Kirkup on the opening day of the season, the Football Association have confirmed.

Pardew was immediately contrite after he shoved Kirk up for missing what he believed to be a throw-in to Newcastle during the side’s 2-1 win over Tottenham at the Sport Direct Arena.

Spurs’ Aaron Lennon went on to have a shot at goal as play continued, prompting Pardew’s impulsive reaction.

Referee Martin Atkinson missed the incident but sent Pardew to the stands after being alerted by fourth official Lee Mason, who was stood behind Kirkup and Pardew at the time before briefly stepping in to separate the two.

Pardew shook Mason’s hand before heading for the director’s box for the remaining 30 minutes of the match and apologized to Kirk up after the game, but the FA have acted upon Atkinson’s match report.

"Following an Independent Regulatory Commission held today (Monday 3 September 2012), Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has been given a two match touchline suspension and fined £20,000 after he accepted an FA charge of improper conduct.

"Pardew, who requested a personal hearing, was charged following an incident which occurred during his side's match against Tottenham Hotspur on 18 August 2012.

"The suspension will take place with immediate effect."

Pardew will be banned for Newcastle's league games against Everton on September 17 and Norwich City on September 22.

Speaking at the time, Pardew admitted: "We're overjoyed about the result but I hold my head in shame.

"I was just saying to the players about the great Olympics and how to set an example and there's me pushing the linesman over. It was comical, he just happened to be right in front of me.”

Pardew apologized to Kirkup immediately after the match.

"I went in and said I'm sorry and said I would have to apologies publicly too because it was ridiculous."

Smartphones 2012: the big players

As a frantic round of smartphone launches begins, Matt Warman and Shane Richmond assess the runners and riders.

Last week, at IFA in Berlin, Samsung dominated with a string of announcements, including a new and improved Galaxy Note. In the weeks that follow, many of the Korean firm's competitors are expected to announce their latest entrants into a mobile market that is increasingly competitive. How will the Smartphone landscape look when the dust settles? We can make a few guesses. At the top of the market, it is a three-horse race - for the time being at least. Here are the big three.

Samsung
Korean electronics giant Samsung was once a manufacturer that simply made products that were cheaper than its rivals, such as Sony and Panasonic. Now, however, the manufacturer is reaping the rewards of a serious focus on much higher quality. While it continues to make some 60 phones each year, it now has the flagship models to cater for every market and the scale to make sure that innovative features quickly show up in cheaper models.

Its success has seen it quickly embroiled in a host of lawsuits over patents, most famously last month when it lost a $1bn case to Apple. But Samsung is also Apple’s supplier for many of its chips, and it makes televisions, excellent audio equipment and much more besides. In that sense it’s an example of the mega-corporations that we are seeing more and more of – it’s grown rapidly while Sony, Panasonic and HTC have struggled and often failed to stay profitable. For now, Samsung is Apple’s biggest rival.

Galaxy S3
The Galaxy S3 is the best phone on the market to use the most popular operating system, Google’s Android. It’s also the first phone to come close to generating the level of excitement that Apple enjoys.

Key to the S3’s appeal is a combination of lovely design, a beautiful 4.8” screen and a fast processor. Highlights include ‘Smart Stay’, which uses the front-facing camera to track your eyes as you look at the phone - as long as you're looking, the display won't go to sleep. As yet, it’s not quite consistent, but this seems like a feature that will be standard soon.

The camera offers decent quality, a burst mode and integrates with Facebook to automatically recognize the people in your pictures. And the huge battery (2,100mAh) will get most users easily through the day.

Fans of the iPhone dislike the size of the S3 – the screen is enormous, even if the device is thin – and for feeling plasticky compared to the iPhone’s glass-and-steel solidity. But the sales figures speak for themselves. Though when the new iPhone comes out users will have a proper point of comparison

Samsung Galaxy Note 2
It’s hard to say quite whether that Samsung Galaxy Note is a big phone or a small tablet – either way this unusual device has carved out a niche of loyal users despite considerable press skepticism at its debut. The idea is that this is a highly portable device, with a 5” screen that is better for web browsing, games or watching films than a mobile phone, but also very portable.

Uniquely, however, Samsung has focused on how to make the Note a useable substituter for pen and paper; its Pen allows users to annotate web pages easily then send their thoughts to other users, as well as to write notes directly on the screen and use handwriting recognition software to convert them into text.

A new version of the note, announced at the end of August, provides substantial improvements – users will still need to get used to writing on the very smooth glass surface, but it is probably a glimpse of the future.

Apple
Critics of Apple will be quick to tell you that the company did not invent the Smartphone or the touchscreen but there is little doubt that the iPhone set a standard that the competition has been trying to reach ever since. If you want evidence of Apple's influence, just take a look at the flagship handsets of the mobile manufacturers in early 2007, before the release of the iPhone, and compare them with today's handsets. Then, physical keyboards took up half the device or slid-out from underneath, and now all of the top handsets are touch screens, with minimal buttons on the face.

Apple has innovated plenty of smartphone features but they've borrowed some, too. The addition of Notification Centre to iOS last year was seen by many as a lift from Android. The operating system is acquiring a degree of tweeness, too, with fake leather and 'torn' pages adorning almost every new official app. In industrial design, however, the company remains light years beyond Samsung in delivering handsets that feel meticulously crafted, with enormous attention to detail. Their biggest threat in this area is not Samsung, but Nokia.

The new iPhone
It won't be called the iPhone 5 because, among other reasons, it isn't the fifth iPhone. Apple's sixth iPhone model, which we expect to be called simply 'the new iPhone', is likely to be significantly redesigned, with a thinner, metal, case and a taller, but not wider, screen. Part of the reason the phone is expected to be thinner is a new screen design that integrates the touch layer of the phone with the display itself. In a move that is likely to exasperate those with a lot of docks, chargers and other accessories, Apple is also thought to be ditching the familiar dock connector from this handset, in favour of a smaller version.

Of course, none of this is official because Apple does not announce specifications for its new iPhone outside of its special events. We don't even know when the launch is happening but the smart money is on a September 12 announcement with the release of the new handset following a week or two later.

Nokia
For years Nokia was the largest phone manufacturer in the world. Even as it slipped behind the technological curve, customer loyalty and huge sales of cheap devices, especially in the developing world, sustained it and even saw it grow. But no longer. The company is struggling as never before, with its title as largest manufacturer snatched by Samsung and its reputation for innovation in tatters.

New chief executive Stephen Elop, however, has a strategy that nails Nokia’s future to Microsoft’s Windows operating system and it may just work. The idea of the Nokia-Microsoft tie-up is that it gives the Finnish mobile phone giant access to Windows Phone ahead of other manufacturers, and they also benefit from Microsoft’s huge marketing budget for the operating system overall. Microsoft has begun to use mapping technology that Nokia developed, too, so it’s a two way thing.

Nokia 920 and 820
Eager to get out ahead of Apple, Nokia and Microsoft are holding an event in New York tomorrow to announce their new handsets. It is expected that we will see two new Lumia handsets - a larger, more powerful 920 and a smaller, cheaper 820. The Lumia handsets are arguably the most impressive pieces of pure mobile phone design on the market, and the Windows mobile operating system is innovative, intuitive and original.

In terms of the devices themselves, Nokia’s Lumia line runs from the budget 610 to the premium 800 and 900 models. The 820 and 920 are expected to move the series on - bringing the Windows Phone 8 operating system for the first time - and adding new features such as wireless charging.

Nokia also adds its own touches to the software, such as improving the standard mapping services in Widnows Phone with its own, allowing users to get much-improved driving directions. There’s also an attempt to encourage users into listening to music on their phone by providing what are effectively genre-based exclusive radio stations.

Windows Phone
Windows Phone is an operating system that looks like no other; rather than a series of icons or widgets, like Apple or Google, it offers a neatly arranged set of what Microsoft calls ‘Live Tiles’. The idea of these is that they show more information than a simple icon – so the Live Tile for mail shows your latest message, or at least who it is from, while the one for your pictures cycles through your own images and those from social networks. It means that as soon as you log on to your existing services, such as Facebook and Gmail, with a Windows Phone, it instantly feels more personal.

Sales have not been sufficient to really yet turn this into the third ecosystem, but Microsoft’s backing ensures a degree of success. As phones, tablets and laptops increasingly become a way of accessing the same information, the Windows-maker cannot afford to fail in mobile computing.

Premier League transfers – club by club

Top five buys

1.      Eden Hazard (Lille to Chelsea) £32m

2.     Oscar (Internacional to Chelsea) £25m

3.     Robin van Persie (Arsenal to Man Utd) £24m

4.     Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund to Man Utd) £17m

5.     Javi Garcia (Benfica to Man City) £16m

Biggest spenders
Chelsea – Buys £81m Sales £0

Biggest profit
Fulham – Buys £6m – Sales £21m

Most buys
QPR 10

Total spend
£262.55m

Arsenal

IN: Santi Cazorla (Malaga, £16.5m), Olivier Giroud (Montpelier, £13m), Lukas Podolski (Cologne, £11m)
OUT: Robin van Persie (Man Utd, £24m), Alex Song (Barcelona, £15m), Manuel Almunia (released), Kyle Bartley, (Swansea, £1m), Denilson (Sao Paulo, loan), Henri Lansbury (Nottingham Forest, £1m)

NET SPEND: £500,000

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: Another summer of stress at Arsenal and despite the signing of the excellent Santi Cazorla, there is real fear that Robin van Persie – and his goals – have not been replaced. Two goalless draws have shown a tighter defence – but concern upfront.

Aston Villa

IN: Christian Benteke (Genk, £8m), Matthew Lowton (Sheffield United, £3m), Ron Vlaar (Feyenoord, £3m), Joe Bennett (Middlesbrough, £2.5m)
OUT: James Collins (West Ham, £2.5m), Carlos Cuéllar (Sunderland, free), Emile Heskey (released)

NET SPEND: £14 million

JB's VERDICT – 2/5: Manager Paul Lambert will be relieved to get striker Christian Benteke but it’s a big fee for an unproven player at a club on a tight budget. As fine a manager as Lambert is, there’s an air of desperation at Villa.

Chelsea

IN: Eden Hazard (Lille, £32m), Oscar (Internacional, £25m), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen, £7m), Thorgan Hazard (Lens, £1m), Victor Moses (Wigan, £9m), Cesar Azpilicueta (Marseille, £7m)
OUT: Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Jose Bosingwa (all released) plus 15 players on loan

NET SPEND: £81 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: The massive summer spending spree did indeed materialise with exciting, young attacking talent everywhere – but no cash on a new striker which, curiously, leaves Chelsea short upfront. Maybe, as some suggested, they might have been better blowing the cash on Atletico Madrid’s Radomel Falcao?

Everton

IN: Steven Pienaar (Tottenham, £4.5m), Kevin Mirallas (Olympiakos, £5.2m), Bryan Oviedo (Copenhagen, £2m)
OUT: Jack Rodwell (Man City, £12m), Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls, £1m)

NET SPEND: £1.3 million

JB's VERDICT – 5/5: A brilliant transfer window for David Moyes with shrewd, value for money signings and a big fee for Jack Rodwell who wasn’t central to his plans. Moyes has proved adept time and time again but will be relieved to have held onto Marouanne Fellaini and Leighton Baines, at least for another year.

Fulham

IN: Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United, £4m), Kieran Richardson (Sunderland, £2m) Hugo Rodallega (Wigan, free), Mladen Petric (Hamburg, free), George Williams (MK Dons, free), Sascha Riether (Cologne, loan)
OUT: Moussa Dembele (£15m, Tottenham Hotspur), Clint Dempsey (Spurs, £6m), Danny Murphy (Blackburn, free), Andy Johnson (QPR, free)

NET SPEND: £15 million

JB's VERDICT – 2/5: A bit of a trolley dash for Fulham but, in the cold light of day, the sale of Dembele and Dempsey leaves a big gap in their squad, their two 'biggest’ players gone. Manager Martin Jol was desperate to shore things up and if he can again get the best out of Dimitar Berbatov then he may have saved the day.

Liverpool

IN: Joe Allen (Swansea, £15m), Fabio Borini (Roma, £10m), Oussama Assaidi (Heerenveen, £3m), Nuri Sahin (Real Madrid, loan), Samed Yesil (Bayer Leverkusen, £1m)
OUT: Charlie Adam (Stoke, £4m), Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina, £6m), Dirk Kuyt (Fenerbahce, £1m), Andy Carroll (West Ham United, loan) Craig Bellamy (Cardiff, free), Maxi Rodriguez (Newell’s Old Boys, free)

NET SPEND: £18 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: No new striker. Liverpool will look at their transfer business and the need to balance the books and believe they have bought well but the squad is short of goals and it will be a nervous few months until the January window opens.

Manchester City

In: Javi Garcia (Benfica, £16m), Jack Rodwell (Everton £12m), Scott Sinclair (Swansea City, £6.2m), Maicon (Inter Milan, £3m), Matija Nastasic (Fiorentina, £12m)
OUT: Adam Johnson (Sunderland, £10m), Nigel De Jong (AC Milan, £3.5m), Owen Hargreaves (released), Emmanuel Adebayor (Spurs, £5m), Stefan Savic (Fiorentina, part of Nastasic deal)

NET SPEND: £30.7 million

JB's VERDICT – 2/5: Roberto Mancini got his way with City spending big on the final day of the window – although he didn’t necessarily land his number one targets. Again the problem has been moving players on and the club’s hierarchy may not be happy with the money spent overall.

Manchester United

IN: Robin van Persie (Arsenal, £24m), Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund, £17m), Nick Powell (Crewe, £4m), Alexander Buttner (Vitesse Arnhem, £4m)
OUT: Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham, £4m), Park Ji-Sung (QPR, £1.5m), Michael Owen (released)

NET SPEND: £43.5 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: Sir Alex Ferguson spent big and he spent early. A real statement of intent from United as they try to reclaim the Premier League. Kagawa seems the best piece of business and Van Persie, although a coup, is expensive. United still look a little short in midfield, though.

Newcastle United

IN: Vurnon Anita (Ajax, £6.7m), Curtis Good (Melbourne Heart, £400,000)
OUT: Leon Best (Blackburn, £3m), Fraser Forster (Celtic, £2m)

NET SPEND: £2.1 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: For Alan Pardew it was more about not losing players than signing them and that’s a sign that Newcastle already have their house in order. A solid, tight squad and a good manager with a well-run business. A sound window.

Norwich City

IN: Sebastian Bassong (Spurs, £3m), Robert Snodgrass (Leeds, £3m), Michael Turner (Sunderland, £1.5m), Alexander Tettey (Rennes, £1m)
OUT: Andrew Crofts (Brighton, nominal, Adam Drury (Leeds, free), Aaron Wilbraham (Crystal Palace, free), Zak Whitbread (Leicester, free)

NET SPEND: £8.5 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: The brutal truth is that Norwich’s business looks like the dealings of a Championship club – but then look what happened last season. Still a sizeable amount of money has been spent and Alex Tettey could be a really shrewd acquisition.

Queens Park Rangers

IN: Esteban Granero (Real Madrid, £9m), Stephane Mbia (Marseille, £4.5m), Julio Cesar (Inter Milan, free), Junior Hoilett (Blackburn, tribunal), Park Ji-Sung (Manchester United, £2m), Samba Diakite (Nancy, £4m), Robert Green (West Ham, free), Ryan Nelsen (Tottenham, free), Andrew Johnson (Fulham, free), Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea, free)
OUT: Fifteen players sold for nominal fees or released

NET SPEND: £19 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: A huge summer of spending for QPR with wages as well to be accounted for as Mark Hughes acquired a whole new team. Among the experienced big names there’s also some exciting young talent. Can he make his new team gel quickly enough? If he can it could be an amazing season for Rangers.

Reading

IN: Chris Gunter (Nottingham Forest, £2.5m), Adrian Mariappa (Watford, £2.5m), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Fulham, free)
OUT: Fourteen players released or sold for nominal fees

NET SPEND: £5 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: Despite the new Russian owner, it wasn’t going to be a big spending spree from Reading and manager Brian McDermott who has taken a similar route to other well-run clubs recently promoted from the Championship. Whether Reading are good enough remains to be seen and the squad could be lacking depth.

Southampton

IN: Gaston Ramirez (Bologna, £11.2m), Maya Yoshida (VVV-Venlo, £2m), Jay Rodriguez (Burnley, £6m), Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace, £2m)
OUT: Eight players sold for nominal fees or released

NET SPEND: £21.2 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: Southampton – and their chairman Nicola Cortese – are hugely ambitious and the signing of Gaston Ramirez is not only a big deal but could be real coup if he shows the same form he has for his country, Uruguay. Southampton looked like they needed a bit more star quality and he could give it. They have spent a lot of money and will want a return.

Stoke City

IN: Charlie Adam (Liverpool, £4m), Michael Kightly (Wolves, £2m)
OUT: Eight players sold for nominal fees or released

NET SPEND: £6 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: A summer of consolidation for Tony Pulis who had to trim a big squad after last season’s Europa League campaign. The Coates family have backed Stoke with millions but there’s a sense that they don’t want to keep spending. Could be a tricky season but Pulis knows that.

Sunderland

IN: Steven Fletcher (Wolves, £15m), Adam Johnson (Manchester City, £10m) Louis Saha (free), Carlos Cuéllar (Aston Villa, free)
OUT: Asamoah Gyan (Al-Ain, £6m), Kieran Richardson (Fulham, £2m), Michael Turner (Norwich, £1.5m)

NET SPEND: £15.5 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: Martin O’Neill has, as ever, bought British or the tried and trusted from the Premier League. He’s also spent big. Again. However, Fletcher and Johnson look decent acquisitions to add to a squad that he is quickly moulding into a solid outfit.

Swansea City

IN: Pablo Hernandez (Valencia, £5.5m), Ki Sung-yueng (Celtic, £5m), Michu (Rayo Vallecano, £2m), Jose Manuel Flores (Genoa, £2m), Kyle Bartley (Arsenal, £1m)
OUT: Joe Allen (Liverpool, £15m), Scott Sinclair (Manchester City, £6.2m)

NET SPEND: £-5.7 million

JB's VERDICT – 5/5: An impressive summer of business at Swansea who have sold well and bought shrewdly and who are suddenly already looking an accomplished Premier League club after just one campaign. No second season syndrome for them and the arrival of Michael Laudrup has attracted players from Spain.

Tottenham Hotspur

IN: Mousa Dembele (Fulham, £15m), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, £6), Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City, £5m), Jan Vertonghen (Ajax, £10m), Gylfi Sigurdsson (Hoffenheim, £8m), Hugo Lloris (Lyon, £12m).
OUT: Luka Modric (Real Madrid, £33m), Rafael Van der Vaart (Hamburg, £10m), Sebastian Bassong (Norwich, £3m), Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow, £5m), Steven Pienaar (Everton, £4.5m), Niko Kranjcar (Dynamo Kiev, £2m)

NET SPEND: £1.5 million

JB's VERDICT – 3/5: Despite all the spending and all the sales, the bottom line is that chairman Daniel Levy has wanted to balance the books and has done that. It could have been very different if Joao Moutinho had been signed for £23m and head coach Andre Villas-Boas will regret that as it means Luka Modric has simply not been replaced.

West Bromwich Albion

IN: Ben Foster (Birmingham, £3m), Markus Rosenberg (Werder Bremen, free), Claudio Yacob (Racing Club de Avellaneda, free)
OUT: Simon Cox (Nottingham Forest, £2m) and 10 players sold for nominal fees or released

NET SPEND: £1 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: A summer of consolidation for West Brom – peppered with some intriguing, exciting signings such as Claudio Yacob. The books have been balanced and the budget remains intact with praise again for technical director Dan Ashworth.

West Ham

IN: Matt Jarvis (Wolves, £10.75m), Modibo Maiga (Sochaux, £5m), Alou Diarra (Marseille, £2m), James Collins (Aston Villa, £2.5m), Andy Carroll (Liverpool, loan)
OUT: Sam Baldock (Bristol City, £1m), Nicky Maynard (Cardiff City, £1.8m) and 13 other players released or sold for nominal fees

NET SPEND: £17.45 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: It’s been a tricky summer for West Ham but there have been some big statements as well with the arrival of Andy Carroll and Matt Jarvis, while the club has moved on many Championship players. The owners have backed the manager and will want a return even if it has been scattergun at times. Minimum requirement is stay in the Premier League.

Wigan Athletic

IN: Arouna Kone (Levante, £2.7m), Ivan Ramis (Real Majorca, £4m)
OUT: Victor Moses (Chelsea, £9m), Connor Sammon (Derby, £1.2m) and 11 players sold for a nominal fee or released

NET SPEND: £-3.5 million

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: Wigan were always going to sell prize asset Victor Moses and pretty much got the price they wanted for him which has allowed manager Roberto Martinez to reshape his squad and even make a transfer market profit to keep the chairman happy. Still they have also spent and will be happy with their business