Premier League 2017/18: 5 summer signings who haven't lived up to expectations

It might be a little hard to believe, but when the next set of Premier League fixtures take place after the current international break, we’ll be over a quarter of the way into the season. Time flies, basically, and it’s likely that just a few weeks later, thoughts will turn to the upcoming January transfer window.

But what of the previous summer transfer window? While it still seems like only yesterday that the Premier League’s biggest clubs splashed a record amount of cash, the players signed have now had a few months to bed into their new surroundings. And while it’s a bit early to judge any of them as outright flops, some of the most expensive players certainly haven’t lived up to their price tag.

Here, then, are five players who haven’t lived up to expectations....yet.

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#1 Davy Klaassen

A Dutch international and the former captain of Ajax, Klaassen was signed for £23.6m in the summer for Everton by his compatriot Ronald Koeman, with the idea being that as an attacking playmaker, he’d probably act as a replacement for Ross Barkley, who was expected to be leaving either in the summer transfer window or later on in the January one. He brought quite the reputation from Holland, too – he was basically an ever-present for Ajax over the last four seasons and also contributed 20 goals in 2016/17.

Koeman described Klaassen as leader on the pitch, but unfortunately for Toffees fans he’s proven anything but thus far. Klaassen simply hasn’t looked to be at the level of a Premier League player, and he was way off the pace in his initial few games before sliding down the pecking order.

In Everton’s most recent 1-0 loss to Burnley, the Dutchman didn’t even make it off the bench. Everton currently languish in 16th place – not where they expected to be after making expensive signings like Klaassen.

So what’s the issue? Klaassen could still come good I guess, time is on his side, but it’s more likely that – in a similar vein to his fellow Dutch international Vincent Janssen, who endured a horrible season at Tottenham in 2016/17 – the step up from the Dutch Eredivisie to the Premier League is just a step too big for him to take.

The days of the likes of Ajax and PSV Eindhoven being Champions League powers are long gone, and now it’d be almost impossible to rank the Eredivisie within the top five leagues in Europe.

Unfortunately, Everton may be paying a high price for risking a lot of money on an Eredivisie star unable to cut the mustard at the top.

#2 Kelechi Iheanacho

Kelechi Iheanacho just can't seem to break into Leicester's starting lineup

After surprisingly winning the Premier League in 2015/16, Leicester City found it hard to truly attract top players to the King Power Stadium for the following season. Their most expensive signing, Islam Slimani at £28m, didn’t really pay off and 2016/17 saw them slip back to a mid-table position.

It was clear that they needed strengthening going into 2017/18 and so they made a couple of big signings in defender Harry Maguire and young striker Kelechi Iheanacho, who set them back £25m from Manchester City.

While Maguire has hit the ground running and now finds himself in the England squad, it’s been the total opposite for Iheanacho. When he was at Manchester City, despite having the best goals-to-minutes ratio in the entire Premier League in 2015/16, the young Nigerian was primarily used as a substitute.

He must’ve expected to be a first-choice striker for Leicester but instead, he’s found himself back in his familiar spot, unable to break into the first team due to the partnership between Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki.

Vardy appears to be back to his 2015/16 form – he’s already got 5 goals in 6 Premier League games – while Okazaki’s also been scoring too, bagging 3 in 5 in the league. What this means for Iheanacho is that he’s been reduced to just three appearances as a substitute thus far and unless an injury sidelines one of the two strikers ahead of him, he may struggle for game time throughout the year.

Admittedly, he suffered from a nagging toe injury earlier in the season, but Leicester clearly didn’t pay £25m for a benchwarmer, nor did Iheanacho move to play the same role he was playing at Man City.

Something needs to change for the Nigerian, and fast.

#3 Victor Lindelof

Victor Lindelof has spent most of his time on Manchester United's bench thus far

Jose Mourinho seemed to struggle with choosing a partnership in central defence last season at Manchester United – his new signing Eric Bailly was clearly a first choice player, but then Mourinho tried out practically every other centre-half he had alongside him.

From Chris Smalling to Marcos Rojo to Phil Jones, nothing seemed to fit quite right for the Portuguese boss. So when he spent a huge £30m on Swedish international Victor Lindelof, it was expected that he’d play alongside Bailly in Mourinho’s new starting lineup.

That hasn’t been the case at all, though. After making some blunders during pre-season games, particularly in the European Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid, Lindelof was dropped from United’s squad for the first Premier League game of the season. Jones was given the nod to partner Bailly and hasn’t looked back since, looking like arguably the best defender in the league and having Mourinho singing his praises for good measure.

And Lindelof? He still hasn’t made a Premier League appearance, although he has appeared in Europe and the League Cup a couple of times.

Can he break into the first team? Mourinho initially claimed he just needed time to settle in, similar to last season’s new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who took time to come to form, but with the form of Jones and Bailly ahead of him – and Mourinho being a boss well-known for keeping a consistent first team rather than constant tinkering – he may find it very hard to break into the side for a long period of time.

With his confidence already low following that shaky pre-season, his time at United could well end up a shorter one than most fans first expected.

Don’t be surprised if Mourinho calls time on the Swede next summer.

#4 Michael Keane

Michael Keane and Everton have started the season poorly

Alright, so I wouldn’t say Michael Keane has played terribly thus far in 2017/18. He’s been practically ever-present for Everton thus far, playing six of their seven Premier League fixtures, but the overall form of the Toffees has meant that his reputation has certainly slipped – to the point where he’s not only behind John Stones and Gary Cahill in the pecking order for England, but perhaps behind Harry Maguire and Phil Jones now too.

Everton have had a diabolical start to the season, losing four of their six league games, and those losses include leaking four goals against Manchester United, three goals against Tottenham Hotspur and an embarrassing 1-0 defeat to Burnley.

For his part, Keane cost £30m – making him one of the most expensive defenders in Premier League history – and apparently turned down a move back to Manchester United to head to Goodison Park. He was expected to form one of the Premier League’s most formidable defensive partnerships with Welsh international Ashley Williams but instead, both men look bereft of confidence just a handful of games in.

Can Keane turn it around? He’s certainly got the talent to do so and with the World Cup on the horizon, it’d be a great thing for England if he could recapture the form he showed for Burnley that earned him such a big-money move in the first place. But right now his form – and the form of his club – is worrying.

#5 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has had a torrid time at Liverpool thus far

When Oxlade-Chamberlain refused to sign a new contract at Arsenal last summer, the word was that he wanted out of the Emirates due to become sick and tired of being used purely as a utility player by Arsene Wenger.

Chamberlain supposedly fancied himself as a central midfielder, rather than a winger or wing-back, and it was clear that with talents such as Mesut Ozil, Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey ahead of him, he probably needed a move. Chelsea were a potential suitor but in the end, the England international moved to Liverpool for £35m.

Unfortunately, chances for Chamberlain to prove himself as a central midfielder seem to be coming more commonly from his England appearances than his club ones. He hasn’t started a Premier League game since moving to Anfield and he’s already appeared out wide for his new club, too. With the likes of Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho ahead of him in the queue for a spot in the centre of midfield, what did he really expect?

Chamberlain has looked poor when he has appeared for Liverpool, too – missing a gilt-edged chance in their most recent game against Newcastle, for instance. He still appears to be in Gareth Southgate’s England plans though and is hoping good performances for his country can kickstart his club career. Whether that is truly the case though is still a huge question mark.