The best bits of transfer business this season.
10. Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace to Southampton undisclosed compensation fee)
Southampton beat a host of other ‘bigger’ sides to the signing of talented youngster Nathaniel Clyne and it was a wise move for both the player and the South Coast club.
The 22 year old may well have struggled to get his foot in the door at one another side but at St Mary’s he has excelled and become a crucial member of the Saints side.
Clyne has been a virtual ever present and has thrived in the Premier League having served his apprenticeship in the Championship and is now on the fringes of the full England national team set-up and is a player that cost the South-Coast club very little and could go on to be a player who either serves them well in the future of perhaps yields a good fee if the club opt to consider offers for a player who has excelled at right-back this term.
9. Matija Nastasic (Fiorentina to Man City £12m)
Nastasic has been an excellent addition to the Man City defence and has in some ways erased the memory of flop Stefan Savic, who moved to Italy in part exchange, and the Serbian international has adapted swiftly to life in the Premier League.
The 20 year old has forced Joleon Lescott out of Roberto Mancini’s plans and has formed a solid pairing with Vincent Kompany at the heart of a Man City back-line that have conceded less than any Premier League side.
Nastasic has started 21 top tier matches during which time Man City have collected 11 clean sheets and has apparently won 90% of the tackles he has attempted.
Dubbed the ‘New Nemanja Vidic’ and judging by how confident and able he is at such a tender age that may not be an unrealistic comparison in a few years time.
8. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea to West Brom loan)
Frozen out at Stamford Bridge after an uncertain first season at the West London club the Belgian has reveled in a prolonged period in the Baggies first team. Steve Clarke has used the powerful forward well and in the early months of the season there were few more effective strikers in the English top tier.
The 20 year old has netted 14 Premier League goals despite making just 18 starts, perhaps most importantly he has outscored any of his Chelsea team-mates and has done so at a ‘lesser’ side and one wonders if this successful spell will lead to a recall to the Blues first team next term.
Lukaku will want to be playing regularly with a World Cup on the horizon and would probably jump at the chance of remaining at the Hawthorns if he was only likely to warm the Chelsea bench.
The former Anderlecht man could well be loaned out again next term if any incoming boss decides to invest big money in a big name striker signing.
7. Arouna Kone (Levante to Wigan Athletic £2.5m)
Without the Ivory Coast international in their side it’s fair to say that Wigan Athletic would already be relegated, such has been his effectiveness up front for the Latics.
The former Levante man is full of running and invention and his 11 goals and five assists have been crucial to Roberto Martinez’s attempts to pull off yet another great escape.
If you factor in his push to help Wigan Athletic to the FA Cup Final then you can see just how great the £2.5m investment has proven to be.
If Wigan Athletic stay up then that outlay could well turn out to be the best investment Dave Whelan has made as owner of the Grater Manchester club.
6. Eden Hazard (Lille to Chelsea £32m)
Though clearly Chelsea paid a big fee for the Belgian the quality displays the young attacker has put in should not be downplayed.
In the early months of the season the pint sized performer was practically unplayable and though he did perhaps go a little off the boil Hazard is a signing that could well continue to pay off in the years to come.
The 22 year old has netted nine and assisted another nine in Premier League action alone and his stats across all competitions are fairly astounding.
Hazard has scored 13 and provided 18 assists in a lengthy Chelsea campaign that is still far from over. The former Lille man has formed an excellent understanding with Juan Mata and Oscar and is a player who excites the crowd, capable of a moment of brilliance and has more than managed to make an impact in the English top tier.
5. Jan Vertonghen (Ajax to Tottenham £10m)
Hard working Belgian has barely put a foot wrong this season and has been a pivotal player in Andre Villas-Boas’s continuing push for a top four finish.
The 26 year old has excelled at the back for the White Hart Lane side, both at centre back and at left-back, but has also been very effective going forward, scoring crucial goals and pushing the play forward.
Vertonghen was a player courted by a number of other sides and Tottenham picked him up for a very decent price and has proved himself worth every penny.
Yet another Belgian talent that has prospered in the Premier League and his marshaling of the back-line has been crucial to Tottenham’s pursuit of Champions League football.
4. Santi Cazorla (Malaga to Arsenal £16.5m)
Arsene Wenger opted to raid financially stricken Malaga to pick up the Spanish playmaker and will have been very impressed by how effective the 28 year old has proven.
Very much a ‘Wenger-style’ player Cazorla is more than just comfortable on the ball he is at times almost effortless with the ball at his feet.
16 goals and ten assists is a very good return for Cazorla’s first season in English football and the tiny midfielder has adapted well to the pace of the Premier League and is always available for the ball and is not afraid to have a crack from distance, usually with spectacular results.
Has proven far more successful than fellow summer additions Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski and is as a result a virtual ever present in the Gunners starting eleven.
3. Robin Van Persie (Arsenal to Man United £24m)
Dutch goal machine was always going to do well at Old Trafford and he has been the big guiding force taking the Man United side to their 20th domestic title.
Though he has a poor patch late on in the campaign Van Persie has still comfortably outscored his rivals and his 25 Premier League goals will make him the top tier’s top-scorer and he has also found time to be the club’s second highest assist-maker.
Some argued that the £24m fee paid for a player of Van Persie’s years was excessive but Sir Alex Ferguson clearly felt it was a calculated risk worth taking and it’s certainly paid of.
Robin Van Persie missed out on a host of awards, which have instead gone Gareth Bale’s way, but there is no denying the impact he has made at Man United and will no doubt continue to do so for a good few seasons to come.
2. Michu (Rayo Vallecano to Swansea City £1.6m)
An inspired bit of business by the South Wales side and a deal that looks like one of the biggest bargains of Premier League era Michu has had a huge impact at the Liberty Stadium.
Having seen manager Brendan Rodgers leave for Liverpool and star pair Joe Allen and Scott Sinclar also depart there must have been a certain amount of concern as to how Swansea City would fare this term but clearly Michael Laudrup’s side have excelled this term.
Michu has been the driving force behind Swansea’s most successful season, one crowned with a Capital One Cup winner’s medal and European football next season.
The Spaniard will hope to secure his first national cap and certainly deserves international recognition following a season that has seen the talented forward score 21 goals in all competitions.
Swansea City may struggle to keep hold of Michu this summer, with sides probably willing to spend ten times the amount chairman Huw Jenkins shelled out, such has been the form he has displayed in 2012/13
1. Christian Benteke (Racing Genk to Aston Villa £7m)
Powerful Belgian shades Michu for the top spot in this chart because his goals and form look like being the difference between the Villa Park side staying up and being relegated from the top tier for the first time in almost 25 years.
Without Benteke there is no doubt that Paul Lambert’s side would have been relegated by now, such has been his form this term. Perhaps most crucially the big forward has hit an impressive period of form at the ideal time, netting 12 Premier League goals in 2013 and 22 goals in all competitions across the entire campaign.
Lambert has seen Benteke form an excellent partnership with fellow forwards Gabriel Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann and if Aston Villa stay up, and that seems increasingly likely, he could well help the Midlands side kick on and push towards the top half.
Benteke has been directly involved in 50 per cent of his side’s 44 Premier League goals this season with 18 goals and four assists.