This summer has seen many significant transfer deals in the football world. Not only has European football been shaken up with the high profile moves of stars such as Eden Hazard, Antoine Griezmann and Matthijs De Ligt, but the Premier League will also welcome many new faces when the opening games kick off on the second weekend of August.
Obviously, there is still a couple of weeks before the English transfer window closes on 9 August. Plus there’s plenty of big rumours that stars such as Gareth Bale could be coming back to play Premier League football. But here’s a quick rundown of some of the biggest transfers that could seriously impact the fortunes of your favourite Premier League team in the coming months.
Rodri to Manchester City from Atletico Madrid – £62.8 million
Manchester City are well known for throwing their money around, and they made their record club signing when they snapped up Rodri from Atletico Madrid at the start of July. They spent £62.8 million on the Spanish midfielder who will be joining Pep Guardiola’s team on a five-year deal, and it’s going to be fascinating to see how the 23-year old fits in at the Etihad.
Rodri was in excellent form for Atletico Madrid last season, and the defensively-minded midfielder proved pivotal in helping the team reach second place in La Liga. He proved to be a good fit for Manchester City in their preseason friendly against Wolves in the Premier League Asia Trophy final, and Rodri is expected to link up well with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne.
However, Pep Guardiola still has some issues to work on ever since Vincent Kompany’s departure. For a moment, it looked like Manchester City might sign Harry Maguire to fill the centre back role, but Leicester’s £75 million price tag proved to be too much.
Tanguy Ndombele to Tottenham Hotspur from Lyon – £53.8 million
After over a year without making a signing, Tottenham have finally splashed out a club record fee of £53.8 million for Tanguy Ndombele. The 22-year old midfielder had made his name with Lyon, and he’ll be at the new Tottenham stadium until 2025.
Ndombele didn’t take long to become a massive hit with the Spurs faithful. Their recent preseason match against Juventus saw Ndombele deliver a beautiful assist to create Lucas Moura’s equalising goal and he nearly scored one of his own just a few moments later.
In addition to Ndombele, Mauricio Pochettino has also signed the 18-year old Leeds winger, Jack Clarke, although he has been loaned back to Leeds for one season. But with Atletico Madrid signing Kieran Trippier for £20 million, and Christian Eriksen keen to leave, it’s too early to know exactly how the new-look Tottenham Hotspur will shape up.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United from Crystal Palace – £45 million
Whilst much of the summer has been taken up with rumours about the future of Paul Pogba, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has also been making some key signings. In particular, it’s the £45 million deal for Aaron Wan-Bissaka that’s hoped to give Manchester United more reasons to be cheerful than their last dismal season.
The 21-year old was snapped up from Crystal Palace for £50 million and his five-year contract will see him earning £80,000 per week. No defender made more successful challenges than Wan-Bissaka last season, and he impressed in a recent pre-season friendly against Inter Milan.
In addition to this, Manchester United also splashed out a cool £15 million on the highly rated winger, Daniel James, from Swansea City. Plus with rumours that they could tempt Harry Maguire to fill the centre-back role from Leicester City, it’s going to be an interesting few weeks at Old Trafford.
Sebastien Haller to West Ham United from Eintracht Frankfurt – £45 million
West Ham have broken another club record this summer, when they snapped up Sebastien Haller front Eintracht Frankfurt for £45 million. The 25-year old forward had been in outstanding form in the Bundesliga last season, and his move to London means that the Hammers have broken their transfer record for the third time in just over a year.
Whilst Haller won’t be in action in West Ham’s preseason friendlies, he’s expected to link up well with Pablo Fornals. This hugely promising attacking midfielder joined the Hammers for £24 million from Villareal and the Spanish star is going to be pivotal in West Ham’s fortunes next season. Whether these big money signings make up for the loss of Marko Arnautovic to Shanghai SIPG remains to be seen.
Youri Tielemans to Leicester City from Monaco – £40 million
Leicester have spent the past few months making some impressive signings that will make them a key team to watch next season. In particular, it’s the finalising of the £40 million deal for Youri Tielemans from Monaco that’s going to be most significant. Tielemans was in fine form on loan for the Foxes last season and the Belgium midfielder will be joined by some other interesting signings.
These include the likes of the ex-Newcastle striker Ayoze Perez who joined Leicester for £30 million, whilst Brendan Rogers made his first signing when he bought the full-back James Justin from Luton Town. If Rogers can keep Harry Maguire from signing up to a bigger team, then Leicester are going to be looking very strong for the new Premier League season.
Mateo Kovacic to Chelsea from Real Madrid – £40 million
Whilst Chelsea are supposed to be under a two-window transfer ban, they managed to secure Mateo Kovacic in a five-year deal that was registered just before the ban came into effect. The ex-Real Madrid midfielder came to Stamford Bridge on a loan deal last season, and he’ll be permanently joining Chelsea for £40 million.
Of course, the big news at Stamford Bridge is the fact that Frank Lampard will be the new manager. Whilst Maurizio Sarri managed to get some decent results with the Blues, he was never liked by the fans, and Lampard is expected to get a massive welcome when Chelsea play their first Premier League match at Manchester United on 11 August. But whether Chelsea’s other new signing, Christian Pulisic, can fill the hole left by Eden Hazard remains to be seen.
Andres Gomes to Everton from Barcelona – £22 million
After a very encouraging loan spell at Goodison Park last season, Everton have announced that they have secured Andres Gomes on a five-year contract. The £22 million deal will make the Portugal midfielder a key part of the Everton team, and their manager Marco Silva has also signed Jonas Lossl from Huddersfield to act as back-up goalkeeper to Jordan Pickford.
There’s still conflicting reports about whether Everton can persuade Kurt Zouma to come to Goodison Park permanently from Chelsea. If Chelsea decide to hang onto the French star, then there’s a good chance that Marco Silva will need to add a central defender before the summer transfer window closes.
Danny Ings to Southampton from Liverpool – £20 million
Danny Ings is another Premier League star who managed to make a loan deal permanent this summer. The striker completed his £20 million move from Liverpool at the start of July and he will now be at Southampton on a three-year contract.
In addition to this big move, Ralph Hassenhuttl has added Moussa Djenepo and Che Adams to the Southampton attack. Hopefully this should be enough to stop Southampton from enduring another relegation battle like the one that they experienced last season.
Other Premier League clubs making summer signings
Whilst £18 million might not be a huge amount in terms of big signings, the fact that Brighton paid this amount to sign Leandro Trossard from Genk makes it the club’s largest transfer deal. The Belgium winger will hopefully add plenty of firepower to the Brighton attack, and the arrival of Matt Clarke from Portsmouth should help to bolster the team’s defence.
Bournemouth also got out the chequebook this summer with the £13 million purchase of Lloyd Kelly from Bristol City, but the question remains of whether Eddie Howe can hang onto star Bournemouth players like Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser.
Burnley’s biggest signing has been to bring back Jay Rodriguez from West Brom, although Erik Pieters is also expected to have a big impact in the left-back role. Watford fans will be delighted to know that veteran goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes has been encouraged to sign another deal with the team, whilst Craig Dawson is an interesting new defensive signing from West Brom.
The newly promoted teams in the 2019/20 Premier League have also been making plenty of signings. Norwich City have signed the very promising Swiss forward Josep Drmic, whilst Aston Villa have splashed out a cool £100 million on exciting players like Jota, Anwar El Ghazi and Kortney Hause. Plus with even Sheffield United joining in the transfer fever with the purchase of Luke Freeman from QPR, it shows that there’s no shortage of cash in Premier League football.
Premier League teams who have made relatively few summer transfer deals
However, there are a few clubs who have been resistant to spending big money this summer. Liverpool have been notably absent from the signing party with investments instead in a new £50 million training facility, whilst Newcastle United have been holding off any signings until Steve Bruce is settled into his new management role.
Arsenal fans will be desperate for some new signings after a relatively uninspiring season. But apart from the signing of the Brazilian teenage striker Gabriel Martinelli, there’s been very little spending. However with rumours abounding that Unai Emery could sign the likes of Dani Ceballos, Wilfried Zaha and Kieran Tierney, it seems that there’s still time for Arsenal to make some big purchases before their opening Premier League clash at Newcastle United on 11 August.
Crystal Palace seem to be having more problems in hanging on to their biggest stars than actually buying new players, and even Wolves seem to be strangely resistant to making any more signings to their relatively thin squad. However, with a couple more weeks left of the transfer window, there’s hope that we might see a few more big money transfer deals before the start of the next Premier League season.
