Premier League Transfer Watch 2nd July
With the World Cup at the midway point, the Premier League circus continues with teams getting ready for the season opener. SPORTSvox has been keeping up to date with the latest signings in our ‘Transfer Watch’.
Quality English Talent Costs Big Bucks!
Its hard to think that 20 years ago Arsenal were building their first Premier League Title winning side. In the 1997/98 season they managed to bring in Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Gilles Grimandi, Matthew Upson, Luis Boa Morte and Alex Manninger for a total of 22 million pounds.
A couple of weeks ago Leicester signed James Maddison from Norwich for the same 22 million pounds price tag. A fine player in his own right, an England U21 International who scored 15 goals in the Championship last season, but it just shows you how times have changed.
Sticking with Arsenal for the moment, Unai Emery is keen to bolster his squad as soon as possible. Having already brought in Bernd Leno between the sticks and solid full back Stephan Lichtsteiner, Emery is looking to secure the signing of another player from the Bundesliga in defender Sokratis from Dortmund.
No Big moves from the Title Contenders just yet
To challenge Manchester City for the title next season you would have thought the challengers would need to bring in a couple of superstars to give them at least a fighting chance. Aside from Manchester Utd signing Fred and Liverpool securing the abilities of Fabinho its been a bit quiet from the ‘Big 5’ so far.
Several rumours of major signings are being touted but I think most of the bigger business will be completed post World Cup once players return to their current clubs.
So far its been more about the players who will no longer grace the Premier League again. We are losing three major stars this season in Rooney (DC United), Toure (Unknown) and Carrick (Retired). Nobody can forget Rooney’s introduction to the Premier League, 491 appearances and 208 goals later who will be the next young starlet to take his place?
Staying Up No.1 Priority
For the likes of Cardiff, Wolves and Fulham its all about remaining in the Premier League for as long as possible. All three clubs look like they have solid financial backing, if they can secure some good signings who perform on the big stage then they will have every chance of staying up. Fulham are yet to get involved in any big purchases but Cardiff and Wolves have been very active thus far as shown below.
Cardiff Signings
- Bobby Reid – Bristol City, undisclosed
- Greg Cunningham – Preston, undisclosed
- Josh Murphy – Norwich, undisclosed
- Alex Smithies – QPR, undisclosed
Wolves Signings
- Rui Patricio – Sporting Lisbon, undisclosed
- Benik Afobe – Bournemouth, £12.5m
- Willy Boly – Porto, £10m
- Raul Jimenez – Benfica, loan
Most Important Signing So Far?
Although it has been fairly quiet on the transfer front so far, arguably what could prove to be the biggest signing of the pre season has already occurred.
With Mo Salah having put pen to paper on a new 5 year deal with Liverpool how crucial could this be for the Merseyside club if he repeats the season he had last year. Keeping Salah fit and adding a few solid additions will prove paramount for Liverpool if they are to challenge City for the title.
Sometimes the best deals for a club are actually around keeping your best talent rather than looking elsewhere……….
