Premier League: 10 Summer Transfers That Simply Made No Sense

8. Shane Long - Hull City To Southampton

Southampton are currently paying just £4 million less for consistently profligate Shane Long than Liverpool are forking out for world superstar Mario Balotelli. Something about those polarizing transfers scream that the transfer window has gone mad. While the Saints may be frantically trying to piece back together a disintegrating squad - picked apart by the Merseysiders, amongst others - whoever's idea it was to sanction a £12 million deal for a striker with 7 goals in his last 30 Premier League appearances was insane. Hull City boss Steve Bross could hardly contain his excitement when he received a £6 million profit on the player he had coaxed from West Brom at the turn of the year, citing it as 'too good to turn down'. The 27 year old Irishman certainly has his qualities, in that he is an energetic, hardworking grafter, but for anything over £10 million, one would be expecting a composed finisher in front of goal. With 28 goals in 146 Premier League appearances, the former Reading and West Brom man doesn't quite fit the bill. It is of course unfair to judge a player this early in a season, but Long has been relegated to a couple of cameo appearances from the bench thus far for the Saints, which included spurning a gaping goal at Anfield which looked easier to score. By the law of the transfer market, would Silvio Berlusconi have been so quick to sanction a Shane Long + £4 million deal for Mario Balotelli had Steve Bruce been so inclined? Something intimates that he would have preferred the cash.