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Premier League clubs spent over £1 billion on new players over the summer, with some world class talent moving to England.
We are now 11 games into the season, and it is clear to see how some of the new imports are having a positive impact on their sides. Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool all remain unbeaten in the league, and they are all playing some excellent football.
The two North London clubs, Tottenham and Arsenal, have also impressed in their opening games. On the other hand, Manchester United have flattered to deceive so far this season, and look like they could be in for a real fight to finish in the top four.
At the other end of the table, it has been a tough start to the campaign for both Cardiff City and Fulham, who have collected just five points in the opening few months. They are only marginally worse off than Newcastle United and Huddersfield Town, who have also won just one game so far this season.
We have seen a number of excellent signings so far this campaign. Jorginho looks to be fitting in well at Chelsea, Lucas Torreira is coming into his own at Arsenal, and Richarlison looks to be proving the doubters wrong at Everton.
However, there have been a few signings that haven’t really paid off so far this season. Here are five men who moved this summer who need to improve in the coming months.
#1 Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Fulham)
Fulham spent big in the summer, becoming the first promoted side to spend £100 million in a summer transfer window. Anguissa was one of their more expensive signings, as they spent over £20 million to secure his signature from Marseille. The Cameroonian is someone who had built his reputation as a strong, tough tackling midfielder who operates just in front of the back four.
This hasn’t been the case at Fulham though, as Anguissa has been a part of a side that has conceded the most goals in the league, and in fact the most of any team in all of Europe’s top five leagues. The 22-year-old certainly hasn’t adapted to the Premier League, and has been a shadow of his usual self so far this season and has offered very little to his new side. He will need to massively improve over the next few months to help Fulham avoid an immediate return to the Championship.
#2 Fabinho (Liverpool)
Liverpool spent a lot of money over the summer as they looked to get over their Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid and push for their first Premier League title. In fairness, we probably haven’t seen the best of any of their big money buys yet. Naby Keita has been slightly inconsistent since his move from RB Leipzig, Xherdan Shaqiri has been more of a rotation player, and Alisson has looked slightly error-prone so far.
We have seen very little from Fabinho though, who made the £43 million move from Monaco early on in the window. The Brazilian, however, has barely been seen in a Reds shirt, and hasn’t been trusted too much in the Premier League, and not at all when it comes to the big games. It may be that Jurgen Klopp wants to give him some time to adapt to English football, but fans would have been expecting an awful lot more from him.
#3 Fred (Manchester United)
It is an almost common knowledge that Jose Mourinho didn’t get the players that he wanted to sign in the summer. In the final weeks of the window, he made a centre back the priority, in particular, Leicester City’s Harry Maguire, and Atletico Madrid’s Diego Godin. However, the club weren’t able to get either of those over the line, and he was left with just the two big money buys in the summer: Fred and Diogo Dalot.
Fred was the more expensive of the two, making the move from Shakhtar Donetsk in a deal worth around £50 million. He has done OK so far, but he has never really stood out. It looks as if Mourinho hasn’t worked out what he wants to do with his midfield yet, and that is having an impact on Fred’s opportunities. He isn’t as good defensively as Nemanja Matic, and Mourinho certainly isn’t in a position to leave out Paul Pogba. This means United would have to play three men in midfield if Fred is to get a game.
#4 Salomon Rondon (Newcastle United)
There was a lot of talk regarding Newcastle’s summer business. Rafa Benitez was given very little money to spent by owner Mike Ashley, and it was clear that he never really got the players that he wanted to sign. One issue his side had last season was goals, and they were desperate to change that this time around. This involved Rondon making the move to St. James’ Park from West Brom, and Dwight Gayle going in the other direction. Aleksandar Mitrovic also left the club, moving to Fulham.
Rondon though hasn’t really solved the goal problem since his move and is yet to score a Premier League goal for Newcastle. He has suffered from injuries in the opening months of the season, and even when he has been fit, he hasn’t always been a first-choice pick for Benitez. He is a man who is going to need to start finding the back of the net to help the Magpies stay in the league.
#5 Mohamed Elyounoussi (Southampton)
Much like Newcastle, Southampton are a side who came into the transfer window looking to solve the problems they had with scoring goals last season. One of their bigger moves of the summer was bringing in highly rated Norwegian winger Mohamed Elyounoussi from Basel for a fee of £16 million.
So far this season, Elyounoussi has failed to impress for the Saints and hasn’t had the sort of impact they would have hoped for. Their struggles for goals have continued this season, and the 24-year-old is yet to provide one in the league. He may still be adapting to the Premier League, but in a side that look short of quality in attacking areas, he really needs to get up to speed soon.
