With the Premier League about to spark into life this weekend, COS reporter Adam Hennessey casts his eye over the players he feels will have an impact this coming season, but players who readers may not know much about.

A surprising transfer all round really, is that of former Marseille captain, Lorik Cana, swapping Champions League football, for a move to the Sunderland revolution, under former Birmingham and Wigan manager, Steve Bruce. Sunderland swooped for the experienced, and classy midfield general, and parted with a fee in the region of £5m for the Albanian international.

Cana has a reputation throughout France, for being a tough tackling leader, and will look to stamp these qualities on Bruce’s Sunderland side. Whilst not being the standard of a Gerrard, or Fabregas, Cana will have a huge effect on the Sunderland setup, and could arguably be Bruce’s most influential signing since joining the club in the Summer of 2009. He has also been issued the captain’s armband following former skipper Dean Whitehead’s move to Stoke, and will grab this chance with both hands, and will no doubt put in some dominant performances throughout the course of the season, giving Sunderland some steel, and dependability in the centre of the midfield, that they have lacked for a while.

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