Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez will look to make an instant impact with Manchester City and Liverpool respectively. Raheem Sterling and Gabriel JesusтАЩs quest will be to make their new clubsтАФChelsea and ArsenalтАФbelieve that they can be pivotal to their rebuilding process.
With 2022-23 Premier League season set to kick-off on Friday, hereтАЩs a look at the 10 new signings who can light up the new season.
Erling Haaland
Club: Manchester City
Position: Forward
Transfer fee: ┬г54.00m
Man City made some statement when they beat Real Madrid and Barcelona to sign the Norwegian goal machine. The 22-year-oldтАЩs decision to come to the Etihad Stadium was also a seal of approval to CityтАЩs growing stature in the world of football.
Haaland made his name by scoring truckloads of goals for Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund, now Man City will hope that he continues to do so in the Premier League and, more importantly, in the Champions League which they havenтАЩt won yet.
While he will make life difficult for opposition defenders, CityтАЩs success will hinge on how quickly he gets used to Pep GuardiolaтАЩs possession-heavy style. Crucial to his success will also be how soon he adapts to Premier LeagueтАЩs breathtaking pace. Many have failed but pundits feel Haaland, whose father too has played for City, can be clubтАЩs first global superstar.
Darwin Nunez
Club: Liverpool
Position: Forward
Transfer fee: ┬г67.50m
Criticised by fans for his lackadaisical display in pre-season games against Manchester United and Crystal Palace, he soon won them over by netting four goals in LiverpoolтАЩs 5-0 demolition of RB Leipzig.
RedsтАЩ manager Juergen Klopp is more patient than the fans and whatever he has seen of the 23-year-old makes him believe that he has a gem that can shine at Anfield. There are already whispers that the Uruguayan is a substantial upgrade on Sadio Mane, who has left for Bayern Munich.
His 26 goals in 24 Portuguese league match for Benfica and six goals in six Champions League ties, including stellar displays against Barcelona and Liverpool, convinced Liverpool to sign him in a jiffy. His playing style is similar to that of another Liverpool legend Fernando Torres. Like the Spaniard, he is robust and likes to run defenders ragged, dragging them out of their position.
Gabriel Jesus
Club: Arsenal
Position: Forward
Transfer fee: ┬г46.98m
Few seasons back, the Brazilian was Pep GuardiolaтАЩs go-to man at Manchester City but lack of game time over the past few campaigns meant the 25-year-old had to look for options elsewhere. He started just 24 of CityтАЩs 50 games in 2021-22.
What made his move to Emirates click was the presence of Mikel Arteta. The Arsenal boss was GuardiolaтАЩs assistant at City and knows what Jesus is capable of and wants to make him a key figure in his plans.
Jesus has been among goals in pre-season, netting on four occasions in three games. While at City he never got a decent run, at Arsenal he will have ample opportunity to thrive in a young and energetic forwardline.
Kalvin Phillips
Club: Manchester City
Position: defensive midfielder
Transfer fee: ┬г43.87m
ItтАЩs not easy to leave your boyhood club where you are a legend. The 26-year-old Phillips has done so by jumping to Manchester City from Leeds United in his quest to win trophies.
The England international has been brought in to strengthen CityтАЩs midfield especially with Fernandinho moving back to Brazil. They have Spaniard Rodri, who also plays as a defensive midfielder, but other than that City donтАЩt have many options in that role.
There was a feeling last season that Rodri commits too many mistakes. Also, when under pressure, he is reluctant to push forward. In Phillips, City get a proven performer who has better numbers than Rodri in tackling and interceptions. Also, he likes to press forwardтАФa trait must for a player who plays under Marcelo Bielsa (the former Leeds manager). No wonder Guardiola brought in Phillips at the first opportunity. After all, Bielsa has had a major influence over SpaniardтАЩs managerial philosophy.
Kalidou Koulibaly
Club: Chelsea
Position: Centre-back
Transfer fee: ┬г34.20m
Chelsea were desperately seeking a centre-back to partner Thiago Silva after Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen moved to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
The Senegal international, who played eight seasons in Serie A for Napoli, is among the worldтАЩs best defenders now. While he is 31 which goes against ChelseaтАЩs policy of signing young players, the Blues needed experience at the heart of the defence.
In Koulibaly, they have landed a player who has the aura and tactical acumen to achieve great things at Stamford Bridge something similar to what Vincent Kompany did at Man City and Virgil Van Dijk is doing at Liverpool.
He will bring a sense of calm to ChelseaтАЩs backline which at times struggled last season when put under pressure.
Lisandro Martinez
Club: Manchester United
Position: Centre-back
Transfer fee: ┬г51.63m
From Raphael Varane to Harry Maguire to Eric Bailly, Manchester United have plenty of options at centre-back but they still bought the 24-year-old Argentinian from Ajax. Which means new manager Erik ten Hag could make him a regular starter.
Ten Hag likes his teams to play out from the back and Martinez, who is very good with his feet, has been brought to fulfil that requirement. Only time will tell how quickly he adjusts as Premier League has left the best of defenders on their knees. Ten Hag is sure he will bed-in quickly and that alone is a big vote of confidence for Martinez.
Raheem Sterling
Club: Chelsea
Position: Attacking midfielder/forward
Transfer fee: ┬г50.58m
Tuchel recently admitted that the England international was their No. 1 priority and that he was тАЬsurprisedтАЭ when Sterling didnтАЩt hesitate to move to Stamford Bridge.
A key player in the early years of Guardiola’s reign at City, Sterling saw his starts and goals dip with each passing year. With arrival of Jack Grealish, and now of Haaland, his chances of regular starts would dip further.
A move to Chelsea gives Sterling an opportunity to find his mojo.
With Sterling around, Tuchel may change his approach from last season when Romelu Lukaku often was the focal point. Sterling, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz give him options to be flexible and more importantly, inject pace on the counter which wasnтАЩt possible with Lukaku.
Gianluca Scamacca
Club: West Ham
Position: Centre forward
Transfer fee: ┬г32.40m
The Italy international, who scored 16 goals in 36 Serie A appearances last season for Sassuolo, is the first forward David Moyes signed since he started managing West Ham in December 2019.
The 23-year-old has been brought in to ease the burden on Michail Antonio. What works in his favour is his composure in front of the goal, a trait often missing in Antonio, especially in one-on-one situations. Moyes will hope that Scamacca will get the goals which Hammers were desperately short on last season and that eventually cost them a top-five finish.
That even Paris Saint-Germain were interested in signing the forward shows is proof of his burgeoning reputation. After signing with West Ham, he said that he wanted to test himself in Premier League.
Boubacar Kamara
Club: Aston Villa
Position: Defensive midfielder
Transfer fee: Free
The Frenchman is the best central midfielder in Europe and Villa did well to sign him beating interest from Manchester United and Barcelona. Villa manager Steven Gerrard said that Kamara rejected offers from Champions League clubs to join them from Ligue 1 side Marseille.
Aston Villa legend Gabby Agbonlahor is mighty impressed with what he has seen so far from the 22-year-old. тАЬHe wants the ball in every position and can spray passes across the field. Even under pressure heтАЩs looking to play passes into attacking areas,” said Agbonlahor.
Kamara mostly plays as a defensive midfielder but has also been slotted as centre-back and right-back at Marseille. For a player of his age, he is good at reading games, nullifying opposition counters and is good at shielding defence when under pressure.
Cheick Doucoure
Club: Crystal Palace
Position: Central midfield
Transfer fee: ┬г20.34m
His dictating the play against PSG and Monaco last season was enough to convince Crystal Palace scouts and manager Patrick Vieira that the Mali international is ready to step up in the Premier League.
The 22-year-old started as a defensive midfielder but has developed into a more complete midfielder who can break up play and counter-press. In Ligue 1, he played a similar role for Lens what NтАЩGolo Kante does at Chelsea.
Vieira knew what Doucoure is capable of as he had seen him up close when he was Nice manager and made him his No.1 transfer target.
Doucoure didn’t hesitate when Palace came calling. After all, he will get to learn from his manager who was one of the best central midfielders of his generation.
WhoтАЩs in and whoтАЩs out in the 20 teams
Till Saturday evening, the 20 Premier League clubs had spent ┬г1.10 billion to buy new players. Here’s a list of newcomers who have joined the top-flight of English football and those who have left.
Manchester City
Arrivals: Erling Haaland, from Borussia Dortmund, ┬г54m; Kalvin Phillips, from Leeds United, ┬г43.87m; Stefan Ortega, from Arminia Bielefeld, free transfer
Departures
Raheem Sterling, to Chelsea, ┬г50.58m; Gabriel Jesus, to Arsenal, ┬г46.98m; Oleksandr Zinchenko, to Arsenal, ┬г31.50m; Pedro Porro, to Sporting CP, ┬г7.65m; Ko Itakura, to Borussia Monchengladbach, ┬г4.50m; Arijanet Muric, to Burnley FC, ┬г2.70m
Liverpool
Arrivals: Darwin Nunez, from Benfica, ┬г67.50m; Fabio Carvalho, from Fulham, ┬г5.31m; Calvin Ramsay, from ┬г4.41m
Departures: Sadio Mane, to Bayern Munich, ┬г28.80m; Neco Williams, to Nottingham Forest, ┬г18.00m; Takumi Minamino, to AS Monaco, ┬г13.50m; Marko Grujic, to FC Porto, ┬г8.10m; Ben Davies, to Rangers, ┬г4.23m
Chelsea:
Arrivals: Raheem Sterling, from Manchester City, ┬г50.58m; Kalidou Koulibaly, from Napoli, ┬г34.20m.
Departures: Antonio Rudiger, to Real Madrid, free transfer; Andreas Christensen, to Barcelona, free transfer
Manchester United
Arrivals: Lisandro Martinez, from Ajax, ┬г51.63m; Tyrell Malacia, from Feyenoord, ┬г13.50m; Christian Eriksen, from Brentford, free transfer
Departures: Andreas Pereira, to Fulham, ┬г8.55m; Paul Pogba, to Juventus, free transfer; Jesse Lingard, to Nottingham Forest, free transfer; Nemanja Matic, to AS Roma, free transfer
Arsenal
Arrivals: Gabriel Jesus, from Manchester City, ┬г46.98m; Oleksandr Zinchenko, from Manchester City, ┬г31.50m; Fabio Vieira, from FC Porto, ┬г31.50m; Matt Turner, from New England Revolution, ┬г5.73m; Marquinhos, Sao Paulo, ┬г3.15m
Departures: Matteo Guendouzi, to Marseille, ┬г9.90m; Konstantinos Mavropanos, to VfB Stuttgart, ┬г2.88m; Alexandre Lacazette, to Lyon, free transfer
Tottenham
Arrivals: Richarlison, from Everton, ┬г52.20m; Yves Bissouma, from Brighton, ┬г26.28m; Djed Spence, from Middlesbrough, ┬г13.23m; Ivan Perisic, from Inter Milan, free transfer; Fraser Forster, from Southampton, free transfer; Clement Lenglet, from Barcelona, loan transfer
Departures: Steven Bergwijn, to Ajax, ┬г28.13m; Cameron Carter-Vickers, to Celtic, ┬г6.30m
Leicester City
They haven’t signed any player yet
Departures: 6. To lower divisions in England
Everton
Arrivals: James Tarkowski, from Burnley, free transfer; Dwight McNeil and Ruben Vinagre, from Sporting, on loan.
Departures: Richarlison, to Tottenham, ┬г52.20m; Jonjoe Kenny, Hertha Berlin, free transfer; Cenk Tosun, Besiktas, free transfer.
Aston Villa
Arrivals: Diego Carlos, from Sevilla, ┬г27.90m; Philippe Coutinho, from Barcelona, ┬г18.00m; Robin Olsen, from AS Roma, ┬г3.15m; Ludwig Augustinsson, from Sevilla, ┬г450,000; Boubacar Kamara, from Marseille free transfer
Departures: Matt Targett, to Newcastle United, ┬г15.75m; Trezeguet, to Trabzonspor, ┬г3.60m; Lovre Kalinic, to Hajduk Split, free transfer; Conor Hourihane, to Derby County, free transfer
Newcastle United
Arrivals: Sven Botman, from Lille, ┬г33.30m; Matt Targett, from Aston Villa, ┬г15.75m; Nick Pope, from Burnley, ┬г10.35m.
Departures: Dwight Gayle, to Stoke City, free transfer
Leeds United
Arrivals: Brenden Aaronson, from Red Bull Salzburg, ┬г29.56m; Luis Sinisterra, from Feyenoord, ┬г22.50m; Tyler Adams, from RB Leipzig, ┬г18.00m; Rasmus Kristensen, from RB Salzburg ┬г11.70m; Marc Roca, from Bayern Munich, ┬г10.80m; Darko Gyabi, from Manchester City U23, ┬г5.22m
Departures: Raphinha, to Barcelona, ┬г52.20m; Kalvin Phillips, to Manchester City, ┬г43.87m; Leif Davis, to Ipswich Town, ┬г1.08m
West Ham United
Arrivals: Gianluca Scamacca, from Sassuolo, ┬г32.40m; Nayef Aguerd, from Stade Rennais, ┬г31.50m; Flynn Downes, from Swansea, ┬г9.59m; Alphonse Areola, from PSG, ┬г8.37m
Departures: Andriy Yarmolenko, to Al-Ain FC, free transfer; Ryan Fredericks, to Bournemouth, free transfer
Crystal Palace
Arrivals: Cheick Doucoure, from Lens, ┬г20.34m; Chris Richards, from Bayern Munich, ┬г10.80m; Sam Johnstone, from West Bromwich Albion, free transfer; Malcolm Ebiowei, Derby County, free transfer
Departures: Jaroslaw Jach, to Zaglebie Lubin, free transfer.
Brighton
Arrivals: Julio Enciso, from Club Libertad Asuncion, ┬г10.44m; Simon Adingra, from FC Nordsjaelland, ┬г7.20m.
Departures: Yves Bissouma, to Tottenham, ┬г26.28m; Leo Ostigard, to Napoli, ┬г4.50m; Tudor Baluta, FCV Farul Constanta, free transfer
Southampton
Arrivals: Gavin Bazunu, from Manchester City U23, ┬г12.60m; Sekou Mara, from Bordeaux, ┬г11.70m; Romeo Lavia, from Manchester City U23, ┬г11.07m; Armel Bella-Kotchap, from Bochum, ┬г9.00m; Joe Aribo, from Rangers, ┬г6.39m; Mateusz Lis, from Altay SK, free transfer
Departures: Fraser Forster, to Tottenham, free transfer; Shane Long, to Reading, free transfer; Harry Lewis, to Bradford, free transfer
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arrivals: Nathan Collins, from Burnley, ┬г21.87m; Hee-chan Hwang, from RB Leipzig, ┬г15.03m
Departures: Ruben Vinagre, Sporting CP, ┬г9.00m; Romain Saiss, to Besiktas, free transfer; Marcal, to Botafogo, free transfer; John Ruddy, to Birmingham City, free transfer
Brentford
Arrivals: Keane Lewis-Potter, from Hull City, ┬г17.10m; Aaron Hickey, from Bologna, to ┬г14.85m; Thomas Strakosha, from Lazio, free transfer; Ben Mee, from Burnley, free transfer
Departures: Marcus Forss, to Middlesbrough, ┬г3.24m; Christian Eriksen, to Manchester United, free transfer
Fulham
Arrivals: Joao Palhinha, from Sporting CP, ┬г18.00m; Andreas Pereira, from Manchester United, ┬г8.55m; Kevin Mbabu, from VfL Wolfsburg, ┬г4.95m; Manor Solomon, from Shakhtar Donetsk, on loan
Departures: Andre Zambo Anguissa, to Napoli, ┬г13.50m; Fabio Carvalho, to Liverpool, ┬г5.31m; Jean Michael Seri, to Hull City, free transfer; Jacob Adams, to Hayes & Yeading, free transfer
Nottingham Forest
Arrivals: Taiwo Awoniyi, from Union Berlin, ┬г18.45m; Neco Williams, from Liverpool, ┬г18.00m; Moussa Niakhate, from Mainz 05, ┬г9.00m; Giulian Biancone, from Troyes, ┬г9.00m; Omar Richards, from Bayern Munich, ┬г7.65m; Lewis O’Brien, from Huddersfield Town, ┬г5.31m; Harry Toffolo, from Huddersfield Town, ┬г5.31m; Jesse Lingard, from Manchester United, free transfer; Wayne Hennessey, from Burnley, free transfer; Dean Henderson, from Manchester United, on loan
Departures: Brice Samba, to Lens, ┬г4.50m; Tobias Figueiredo, to Hull City, free transfer
Bournemouth
Arrivals: Joe Rothwell, from Blackburn Rovers, free transfer; Ryan Fredericks, from West Ham United, free transfer
Departures: Robbie Brady, to Preston North End, free transfer
