Phew, thank goodness that's all over! Since the summer transfer window opened for business in early July, it seemed that the world and his wife had been linked with a move to one Premier League club or another.

Fans would get giddy - taking to Twitter and the like to boast about their new arrival, only to later discover that the report was mere fabrication and that said player had moved to sunnier climes for mind-boggling sums of money.

Well, no more, not until January at least. The window slammed shut at 11pm last night, with each outfit in England's top flight having concluded at least one piece of business.

So, before the Premier League gets into full swing after the upcoming international break, Sports Mole looks back on the last couple of months to determine which sides have come out on the other side smelling of roses and which have a less than pleasurable odour.

Winners

Merseyside

The arrivals hall at John Lennon Airport as well as the roads surrounding Merseyside were littered with footballers in recent weeks, and good ones at that.

Liverpool and Everton's business almost mirrored one another as well, having concluded some of their dealings early, before going on to sign three new players apiece yesterday.

Some will argue that the Reds could have done with one more striker, but their success in keeping Luis Suarez could prove to be their best work of the summer. If the Uruguayan's head is in the right place, we all know the ability that he possesses.

Brendan Rodgers has also been mindful of the fact that his side was in need of defensive additions. The fact that they've won each of their three opening Premier League matches 1-0 suggests that he is keen for Liverpool to be hard to break down. He's signed the experience of Kolo Toure, as well as the potential of Tiago Ilori and Mamadou Sakho to help aid that school of thought.

Across Stanley Park, supporters of the Toffees may well be concerned that Roberto Martinez has brought in four players from Wigan Athletic, with whom he was relegated with last term. James McCarthy has all the credentials to be a fine midfield player and a suitable replacement for Marouane Fellaini, though, while Arouna Kone is useful back-up in the striking department.

Gareth Barry will also provide some invaluable Premier League nous, but perhaps the real coup was convincing Romelu Lukaku to snub a loan return to West Bromwich Albion and join his Goodison Park revolution. The big Belgian scored 17 goals for the Baggies in just 20 starts during the last campaign. Add to that the fact that they kept hold of Leighton Baines and Martinez can be pleased with himself.

Tottenham Hotspur

When Manchester United sold Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid in 2009, they replaced him with a combination of Antonio Valencia, Michael Owen and Gabriel Obertan. Surprise, surprise - that didn't work.

It's a lesson that Spurs appear to have taken on board. They did not allow their prized asset, Gareth Bale, to complete his "dream move" to the Bernabeu until all the necessary replacements were signed, sealed and delivered, despite his protests. They may have lost a player that carried them on their shoulders last season, but Spurs fans should be excited by the potential of Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen and Paulinho.

Daniel Levy, the hard-nosed negotiator that he is, has perhaps even managed to break even where wages are concerned. Yes seven players have been recruited, but the likes of Scott Parker, David Bentley and Tom Huddlestone, all likely to have been on decent money, have departed the Lane.

It may take a little time to gel everything together in terms of the starting lineup, but Andre Villas-Boas could not have done much more in trying to replace the Welsh boy wonder.

Worth a mention

There was a time towards the end of last season where Norwich City couldn't buy a win. Had other results gone against them in the closing stages, it may very well have cost them their Premier League status.

Goals, scoring them at least, were a major problem for the Canaries, but manager Chris Hughton has moved to eradicate that weakness by signing Gary Hooper and Ricky van Wolfswinkel. The acquisition of Nathan Redmond also looks to be a smart one.

Southampton also have every reason to be cheerful following the arrivals of Pablo Osvaldo, Dejan Lovern and Victor Wanyama for big money.

It also seems apparent that Manuel Pellegrini was not willing to make the same mistakes as his predecessor Roberto Mancini at Manchester City, who rushed through deals for the likes of Scott Sinclair 12 months ago.

This time around the newly-appointed Chilean assembled his squad quickly and efficiently, with the likes of Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas seemingly decent additions from La Liga.

Losers

Manchester United

Who uses a fax machine these days?! In fairness, it has now emerged that the deal to sign Fabio Coentrao on a season-long loan actually failed because Real Madrid could not find a suitable replacement for the Portuguese international. Nevertheless, it summed up a laughable, yet worryingly important window for David Moyes.

It's not the new manager's job to negotiate the deals, though. He identifies a target, passes it on to his chief executive, who gets around a table with his opposite number over cakes and coffees one would imagine. In all seriousness, while Sir Alex Ferguson is without doubt a big loss to the champions, David Gill's worth has also been proven.

Whatever opinion United fans have of the businessman regarding the Glazers' takeover, the man knew how to recruit a footballer. His replacement, Ed Woodward, must be battered and bruised after this window. This is someone who failed with a £12m bid for Baines in June, then lodged the same offer in August. He also pulled the plug on the Ander Herrera deal at the 11th hour, believing that Spaniard was not worth the £30m release clause that was written into his Athletic Bilbao contract. This after the 24-year-old had reportedly agreed a wage cut to sign on at Old Trafford.

The interest in Herrera came late, as did the supposed move for Madrid's Sami Khedira. It was as if Moyes had logged on to Football Manager, filtered midfielders and in a blind panic worked his way down the list, submitting bids at will. The pursuit of Cesc Fabregas also made the club a laughing stock among their rivals and resembled a drunk trying to slot a key into the lock of their front door.

United did get Fellaini over the line, just. Although, they could have got him for £4m cheaper had they signed him July when the clause in his contract, which had since expired, allowed him to vacate Goodison Park for £23.5m. Still, it's a midfielder - a position United haven't reinforced since 2007. Wayne Rooney was also refused a move to Chelsea, which could prove crucial. And they managed to get Bebe off the books for a season. Every cloud.

Arsenal

Come on Arsenal fans, admit it - how many of you awoke this morning and double checked that you hadn't dreamt that Arsene Wenger had spent £42.5m on Mesut Ozil!?

So, why you ask are the Gunners included in this list? After all, the German international is a world-class footballer that has made more assists in the Champions League since 2010 than anyone else.

Now, this is not for one minute to suggest that Wenger should have turned down the chance to sign the 24-year-old, but was he a necessity? It's fair to argue that he is more of a luxury.

Arsenal needed an experienced goalkeeper and not someone from Serie B, while a centre-back, a physical presence in midfield and a striker wouldn't have gone amiss.

The arrival of Ozil could perhaps persuade other stars of a similar ilk to join in future windows, but for this one at least, Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Flamini (both freebies) are not of the calibre required to give Chelsea, Man City and Man United sleepless nights.

Worth a mention

There was everyone thinking that Joe Kinnear had a contact-stuffed Filofax to rival Del Boy's and Newcastle United sign no-one on deadline day. In fact, they've only boosted their squad with Loic Remy from Queens Park Rangers on loan.

Self-proclaimed Mr Popular Kinnear may very well point to the fact that the Magpies kept Yohan Cabaye out of Arsenal's clutches, but for a side that stayed up by their skin of their teeth last season, has enough work been done?

Elsewhere, it seems as though the centre-forward has come back into fashion this summer (Edinson Cavani, Radamel Falcao, Mario Gomez etc), only no-one seemed to tell Chelsea and West Ham United. Both London clubs did some smart business in other areas of the pitch, but may rue their failure to add to their goalscoring ranks.