The best deals done thus far in the transfer window.
Jores Okore – FC Nordsjaelland to Aston Villa, £4 million
The young Ivorian-born Danish international came to the West Midlands with a high pedigree. The highly rated 20-year-old has been attracting the attentions of a number of Premier League clubs this summer, and he even revealed that he turned down the chance to join Chelsea in order to continue his development by playing first team football.
Having already sampled Champions League football with the Danish side – where he impressed against the West Londoners, he has come as quite a coup for Paul Lambert who is hoping that the athletic stopper will help to plug a leaky defence that shipped close to 70 goals in the Premier League last season.
Where most young players have fallen foul of joining a ‘top’ club for big money, only to sit on the bench and hinder their own development, Okore has been a breath of fresh air by deciding to join up with Villa in order to continue his development and former Villa legend Martin Laursen, a compatriot of Okore, has already said that he believes the young defender will add to his seven international caps in no time.
He has already endeared himself to his new fans, not only by turning down a switch to Chelsea in order to continue Paul Lambert’s revolution, but by falling asleep during his medical.
For the money Villa paid for his services he represents quite the coup. He has the potential to become one of the best defenders in the world and the Premier League will be the best possible place to test himself.
Andre Schurrle – Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea, £17 million
It would perhaps be a little unfair to label this transfer as a saga, seeing as everybody knew that it was going to happen, but when it finally did there was a palpable sense of relief.
Much of the anticipation hinged over where Chelsea’s Kevin de Bryune would end up with Bayer hoping to bring the young Belgian on board as part of the deal. That, however, didn’t happen, so they had to settle for a straight cash deal instead.
Schürrle had been on Chelsea’s radar for just over a year now and he became the first signing for Jose Mourinho since he arrived back at the club last month.
The German international was originally a part of the same Mainz side as Tottenham Hotspur’s Lewis Holtby before earning a move to Bayer Leverkusen in 2011, age 20.
An athletic forward, who is more comfortable on the left side of the attack, possesses a wealth of pace and skill – that will surely make him the scourge of Premier League right-backs this season. He has an ornate ability to dribble past defenders and finish with great aplomb, which has led him to score roughly one goal in three appearances in the Bundesliga.
He already has 24 caps for the German national team under his belt, with seven goals too and has firmly established himself a regular in the side, meaning that he will want to impress over the coming months to cement his place for Germany ahead of next summer’s World Cup.
Andreas Cornelius – FC Copenhagen to Cardiff City, £7.5 million
The 20-year-old became the first signing for the Premier League new boys, and like Jores Okore at Aston Villa his capture is seen as quite a coup.
The young Dane is thought to be one of Europe’s brightest prospects after impressing during his first full season in the Danish Superliga, scoring 18 goals in 32 appearances and breaking into the national side in the process.
FC Copenhagen sporting director Carsten V. Jensen told tipsbladet.dk: “It was never the plan to sell Andreas but sometimes a situation arises where it wouldn’t be responsible to reject an offer like that.
“We wouldn’t normally sell a player so quickly after they’ve broken through to the first team. The last example of this was when we sold Christian Poulsen after the turn of the millennium.
“But this was a situation where the offer was so big that it would have been irresponsible to turn down. That is how it is.”
Cornelius recently admitted that he had had his eye on a move to the Premier League and at Cardiff he perhaps has the best coaching and environment to make an impact and avoid feeling the pressure that a player might feel at the other end of the table.
He will pose a viable threat for the Bluebirds, being 6”4’ and quick on his feet and he has become the club’s record signing at £7.5 million – £3.5 million more than they paid for Michael Chopra in 2009.
Simon Mignolet – Sunderland to Liverpool, £9 million
When your goalkeeper is being linked with a move to Barcelona – the smart thing to do is go out and buy somebody capable of replacing him and that’s exactly what Liverpool did.
However, with Victor Valdes now confirming that he will see out the remaining year of his deal at the Nou Camp, Pepe Reina will be staying put for one more season at least.
But one of Liverpool’s problems has been their lack of competition in between the sticks. The likes of Brad Jones and Doni are capable reserves, but neither of them were ever going to come close to disposing the Spanish international and for the first time in his Liverpool career he faces a genuine threat to his starting role.
Mignolet was one of Sunderland’s brightest sparks in an otherwise dull season last term and his transfer fee has come off as a tremendous piece of business considering that former boss Steve Bruce paid just £1 million for his services from Belgian side St Truden in 2010.
There is a sense that the 25-year-old could even put pressure on Pepe Reina, as many believe that he possesses a better shot stopping ability as well as being more adept at coming out for crosses and deal balls.
With it being a World Cup year he won’t want to take it easy as Atletico Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois is breathing down his neck for a starting role within the Belgian national team.
Jesus Navas – Sevilla to Manchester City, £14.9 million
The term ‘one club man’ isn’t used in football so much these days, but if there was one player that many thought the moniker would suit best it was Jesus Navas of Sevilla.
Not strictly because of any overriding loyalty to the club, but because of a crippling anxiety that had at one point threatened to derail his career completely.
Known as acute homesickness – he would be struck with panic attacks whenever he was away from home for too long, and affliction that meant his international career couldn’t truly begin until 2009, and in 2006 he even turned down a move to Chelsea because of it.
However, he has now showed signs that he is over the problem and was a key figure in last month’s Confederations Cup campaign that saw them march all the way to the final only to crumble at the hands of hosts Brazil.
‘I didn’t let anything cross my mind because I was so certain what the objective was. We were mentally strong and that’s what made the difference,’ he said.
“I want to keep growing as a player.
“Things have been clear for a few months. City made a strong move for me and I knew my time in Sevilla would come to an end.”
Blessed with a terrifying turn of pace and a slalom like dribbling ability he is expected to make a strong impact on the Premier League this season.
Andy Carroll – Liverpool to West Ham United, £17 million
The jury is still very much out on Andy Carroll. His career quite easily could have hit the skids shortly after his big money move to Liverpool, but Sam Allardyce has gone some way into restoring the nation’s faith in the 24-year-old.
He may have only bagged seven goals for the Hammers last season but at times he could look devastatingly dangerous. His lack of pace is more than made up for by his areal ability and powerful shooting.
“We play to suit him, we play around him. We try to get good quality balls into the box for him and that is going to be valuable. If I was him, I would be wanting to stay at West Ham,” Joe Cole had said.
“The lads love him and the fans have taken to him. If he keeps himself fit he can get 20-30 goals next season and really kick on.”
He will want to be in Roy Hodgson’s plans next summer and he stands a better chance of doing so at West Ham rather than at Liverpool, though, like Cole said, he will need to keep himself fit in order to do so.
A move back to hometown club Newcastle United had been mooted, but they did not want to pay what Liverpool had been asking for and there is now a feeling that Carroll will have to start living up to the gigantic fees that he has commanded already during his sort career.
Ricky Van Wolfswinkel – Sporting Lisbon to Norwich City, £8.5 million
This is the first deal in this list that was virtually a foregone conclusion by the time the season even reached its closing stages. The 24-year-old striker had agreed an £8.5 million move to Norwich City this summer and many are excited at the prospect of seeing him in the Premier League.
The Canaries had to rubbish reports that the deal would collapse if they were relegated last season, though it is hard to imagine that the deal still would have gone ahead if they had been demoted to the Championship.
A number of Europe’s leading clubs had been said to be taking an interest in the Dutchman, who has scored freely for Sporting and for Utrecht back in his native land.
With Grant Holt’s form disappearing into thin air, his arrival has come at the perfect time especially as the Canaries struggled to find the net last term.
He is the type of player who can make a strong impact in the Premier League and he has already outlined his desire to get started now that he has finally joined up with the squad.
“There is already a great team there and I hope I can add to that,” he said.
“I will love working with the team and the coach and I see a very good future for us all – for me and for Norwich.
“The Premier League is always a place I have wanted to test myself. For me Norwich is the perfect club and the perfect place to be.”
Iago Aspas – Celta Vigo to Liverpool, £7.5 million
Both Aston Villa and Swansea have started a trend of signing players that nobody had previously heard of and now Brendan Rodgers is getting in on the act too.
Iago Aspas isn’t a name that would have passed many people’s lips until recently but his 12 goals last season helped Celta Vigo maintain their position in the Spanish top flight and the Reds boss has high hopes that he will be able to replicate that form in the Premier League.
He has already given the fans a cause to get excited by outlining what he hopes to be able to achieve, and alongside fellow unknown Spanish ace Luis Alberto, who arrived from Sevilla a week later, he hopes to become a cult hero in front of the Kop.
“Having weighed up all my options for this window, a massive club like Liverpool was always my first choice,” he said.
“I am a quick and skilful player. Together we will achieve a lot of success.”
He has been with the Galician side his entire career, but didn’t truly hit a rich vein of goalscoring form until two years ago when he hit 25 goals during the club’s promotion charge from the Segunda division. He managed to keep scoring last season and that prompted the Reds to take a chance on him as they looked for someone to fill Luis Suarez’s boots as he continues to serve out a ten game ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic.
Maarten Stekelenburg – Roma to Fulham, £5 million
It was touch and go as to whether Stekelenburg would join the Cottagers this summer. When Martin Jol found out that the Dutch international, who he had coached whilst in charge of Ajax, he had to somehow come up with a way of raising the cash to bring him in.
Many thought that would be David Stockdale’s cue to finally join Hull City on a permanent deal after impressing during a loan spell that saw them return to the Premier League.
However, that move failed to materialise, but Fulham found the cash anyway and moved quickly to secure the 30-year-old’s signature.
And his arrival couldn’t have come at a better time with Mark Schwarzer confirming his exit from the club last week. The 40-year-old Australian international had been a fine servant for the west London side but was apparently not keen on the added competition and left the club in a bid to continue his career elsewhere whilst he felt that he still had something to offer.
Stekelenburg has always been highly rated in his home country, but there is a sense that he never quite lived up to his full capabilities in Italy as he fell out of favour at times, but always managed to win his way back into the side.
His career is now following a similar path to that of Edwin Van Der Sar, who also left Ajax for a short spell in Italy before moving on to Fulham and eventually hooking up with Manchester United.
Fernandinho – Shakhtar Donetsk to Manchester City, £34 million
There aren’t many 28-year-old defensive midfielders who would be able to command such a hefty fee, and it has yet to be seen whether the price tag is justified by the player’s ability or if it is just another case of one big club overcharging another just because they can.
He will, however, bring a wealth of top-level experience to the club after playing a part in Shakhtar’s previous eight Champions League campaigns whilst helping them to win the Ukrainian league title six times in the process.
He also helped Donetsk win the UEFA Cup in 2009, and scored the decisive goal against Chelsea in the Champions League this season.
But he will be coming into an already crowded City midfield and will need to catch up with the pace of the Premier League quickly if he is going to make the sort of impact that his price tag suggests he will.
He will also be hoping to put himself in the mind of Phil Scolari and the Brazil set up. Having only five international caps to his name and never once being called up by ‘Big Phil’ there is a very good chance that he won’t get to go home for the World Cup next summer.
His eagerness to join the club, though, is admirable. As he waved away a fee of £4 million owed to him by the Ukranian giants in order to join Pellegrini’s new regime.