With pre-season just starting to begin and take shape for Premier League clubs, this is a period that brings many things for each team. Returning the players to a level of match fitness to compete in the long season ahead, trying some new ideas out in terms of formations, but perhaps the most important aspect, and the one that gets the fans most excited, is bringing in new players and fitting them into the squad. This is always a huge risk for Premier League clubs, as you only have to look at some of the dazzling sums of money being spent on the players being brought in. Take the £30 million Arsenal just stumped up for Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona, for example. However, every window there are a few stand out signings, be it for their value for money or their just their quality as players. Despite clubs still having over a month to complete their transfer dealings for the summer, here are the 5 top signings of the transfer window so far:
Best Summer Transfers So Far
Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal – As mentioned above, much of the risk with transfers in the Premier League is the enormous sums of money behind them. However, despite the £30 million Arsenal have splashed out on Chilean winger Alexis Sanchez, you’d have to say it looks like £30 million very well spent. In a break from tradition where Arsene Wenger has decided to do his transfer dealings early (including the signing of Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle), Sanchez brings proven top level experience to Arsenal, having spent three relatively successful seasons at Spanish giants Barcelona, demonstrating an impressive record of 47 goals in 141 appearances during that time, as well as 34 assists. With an impressive World Cup for Chile this summer to add to that, scoring 2 goals in Chile’s 4 games, it’s fair to say that Arsenal know what they are getting for their money, namely goals, assists, flair, and a whole lot of fear to inject into every full back that faces Alexis this year. And with the attacking talent already at the Emirates, including Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Giroud, Wilshere, Ozil, Cazorla and Ramsay among others, the signing of Sanchez looks like a massive addition to an already fearsome attacking line up for Wenger to choose from, and certainly one of the stand out signings so far.
Thomas Ince to Hull – In stark contrast to the £30 million spent on Sanchez, Thomas Ince arrives at Hull on a free transfer from Blackpool, a side in near total disarray in the Championship. The biggest factor in what makes this a brilliant signing for Hull is, of course, the fee. Despite the compensation Hull will have to pay Blackpool due to Ince being under 23 years of age, it will be a more minimal fee compared to what other young, promising English wingers often cost. This has been seen over the years with players like Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, both of which reached over £10 million with add-ons in their moves to Arsenal, and even Nathan Redmond moving to Norwich last summer as another example. All have come at some kind of a bigger cost when moving up into the Premier League from the lower leagues, so to get Thomas Ince for nothing is great business. It’s even better when you consider that Ince turned down Italian giants Inter Milan before signing on at the KC. At times over the last couple of seasons, Ince seemed to carry Blackpool, or was at least the stand out player for them, scoring 33 goals in 113 games at the club, before a loan spell at Crystal Palace at the end of last season. Ince is an exciting player to watch with a lot of potential, so to capture him after his contract expiry at Blackpool could prove to be a top quality signing.
Gareth Barry to Everton – Everton’s signing of Gareth Barry on a free is obviously slightly different as he played at Goodison on loan last year, but during that season, Barry was an integral part of a very impressive Everton team that finished up in 5th place under Roberto Martinez, appearing in 32 of Everton’s 38 league games. His performances in Merseyside had many calling for him to get a seat on the plane to Brazil for the World Cup, but despite missing out on this, Everton saw the significant role Barry could play in their midfield. To capture him on a free after his contract was up at Manchester City is a very good piece of business by Martinez as Everton try once again to break into the Champions League places.
Loic Remy to Liverpool– Though not actually confirmed yet, Liverpool have triggered a release clause worth £8.5 million in Remy’s contract at QPR only available to Champions League teams, and the Frenchman has flown out to America to join Liverpool’s pre-season tour in the States and complete his move to Anfield. Remy has more than proved himself over the last season and a half since first moving over to the Premier League at QPR from Marseille in January 2013. He scored 6 goals in 14 games for a massively struggling QPR side that eventually got relegated that year, before moving to Newcastle on loan last season, where he proved to be essential yet again, scoring 14 in 26 league games. With the big money departure of Luis Suarez to Barcelona, a goalscorer is once again needed at Anfield, and Remy could be that goalscorer. Suarez was a bit of a miracle worker in Merseyside, it’s fair to say, firmly making his mark at the club, as well as on Chiellini’s left shoulder, and will be hugely missed at Liverpool. However, making the move to sign a proven Premier League striker should at least mask the absence of Suarez slightly, though the two are different kinds of players . When you compare that Liverpool are shipping Fabio Borini out to Sunderland for £14 million, the £8.5 million being spent on a far more proven Remy looks like a bargain for Liverpool, a bargain that will definitely pay off for the club.
Graziano Pelle to Southampton– A look at Pelle’s incredible record at Feyenoord of 55 goals in 66 games in all competitions during two tremendous seasons at the club certainly suggests that there could be a lethal goalscorer on the way to Southampton this summer. Certainly a prospect, a record like that would get anyone excited, but it must be said that a move from the Eredivisie to the Premier League for a high scoring striker is always a risk. We’ve seen it pay off before, such as Wilfried Bony’s move from Vitesse to Swansea last summer, who scored 25 goals in all competitions after his £12 million move to the Welsh club. However, we’ve also seen a big money move from Holland go horribly wrong. Take Alfonso Alves’ £13 million move to Middlesbrough back in January 2008, a player who scored more league goals than had played games at Heerenveen beforehand, but turned out to score just 4 goals in 31 games the year ‘Boro were relegated, and promptly moved onto Qatar to earn his living that summer. So, Pelle has lots of potential with a deadly scoring record such as his, and could turn out to be one of the signings of the summer for £8 million if he can come close to replicating that record in the Premier League.
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