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The English Premier League made a return this Saturday with a 1-1 draw between Leicester City and Stoke City after a nearly two-week-long hiatus.
As we look forward to the remaining fixtures of the week, with Chelsea's visit to Old Trafford being the marquee match of the lot, let us also reminiscence the events of the past few months and analyse the performances that have led to the current Premier League table.
Many clubs had brought in new recruits back in the summer to help their cause. While Mohammed Salah has undoubtedly made the biggest impact, the likes of Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata have left a mark as well.
However, there were many signings who failed to deliver on their potential and they did so miserably. A lot was expected from these players by their new clubs but all they managed to do was disappoint everyone.
Let us now have a look at a starting eleven comprising of the worst summer signings from the Premier League clubs this season. A 4-3-3 formation has been used for the same.
Joe Hart - West Ham United (Goalkeeper)
Ever since he lost his starting spot to the Chilean Claudio Bravo at Manchester City back in the summer of 2016, Joe Hart's career has been on the decline.
After a poor showing at Torino, where the England No.1 managed to keep only five clean sheets in 37 games, Hart returned to Manchester City after his loan term at the Turin-based club expired.
He was shipped out on loan to West Ham United again this summer but has shown no signs of improvement.
Hart has managed to keep only three shutouts in the 14 games that he has started for the London outfit in the Premier League. He has also conceded an average of more than two goals per game.
Club veteran Adrian has understandably replaced him in the starting XI as Hart made his last Premier League outing against Everton back in November 2017, where the Hammers were hammered by the Toffees in a 4-0 defeat.
Given Hart's current form and with the likes of Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford presenting themselves are noteworthy options for goalkeeping duties in Russia, the future does not look good for the two-time Premier League winner.
Danilo - Manchester City (Right-back)
Signed in the July of 2017 from Real Madrid for £26.5 million, Brazilian right-back Danilo has mostly played the role of an understudy to Kyle Walker who has been preferred for that spot in the starting eleven by manager Pep Guardiola.
Danilo has started only eight games for the Manchester outfit in the Premier League out of a total of 15 appearances and most of them have been in the left-back spot. Apart from scoring a world-class goal against Burnley from outside of the penalty box, the Brazilian hasn't managed to make many headlines.
Danilo boasts of a poor crossing accuracy of 13 percent and has only managed a total of four successful dribbles in the Premier League so far. In fact, most of his playing time has come as a result of injuries to Benjamin Mendy and makeshift left-back Fabian Delph.
It goes without saying that the former Porto player is not an important figure at the Etihad.
Victor Lindelof - Manchester United (Centre-back)
Signed from Benfica for £31 million in the summer, Victor Lindelof was expected to form a sturdy partnership with Eric Bailly at the back for Manchester United. It is safe to say that the Swedish defender is nowhere close to achieving that.
Only featuring 10 times for 'The Red Devils' in the Premier League, Lindelof has been absolutely shaky at the back, leading to several blatant errors.
His most notable mistake came against Huddersfield when he was left ball watching from a Jonas Lossl goal-kick which was converted into a goal by the Belgian forward Laurent Depoitre.
From the seven starts that Lindelof has made in the Premier League, he has managed to help the Red Devils keep a clean sheet only three times. The three oppositions in question are Brighton, Southampton, and Everton, with all of them notably exhibiting attacking problems this season.
Michael Keane - Everton (Centre-back)
After a breakthrough season with Burnley in the 2016-17 season, Michael Keane was snapped up by Everton in their summer spending spree for an arguably expensive sum of £30 million.
Unfortunately, he ended up as one of the many underperforming signings of the Toffees this season.
From the 18 starts he has mustered for the blue half of Merseyside in the Premier League, Keane has been a contributor to only three Everton clean sheets.
After a promising start to his Everton career with a clean sheet against Stoke City at home and a promising display against Manchester City, things have been on a downward spiral for the England defender.
Keane has been caught out by forwards numerous times this season and has been one of the reasons behind Everton conceding a total of 46 goals this season.
Only Watford and Huddersfield have conceded more with 47 a piece. Needless to say, Michael Keane has been a disappointment of a signing.
Cuco Martina - Everton (Left-back)
Best known for his thunderous goal against Arsenal on Boxing Day of 2015, Cuco Martina signed for Everton on a free transfer from Southampton in July 2017.
Martina had already played under the then Everton manager Ronald Koeman at Southampton and was touted as a long-term replacement for the ageing left-back Leighton Baines.
Martina has turned up with poor performances night after night and has been often exploited by quick forwards due to his inability to maintain defensive discipline.
He has also recorded an average pass accuracy of 78 percent and not been a much of a threat going forward.
For a man of his physicality, Martina has managed to win only half of all player duels that he has been a part of.The former Saints player has managed only two successful dribbles in the 18 appearances that he has made for the Toffees.
He is nowhere close to replicating what Leighton Baines has done for the club over the years and may be replaced in the summer of 2018.
Renato Sanches - Swansea City (Right central midfielder)
Most individuals and pundits believed that Swansea City had pulled off a major coup when they were able to sign the Portuguese wonderkid Renato Sanches from Bayern Munich on loan in the summer of 2017. However, everyone realised soon after that it was a completely dud move.
Ever since signing for Bayern Munich in 2016, the Golden Boy of UEFA Euro 2016 had been fighting for a place in the starting eleven of the Bavarians.
A move away from Munich represented a chance for Sanches to redeem himself but he has only managed to degrade further.
Renato Sanches was dispossessed 23 times in his debut for Swansea City against Newcastle in the 69 minutes that he played.
Since then, Sanches has barely done something creative for the Swans on the pitch has been caught off his paces on most occasions.
His latest mishap was passing to an advertising board against Chelsea where he mistook the red Carabao logo to be a Swansea player. The career trajectory of Sanches is moving in a downward direction at a quick pace but at 20 years of age, he still has time on his hand.
Tiemoue Bakayoko - Chelsea (Central midfielder)
Signed from Monaco for £40 million to replace Nemanja Matic at Chelsea, much was expected of Tiemoue Bakayoko.
After leading Monaco to a Ligue 1 victory, Bakayoko was tipped to replicate the same performances in the wake of the Blues' Premier League title defence.
Unfortunately, Bakayoko has been a shadow of his former Monaco self at Chelsea. He has always shown lack of discipline in transition and has failed to mark the opposition's players on many occasions.
He turned up with another pathetic display at Vicarage Road when he was sent off in the first half in Watford's 4-1 thrashing of Chelsea.
After Bakayoko put up a tremendous performance against Manchester United in November last year, everyone expected the Frenchman to pull up his socks and become a crucial presence in the heart of the Chelsea midfield.
Bakayoko has failed to accomplish that and still remains a sorry figure at Stamford Bridge costing his side crucial points every now and then in the Premier League.
Davy Klaassen - Everton (Left central midfielder)
After producing 20 goals and 12 assists for Ajax last season, Dutch midfielder Davy Klaassen was signed by Everton for nearly £24 million in the summer of 2017.
The 2016 Dutch Player of the Year was considered to be the answer to Everton's creative problems in the midfield. Somehow though, he has found himself warming the bench more often than playing for Everton.
Klaassen has made only four appearances for the Merseyside blue outfit in the Premier League, playing a cumulative total of 189 minutes only.
His last appearance in the Premier League came way back in September 2017 against Bournemouth and the midfielder has seen himself fall out of favour ever since.
Current manager Sam Allardyce has also decided against fielding the player so far. Klaassen managed to create only one chance in the extremely limited playing time that he got and has not been involved in any goals for Everton.
Klaassen is definitely a potential not fulfilled at Goodison Park.
Oliver Burke - West Bromwich Albion (Right winger)
Signed from RB Leipzig for £15 million, Oliver Burke is the most expensive Scottish footballer ever. Despite this, the winger has been limited to only 10 Premier League appearances for West Brom, nine of them being from the bench.
The 20-year-old player was seen as a rising talent at RB Leipzig and was snapped up by West Brom to add to their offensive options.
What's disappointing though, is the fact that the youngster has failed to cut a starting spot in Alan Pardew's squad despite their attacking troubles.
However, this may be because of the Scotsman's inability to provide an attacking threat. Burke has created only three chances and been involved in only two key passes.
For all his troubles, Oliver Burke has managed only assist in the Premier League and is yet to find the back of the net.
Kelechi Iheanacho - Leicester City (Striker)
After showing enough promise at Manchester City but falling down the pecking order due to the arrival of Gabriel Jesus, Kelechi Iheanacho joined Leicester City in a £25 million move.
The Nigerian has managed to make only 13 appearances for the Foxes in the Premier League including tonight's game against Stoke.
From all of his outings, Iheanacho has started only three times for Leicester City and has mostly played second-fiddle to likes of Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki.
Despite turning up with good performances for Leicester in the FA Cup, Iheanacho has failed to nail down a starting spot in Claude Puel's side in the Premier League.
Iheanacho has only contributed with one assist in the Premier League and is yet to open his Premier League goals tally this season. Iheanacho is yet to play a full game in the Premier League this season and needs to improve on his performances if he intends to do so.
Jesé - Stoke City (Left winger)
Jesé moved to Stoke City from Paris Saint-Germain on loan in August of 2017. He delivered on his promise in his debut Premier League outing for Stoke as he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against Arsenal.
However, he never extended his encouraging start as he still holds a tally of only one Premier League goal after 10 games.
The dip in performances has seen Jesé move to the bench. The Spaniard has not started a game for the Potters since the loss to Bournemouth in October as even the 37-year-old Peter Crouch has started making appearances for Stoke City of late.
The only full game that Jesé has played so far this season came in the form of an appearance for the under-23 Stoke City side against a Middlesbrough U-23 team where he recorded an assist, only his second for the Potters in all competitions this season.
Jesé was on the bench yet again for Stoke City's trip to King Power Stadium tonight and does not seem likely to be returning to the starting eleven anytime soon.
