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Although the transfer window officially does not start till the beginning of July, many deals have already been concluded, which will take effect from the 1st of July. While the spotlight has firmly been on the newly promoted French side AS Monaco and Neymar choosing Barcelona over Real Madrid, the clubs from the Premier League have also been active this summer – some spending heavy, some banking on free transfers. Some of best transfers that the Premier League clubs have made so far post end of 2012-13 season are:
Andre Schurrle – Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea – £18 million
Jose Mourinho’s first signing back at Chelsea. Although Schurrle having been on Chelsea’s radar for quite a while means Jose probably didn’t play a big part in this transfer. Schurrle played under Jurgen Klopp at Mainz and impressed enough that Leverkusen signed him in a £6.5m deal two years ago.
Schurrle, a German international since Nov 2010, predominantly plays on the left wing but is comfortable operating in any forward position. Although much more a goal creator than a goal scorer – he averages about one goal in three matches – he can up the pace any time he wants. He is good on-the-ball skills, fast with and without the ball. Mata, Hazard, Oscar and Schurrle – the combination is creative and fast enough to break the toughest of the defense not only in the Premier League but also in Europe.
The only questionable aspect in this transfer is the role Lukaku and de Bruyne will play in the coming season, putting a question mark on the number of starts Schurrle will get, but the ones who have seen him operate in the Bundesliga will no doubt say every penny of the £18 million is well spent.
Andy Carroll – Liverpool to West Ham - £15 million
Once Carroll became the most expensive British flop at Liverpool after a £35 million move, any transfer fee paid for him was destined to be too much. And £15 million is a lot – no denying the fact, especially with just 7 goals under his belt last season that he spent at West Ham on loan.
But with the kind of football he plays – the target man who can jump and win headers, hold the ball and release his team-mates, playing alone upfront, a set piece focal point – the £15 million represents more than just goals he will score. The perfect fit to West Ham’s style of play, perfect partner for Kevin Nolan and a big target for West Ham’s previous record transfer signing – Matt Jarvis’s crosses – all this while being capable of bailing his team out of trouble by winning crucial headers in defensive set pieces.
Although £15 million still sounds a lot, if Carroll can translate that into helping West Ham avoid the ‘second season syndrome’ and in process achieve a double figure of goals, come end of the season this one could well be the defining transfer of the season, outside the top 6 clubs. Expensive but a much needed buy for West Ham.
Maarten Stekelenburg – AS Roma to Fulham – undisclosed
Dutch national keeper at Fulham, sounds familiar right? Stekelenburg was once Van Der Sar’s number 2 in the Dutch national team for a long team and then touted to be the one that will replace the legend at Old Trafford if they went for an experienced keeper. That move didn’t materialize and now he’ll be in action at Craven Cottage, courtesy Martin Jol.
Stekelenburg previously worked with the Fulham manager at Ajax and the familiarity was a major factor in Stekelenburg approving the move to Fulham. Jol described Stekelenburg as ‘player of great quality and technical ability whose distribution and ability to react quickly and read the game is exceptional’. It was always going to be a hard task to replace Mark Schwarzer, one of the most consistent Premier League keepers, and in the Dutch keeper Fulham have bought in someone who can do that seamlessly.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel – Sporting Lisbon to Norwich City - £8.5 million
Although technically not a summer transfer as the deal to sign van Wolfswinkel was done way back in March, it is a genius move on part of Norwich. Having successfully negotiated the jitters of the second season syndrome, Norwich now would want to establish themselves as a regular Premier League club. No better way than to bring in a proven striker still in his early 20′s and who can guarantee about 15 goals per season.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel is exactly that. A proven goal scorer for all clubs he has been in. With just 41 goals in 38 league games last season, Norwich needed someone who could take the pressure off veteran club captain Grant Holt. With a nickname ‘HatRicky’ because of the number of ‘hat-tricks’ he scored in his early days in Holland, Norwich might have just brought in next season’s Michu.
Fernandinho - Shakhtar Donetsk to Manchester City - £30 million
£30m for a 28-year-old deep lying midfielder may sound outrageous. It becomes even more baffling after Man City last season brought in Javi Garcia and Jack Rodwell after already having Gareth Barry. But isolate the transfer from the said factors and then it becomes clear why they made such a move. The sheer intent on Man City’s part to spend such a huge amount in midst of UEFA fair play rules coming in, shows the value of the player.
Bayen Munich, a couple of seasons ago, were in the same position as City were at the end of last season, finishing second best in League and cup competitions; they were missing the final piece of the puzzle. They dug deep and paid heavily to bring in Javi Martinez. But at the end of the season, winning the triple justified their move. Fernandinho can be the same spark for City.
Fernandinho is a driving force, strong tackler, good on the ball and intelligent in his movement. Yaya Toure has time and again been the spark for City, but he can not always perform both defensively and offensively. Now with Fernandinho at the helm they can share the duties. His combination with Yaya Toure can destroy any midfield no matter how disciplined.
Clubs can spend money, buy superstars and win a couple of trophies; as City have already shown. But in order to make a winning team, a strong spine is needed. Hart – Kompany – Fernandinho – Toure: City’s spine is complete.
Nicklas Helenius - Aalborg to Aston Villa - £2 million
An early contender for the break-through signing of the season. Although a relative unknown outside Denmark, having been named Danish Superliga player of the 2012-13 season signals quality. Add to that finishing runner-up in the Superliga’s Golden Boot award for two consecutive seasons and it shows his goal scoring pedigree.
Of course, it all depends upon how quickly Helenius can adjust to the foreign conditions in England, the pace of the Premier League and the physicality and also how much first team action he will get right at the start of the season. But add a consistent goal scorer with a 1.96 m frame to the quick and the dangerous partnership of Benteke, Weimann and Agbonlahor and Aston Villa – or at least their forward line-up - could well be on its way of doing a Swansea in the coming season.
P.S.: At the time this article was submitted, neither Higuain to Arsenal nor Thiago to Man Utd was officially confirmed, or else both the moves would definitely have made the list.
